Quite a number of years ago, an old man sat down and wrote this story. He had been through a good many adventures in his earlier years, and he knew that it would not be long till he would be called home to heaven. So he wrote this story of one of his adventures, to be a lesson for boys and girls to read.
I shall never forget an incident which occurred when I was a young boy on my way to Australia. (It was not in a beautiful ship like the one in our picture, for it was in the days of sailing vessels.) We were slowly drawing near to the equator. There was hardly a breath of wind and the ship was going ahead at only about one mile an hour.
When standing on the deck, I saw a line of clothes which had been washed and put out to dry. The line had not been tied very well and all of a sudden it let go and all the clothes fell into the sea. One of the sailors who was standing near me on the deck, handed his hat and shoes to me and dived overboard, and began to swim to where the clothes were floating in the sea.
He had not noticed that on the other side of the ship there were several people anxiously watching a dark object some distance away. It was a very large shark! At once we all realized the terrible danger of the sailor, for we knew that the shark could swim much faster than he could.
Immediately the captain shouted out to the sailor to return to the ship as quickly as he possibly could. At the same time a number of sailors began to lower ropes so that their comrade, could be pulled aboard. Another quick-thinking sailor threw two or three large chunks of bread in the direction of the shark, in the hope that he might be slowed down.
What a thrilling race it was! The shark caught sight of the sailor and passed right by the bread, passed by the floating clothes, and made full speed for the poor swimming sailor. The sailor was a very powerful young man and churned through the water as quickly as he could. He managed to reach and grasp the rope just in time. Quickly he was pulled up out of the water, just as the shark rolled over and snapped his great teeth together just a few inches below the sailor’s dangling feet.
In another moment he was standing safe but trembling on the deck of the ship. He looked back down at the shark that had so nearly taken his life, and then he turned and thanked the sailors who had pulled him up on board.
And now, dear boys and girls, as you read this adventure I know that you are very thankful that you were not in the water too. But I want you to listen to the word of warning from an old man.
It was many, many years ago that I watched this race take place. But I have often thought since that my own danger was far worse than that of the sailor. I was a sinner on my way to a lost eternity, and I am afraid I did not realize my danger. Just as the captain shouted a word of warning to the sailor, so kind friends warned me of the danger of going on from day to day in my sins without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. Not long after I arrived in Australia the Lord Jesus saved my soul, and now I write this story to you that you too may learn to know the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour.
Just as the rescued sailor stood safely on the deck and turned to thank his deliverers, so I have thanked the Lord Jesus again and again for dying on the cross to save me. I want to close my story with a verse of warning,
ML 09/16/1956