Then she remembered that the old Buddhist priest was praying for her, and that her mother, the nurse, and the Christian friends were praying for her too, so she took courage. “Rather die than worship the serpent with seven heads,” she said to herself, and she pressed on. Above her head in the trees the orangutans chased each other, and the eyes of the wild cat shone in the darkness. Suddenly a huge snake crawled over the pathway. There was no end of the dark forest yet. She passed a lake where the wild beasts came to quench their thirst. An elephant was drinking. Suddenly a tiger jumped on his back, and the two animals fought until the water was colored red. Golden Lotus hurried on, while the moon shed a little light on her path.
At last she felt so tired that she sat down, and soon fell asleep. The little dog awakened her but she had lost all sense of direction. She did not know where to turn. She asked Suko: “Where is the house?” The dog ran in the direction of the temple, the only house he knew. And so Gold Lotus went on in the opposite direction calling her dog back. On and on she walked. At last the wild cocks crowed, for the dawn was approaching. But Golden Lotus was exhausted, and she threw herself down on the ground. Her sandals were torn and her feet were bleeding. A little bear was snuffing at her. Suko chased him away.
Golden Lotus was so tired that she was only half-conscious and she knew, if God did not send help, she must die there in the jungle. Suddenly she saw something very tall approaching. Suko crouched behind her, and she closed her eyes with fear. A rough hand touched her, but not unkindly, and a strange voice asked, “Are you sick, little girl; where do you go?” “I want to go to the Jesus Hall,” answered Golden Lotus faintly, “I am so tired.” It was a tall woman from the wild mountain tribe who was bending over her. The long sticks in the baskets on her back had made her appear much taller. She gave the child a drink from a cucumber bottle. Then she took the wood our of her basket and put Golden Lotus and the dog into it and off she ran until she came to the border of the forest. She gave her charge to the missionaries who were waiting there and ran back into the jungle. She had been kind to Golden Lotus because her child had been healed in the Mission hospital.
The missionaries put Golden Lotus on a stretcher and carried her to their home where she slept again for a long time, and when she awoke she heard the children of the Mission home singing so sweetly about the Lord Jesus and His work on Calvary. What a contrast to the monotonous litany of the Buddhist monks! A moment later her mother entered and pressed her precious child to her heart with tears of joy.
“On Mother dear,” exclaimed Golden Lotus, “I am at last in the Jesus Hall. I am going to tell the heathen girls of my country that there is a Saviour who saves sinners and gives them peace.”
ML 01/22/1950