Signor Matania, who painted the picture, thus describes the stirring incident it depicts. He witnessed it during his recent visit to the Western front: “The barrage fire was screaming in the air, smoke and flying earth were everywhere, and in the midst of it all I saw two figures.... the only two living souls to be seen on the vast expanse of the battlefield. A shell burst in front of them, and they disappeared. The smoke cleared away again, and I saw them crouching. Another rain of shells ... . Still they were alive. Then I saw them standing upright, and with a stretcher between them, on which was a wounded man. With their painful load. I watched them coming back over the uneven ground, vanishing and re-appearing as the shells burst round them.”
Beautiful and sublime deed of heroism! Out of the jaws of death, they rescue this dying man. Undismayed by the awful fury of the tempest of war raging around them, they do their duty. If ever he recovered, the man they saved would never forget the heroes who saved him. Would to God, we realized, all of us, what Jesus Christ did to save our souls from hell. He went through the awful battle against sin and Satan, and died on Calvary—the Just for the unjust—to bring us to God! He delivered us from the wrath to come. He saved us on the battlefield of sin; and bore us out to a place of safety. With thorn- scarred brow and bleeding hands and-feet, and pierced side, He sought us, and He found us, saying to us as we felt His saving presence near us: “Fear not, I have redeemed thee, thou art Mine.” I have a beautiful story to tell you now. It is called: —