Part 5.
IN the last chapter, I told you how Henry learned to read Hindustani, so that he might read the Bible to his bearer, in his own language. He had many opportunities to read aloud to Boosey on hoard the boat, as they slowly went up the river towards home. It had been very hard for Henry to leave his kind friend, Mr. Smith, and he would have felt still more sad had he not had the prospect of visiting his first friend and teacher on the way back to Dinapore. But little Henry was never to see his old home again. He was taken very ill on the boat and everyone began to be frightened about him. So they made all the haste they could to Berhampore, where kind Mrs. Baron lived, that they might procure a doctor, and get into a cool house, for the boat was excessively hot, but notwithstanding all their haste, there was a great change in the poor little boy before they arrived.
Mrs. Baron was waiting for them with palanquins, ready to carry them to her house, and she soon had little Henry in her arms, but when she saw how ill he was, she was filled with sorrow, and the tears ran down her cheeks. “Do not cry,” said the sick child. “We may all die, and death is very sweet to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ.” Everything was done for Henry that love could suggest, but he grew worse day by day, and Mrs. Baron and her husband soon began to think that the dear little fellow would not be long with them. It made them very sad, for they loved the child dearly. Still they knew that he was going to Jesus—to the good Shepherd, who having found this little lamb, was now going to take it home to Himself. But what about Boosey? Ah, poor Boosey. His grief was indeed great, and he had no bright hope of meeting again in the many mansions above. He could hardly be persuaded to leave his little master, even to take his food. He did everything he could to please him, and would bring the Hindustani Bible, and read aloud the chapters Henry had taught him. Often the child would stop him, and explain to him in his own simple words, the passage he was reading. The last time Boosey read to him, he suddenly stopped him, saying, “Ah, Boosey, if I had never read the Bible, and did not believe it, what an unhappy creature I should be now, for in a very short time my body will be put in the grave, but I am not afraid, because I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I know that He will be with me to the end. I shall sleep through Him, and I shall be satisfied when I awake with His likeness. “Yes,” he continued, turning to Mrs. Baron, “I will praise Him, I will love Him. I was a grievous sinner. I hated all good things, even my Maker, but He sought me out. He washed me from my sins in His own blood. He gave me a new heart; He has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Then turning again to his bearer, he said, “Oh, my poor bearer, what will become of you, if you neglect so great salvation?” “Oh, Lord Jesus Christ,” he added, “turn the heart of my poor bearer.” This short prayer, which Henry made in Hindustani, his bearer repeated, scarcely knowing what he was doing, and it was the first time he had ever called upon God.
That evening, Boosey being left alone with his little master, said, “Sahib, I have been thinking all day that I am a sinner, and always have been one. and I begin to believe that my sins are such as cannot be washed away in the river Ganges. I wish I could believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” When Henry heard this, his joy was unbounded. At last, he said, “Boosey, you have made me very happy. I am so glad to hear you call yourself a sinner; it is Jesus Christ who is calling you to Him. He has begun a good work with you, and He will continue it to the end.” Then he begged Boosey, after he was gone, to return to Mr. Smith, and ask him to teach him more about Jesus.
This was the last talk Henry had with his bearer. Two days later the Lord took him gently home, to be forever with Himself. And what about Boosey, you ask? He went, as Henry had advised him, back to Mr. Smith, and from him, he learned to know Jesus as his only Saviour, and continued a sincere Christian until his death. I can add to this true story but one verse from God’s word. “He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” Jas. 5:20.
ML 12/16/1906