DURING a time of war, a band of Syrian soldiers, went up to the land of Israel and carried away captive a little girl. Far away from the land of her birth, where she had been kissed and carressed by a fond mother, and where she had played as a child on the beautiful hills and valleys of the land of promise, she was carried to Syria, there to serve as a slave in the house of Naaman, a great captain of the Syrian army. In her early days she had been taught, as all the Jewish children were, the word of the Lord, and even after she was far away from home and kindred, she did not forget the name of the Lord.
Her master was a leper, and for a leper there was no cure known. As the little maid went in and out before her mistress she may have seen her sad look, and heard her speak of the loathsome disease that was carrying her husband to the tomb. The heart of the little maid was moved with compassion for her master, and she remembered that God had a prophet in her land who could cure him of his leprosy. One day she told her mistress about this prophet, and on the word of this little maid, the great captain with his horses and chariots set out to see the prophet in the land of Israel, and he came back cured of his leprosy, and converted, to worship the God of Israel. How glad the little maid would be when she saw him return healed and happy, I am sure she would be glad that she did not keep the good news of healing to herself, or fear to testify for her God in that heathen land. Boys and girls who know Jesus as their own Savior, should speak of Him to others, and tell of His precious blood that cleanseth from all sin. It is not at all likely that any of our young readers have ever seen a leper. Leprosy is a very loathsome disease, carrying its victim slowly to the tomb. Nothing can arrest or cure it. The leper is not allowed to live with his friends, he must dwell alone, far from other men, away in the dreary desert, until he dies.