A TOUCHING story is told of the faithfulness of a dog towards one who was bent on taking the dog’s life.
The man was the owner of the dog, and for some reason wanted to get rid of it. For this purpose he took the dog out in a little boat on a river. Having tied a large stone to the dog’s neck, he threw him into the water.
Of course, the poor creature sank at once, but the stone must have slipped out of the string, for in a moment the dog rose to the surface, and swam after the boat, and tried to get into it.
At last the man got angry, struck at him with the oar, and while he missed the dog, he lost his own balance, and fell into the river.
Now the tables were turned, for the man, not being able to swim, would certainly have been drowned but for the efforts of the dog, who seized his master by the collar, and keeping his head above water, swam for the shore.
It was a hard struggle, but the dog won, for he brought the man to land and thus saved his life.
I am glad to tell you, that in return for his devotion, he was taken home and kindly treated.
What a lesson this dog teaches us of doing good for evil, as we are taught in Scripture. It is a very hard thing to do, but God in His grace can enable us to do so.
ML 11/19/1922