As I looked at her and her large family of fatherless children, and then
thought of her husband's triumphant death, and his glorious transfer to
that blest abode, where "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any
more," and where "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes," the
contrast between the husband and father in his felicity, and the sorrow
of the widow and children in their poverty, so affected me that, to hide
my emotion and keep back my tears, I hurried out of the room, following
my loving Brother Semmens, who was, if possible, more deeply moved than
I was. We had gone into that house to pray, but we could not. There
must be tangible sympathy given ere we could look to a higher source.
My brother had reached the cariole, which was a few yards away, and I
was not far behind, when the word, "Ayumeaookemou," ("Praying master,")
arrested my hurrying steps. I turned back, and there, just outside of
the door, was Nancy. With a woman's quick intuition to read the
feelings of the heart from the face and voice, she had followed me out,
and her words, as nearly as I can recall them, were these:
"Missionary, I do not want you to feel so badly for me; it is true I am
very poor; it is true, since Samuel died, we have often been hungry and
have often suffered from the bitter cold; but, Missionary," and her face
had no trace of sorrow upon it, "you have heard me say that as Samuel
gave his heart to God, so have I given God my heart, and He Who
comforted Samuel and helped him, so that he died so happily, is my
Saviour; and where Samuel has gone, by-and-by I am going too; and that
thought makes me happy all the day long."
There came a blessed exultation into my soul, but I could find no answer
then. So I hurried on and joined my weeping brother, and shouting,
"Marchez!" to our dogs, we were soon rapidly speeding over the icy trail
to our Mission home.
That night our bed was a blanket thinner, and on our limited supplies
there was a heavy drain. I told the Indians who were better off about
her straitened condition, and she and hers were made more comfortable.
Many of them gave very generously indeed to help her. The grace of
liberality abounds largely among these poor Christian Indians, and they
will give to the necessities of those who are poorer than themselves
until it seems at times as though they had about reached the same level.
The triumphant death of Samuel, and then Nancy's brave words, very much
encouraged us in our work. We could not but more than rejoice at the
Gospel's power, still so consciously manifested to save in the Valley of
the Shadow of Death, and also to make a humble log-cabin a little heaven
below. We pitied her in her poverty, and yet soon after, when we had
thought it all over in the light of eternity, we could only rejoice with
her, and in our spirits say, "Happy woman! Better live in a log hut
without a chair or table or bedstead, without flour or tea or potatoes,
entirely dependent upon the nets in the lake for food, if the Lord Jesus
is a constant Guest, than in a mansion of a millionaire, surrounded by
every luxury, but destitute of His presence."
It is a matter of great thankfulness that not only spiritually but
temporally thousands of the Indians in different parts of Canada are
improving grandly. The accompanying picture (page 209) is from a
photograph taken at the Scugog Lake Indian Mission. The fine barn, well
filled with wheat, as well as all the surrounding vehicles and
agricultural implements, belong to one of the Christian Indians.