In distant lands across the sea,
Ten thousands miles or more,
A mother with her children three,
Resided near the shore.
One day she sent them to the sands
To gather bits of wood,
She loved to see their little hands
At work at something good.
Like little lambkins from the fold,
They ran along the sea:—
Now, Katie, she was nine years old,
Her sisters—five and three.
Along the beach and near the bay,
They wander’d up and down,
And to the distant woods away,
Until the sun went down.
The children with the place were charm’d
And onward still they sped,
Till Katie soon became alarm’d
To see the darkness spread.
The wind was blowing cold and shrill,
The children were in tears,
The night was getting darker still,
And great were Katie’s fears.
At last she saw a little nook
Within a rocky cave,
And there the little ones she took,
Determined them to save.
She gathered sea-weed from the beach,
Which sun and wind had dried,
And all the moss within her reach
Around the cavern side.
And in a corner made a bed,
To shield them from the storm,
And then her little tippet spread,
To keep them snug and warm.
The ocean dashed upon the bay,
The wind blew loud and wild,
But neither of them turned away
The noble-hearted child.
And there she sat till morning light,
And till the storm was past.
The mother searched throughout the night,
And found them here at last.
She found the little ones asleep,
Safe in their sea-weed bed,
And Katie sitting near the heap—
But Katie: she was dead!
Her loving care for them was such
No storm or wind could stem,
For Katie loved her sisters much,
And lost her life for them.
But Jesus’ love was more than this,
And at a greater cost,
He left His own bright home of bliss
And died to save the lost.
G. C.
ML 02/11/1900