IT was a busy scene, one autumn morning, some few years ago, on board H.M. troopship Crocodile, as she lay alongside the quay, with hundreds of soldiers on board, just before starting for India.
In spite of the excitement and bustle, inevitable attendants on such a scene, a hearty reception was accorded to some ladies, who, with the earnest prayer that they might indeed prove messages of life to many, had come on board to distribute books and papers amongst the men.
“Something to read” was not to be despised; and as the books were handed round, many an opportunity was offered for a little talk with one and another; just a few brief words, they must needs be, but with God’s blessing they might prove “words of life.” More than one bright face spoke of the peace and joy which Christ alone can give. While eagerly taking the offered paper, one added to his “Thank you, miss,” the earnest appeal, “if you have any to spare, I could give them to my comrades on the voyage,” Another said, “There are a lot of men down here, miss, and they haven’t had any yet, shall I show you the way down?”
Down accordingly the ladies went, among a still denser crowd of men, and here, too, hands were eagerly stretched out on every side to take the offered papers, and again earnest words were spoken telling of a loving Saviour, of “a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” One whom they would sorely need in their uncertain future.
“Now, miss,” said a bright-looking young soldier, “it’s not the least use your talking to me, it’s only like water on a cabbage leaf; it will all roll off.” In spite of this unpromising beginning, a long and very interesting talk followed, in the course of which, Thompson let slip the fact that he had run away from home some years before.
“And have you written to your people since?” inquired Miss S.
“No, that I haven’t, and don’t mean to,” was the decided reply.
“But what made you run away, did they treat you badly at home?”
“No, they were too good for me.”
“Oh, I understand,” replied the lady, “you wanted just to get away and ‘see life,’ didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Thompson with a bitter laugh, “and I’ve seen rather too much of it; a fellow does sometimes in the Army.”
“And have you never even written to your mother all this long time? Oh, what must it be to her never to hear from her boy!”
“No,” he said determinedly,” and I never will till I am out of the Service.”
Seeing that his mind was resolutely made up on this point, Miss S. tried to reach his heart by again telling him of God’s great and unwearied love, but apparently all was to no purpose. He listened, and listened attentively, but made no response.
“Are you fond of reading?” she asked, presently.
“That depends what kind it is,” he said with a smile, for well he knew “what kind” his new friend would send him.
“Well, if you will give me your name and number I will send some books to meet the ship at Malta, and that will give you something interesting to read for the rest of the way.”
He turned and looked her full in the face, and one could read the thought that flashed through his mind, “If I give my name and number, will this lady try to trace me, and find out my parents, to let them know something about me?” But, apparently satisfied that the was to be trusted, he said, very quietly, “If you will lend me your pencil, miss, I’ll write it down for you.”
After a few more words, Miss S. said, “Now tell me, did you ever meet a man in the Service who had given his heart to the Lord Jesus, and was really serving Him?”
“No,” he replied, with an amused laugh; “I should think not, and I don’t believe there is one!”
Miss S. had noticed an earnest Christian sergeant on board, whose bronzed face and war medals told of active service abroad, and who would, therefore, be likely to influence a young soldier, so, asking Thompson to wait a few minutes, she went in search of him.
“Sergeant,” she said, as she made her way to where he was standing, “I have been speaking to a young man over there, who doesn’t believe there is a Christian man in the Army! Will you come and talk to him?”
“Indeed, I will,” he joyfully responded and in a short time he and Thompson were in deep conversation, while Miss S., after bidding them good-bye, went off to distribute the remainder of her books before going on shore.
As she was leaving the ship, the thought struck her, “Why did I not give Thompson a Testament?―he might have read it,” so she turned back, but could not see him anywhere.
“Well, at any rate, he shall have one if it is possible to manage it,” she said to herself as she walked down the gangway, and in a few minutes she wrapped up the Testament and directed it to him, first, however, carefully marking the fifteenth chapter of Luke, from the eleventh verse, while she inwardly prayed God to make it a message to Thompson. She also wrote a short note, asking him to read the Testament daily. Then, returning to the ship, she asked one of the petty officers to deliver the little packet as soon as possible, which he kindly promised to do.
Some two months after, the Indian mail brought Miss S. a grateful letter from Thompson, thanking her for the Testament, and saying, “I will not make you any promise about reading it, as I should not like to make a promise I might break; but this I do promise, I will always keep it. It is a strange thing that you marked the fifteenth of Luke, for I have only been in a chapel six or seven times the last seven or eight years, and it has always been the same old text: ‘I will arise, and go to my Father.’ It has drummed into my ears many a time since; there must be something in it, it seems such a curious coincidence.”
This letter Miss S. answered, urging upon Thompson the necessity of coming to the Saviour, and putting before him again God’s way of salvation, but although he replied al once, he made no reference to anything she had said.
Again she wrote, but there was no reply. Several times she wrote and sent books, but no notice was taken. Still she often pleaded with God for his salvation, and often asked especially, that God would bring him back to his mother.
After a lapse of about three years, she was greatly surprised at receiving a letter from Thompson, dating from a country town in England, saying he had been invalided from the Service. To this letter, she replied at once, and shortly after heard again; still there was evidently no change in him. Pressure of work obliged her to put aside this last note for a time, and while waiting to answer it, she received a letter from a perfect stranger, written at the request of Thompson’s relatives, telling her of his death, but adding, “he died, I am thankful to say, happy in Christ... at his home.”
That one sentence just brought the long looked-for answer to prayer, for it told that he had been brought to Christ and restored to his earthly home. The letter went on to say his mother lived a short time after his return; and, oh! what joy it must have been to her heart to see her boy once more.
Further correspondence followed, in the course of which Miss S. learned that after Thompson’s return home, he was frequently visited by an earnest Christian. To her and others he often spoke of the letters and books he had been in the habit of receiving. One letter especially seems to have made a deep impression on his mind. It only contained the words, “Be sure your sin will find you out”; but they were God’s words, written with earnest prayer, and evidently they were often in his thoughts.
One day the Christian referred to received a brief note from Thompson, saying, “I shall be glad to see you again, as soon as you can make it convenient.” So she went at once, and was grieved to find him much worse. He begged her to pray with him, saying he longed to be saved, and adding, that he was thankful God had shown him he was just trifling with his salvation.
It was in his mother’s home, while on his knees, that Thompson yielded to the Saviour, and cried out, “It is done! Christ has saved me, the precious blood is applied; bless His Name.”
The remaining weeks of his life were marked by an eager desire for the salvation of those about him, and God so blessed his efforts, that he was the means of leading four souls to his newly-found Saviour.
And now we feel we cannot do better than close this brief story in Thompson’s own words, spoken to his chosen friend and companion shortly before his death. “I am going to be ‘with Christ, which is far better’; won’t you trust Him too?” M. T. S.