The women of India have very large earthen pitchers, which they use for carrying water. Such a pitcher, worth only a few cents, was noticed one evening by three English officers, lying in a field. At some distance from the pitcher were a few natives working.
The officers had been tiger hunting all day, but they had not fired a shot, as not a single tiger had been seen. Their guns were therefore still loaded, and in order to give themselves a little amusement, one of the officers proposed to shoot at an object to test which of ‘them was the best shot.
Seeking for a suitable object, their eyes fell on the pitcher lying in the field. A better target they could not have wished for, so they began to shoot. The pitcher lay at a considerable distance away, but all three were experienced shots. But how was that! The first shot missed, the second shot missed, and likewise the third.
Astonished and annoyed, they went towards the pitcher, to see where their shots had struck. They were quite near it, when the sound of plaintive crying reached their ears. And what did they see, when they looked in? A little child, which had been hidden in it by its mother, as a protection from the dangerous insects which abound in that hot land.
The mother, who was working among the natives nearby, terrified by the shots, came running up. The officers stood petrified. Quite near the child their bullets lay stuck in the ground, but neither pitcher nor child were hurt.
They compensated the mother for the unintentional fright she had received, and went off in earnest conversation as to the wonderful way God had protected the child from death, and themselves from murder.
ML 03/03/1938