PERHAPS some of my readers will remember the moving story of the Pemberton Mill, which caught fire after collapsing. While all the machinery was in motion, the walls of the building suddenly gave way, and seven hundred workmen were precipitated into the ruins. Seventy-seven were killed instantaneously, and a hundred and thirty-four subsequently died of their wounds. Companies were quickly formed, who hastened to the help of the unfortunate workers, and lifted the heavy beams to release those who were buried beneath the ruins.
Each one did his best to bring help wherever cries were heard. Night soon fell, and added to the sadness of this terrible scene. The rescuers felt the need of haste, for it was winter, and the poor victims ran the risk of freezing where they lay. Unfortunately a lantern was broken, and its contents spilled. The wood, soaked with petrol, caught fire so quickly that the rescuers found themselves forced to retire.
Among the unfortunates to whom help had so nearly come was a young woman, very beautiful, very clever, and more than that, an active Christian. Her friends had been obliged to withdraw, as the heat of the furnace was so intense. How great was their astonishment when they heard the following words sung with a real expression of joy and happiness: ―
“My celestial country is glorious and fair,
Neither pain nor death shall ever enter in.
The light of that abode is bright beyond compare;
In that eternal dwelling the redeemed shall sing.”
She did not sing this hymn in a trembling voice, as one might quite naturally suppose, but firmly and clearly she continued the refrain: ―
“I am going to heaven, I am going to heaven!
I am going to heaven to die no more,
To die no more, to die no more
I am going to heaven to die no more!”
By this time the flames had reached her retreat, but their fury could not lessen the ardor of the young Christian. She continued to sing, with the same fervor, this hymn which she had doubtless sung in company with other Christians. There was heroism in the singing of this hymn under such circumstances that was far more admirable than the bravery shown on the battlefield or in a hospital ward. She went
on: ―
“Many others seek the pleasures which decay,
Which perish in the fire, or are drowned in the waves;
I have chosen Jesus as my Saviour for aye,
In eternity I’ll praise the power of Him who saves.”
The smoke by which she was surrounded now stifled her voice, so that the rescuers could only faintly hear the last two lines. Nevertheless, she began the chorus again: ―
But this refrain was never finished here below, for her happy spirit had taken its flight to that bright abode which Jesus has gone to prepare for His own.