“I suppose you know the hymn about His taking care of them that trust Him, don’t you?” continued Mary.
“I can’t say I do. What is it?” asked the young man.
“This is one verse,” said Mary:
“The hosts of God encamp around
The dwellings of the just;
Protection He affords to all
Who make His name their trust.”
“And what’s the next?” inquired the man, ignoring the angry impatience of his companion.
The child continued the hymn, and when she reached the last verse,
“While hungry lions lack their prey,
The Lord will food provide,
For such as put their trust in Him,
And see their wants supplied”;
the man moved uneasily in his chair, his face showing evident signs of disturbance; then he got up, and turned to the window. His companion quickly joined him, and a whispered conversation began, their voices gradually rising in evident anger, until the younger exclaimed aloud:
“I tell you no, Tom. I won’t have it, and if you try it, we’ll see which is the best man, you or me!”
Mary did not hear any more, for on this the men walked out into the yard. Presently the younger one reentered.
“I want you to tell me your name,” he said. Mary told him.
“Ah, I shan’t forget it. I’ve just come back to say good-by. We won’t wait till your father comes; perhaps we’ll call again another day. Good-by, Mary,” and giving her hand a hearty shake, he turned away.
“I wonder where Rover has been all this time?” said Mary, when the men had gone, and ran to call him; but as he neither came nor answered, she returned to the house.
When her parents came home Mary told them of her visitors; but, although surprised at such an unusual event, their suspicions were not aroused until later in the evening, when poor Rover was found dead in the yard, evidently poisoned. Then the real character of Mary’s guests was discovered. They were robbers, who having found out the defenseless condition of the house, had come with the intention of possessing themselves of a large sum of money which the farmer was known to have brought home with him from Saturday’s market; but they had been kept from accomplishing their purpose by the influence which Mary’s simple piety and trust in God’s care had exercised upon the younger of them.
It appeared that, although prevented from carrying out this particular crime, the men did not forsake their evil ways, and soon afterward, being convicted of a burglary, they were sentenced to transportation to Australia. The elder died on the voyage out, but Jim Smith, the younger, landed in Australia, and through good behavior, was ultimately assigned to a large sheep-farmer to serve out the remainder of his sentence. Being steady and better educated than most of the convicts, he gained the favor of his master, and one day obtained permission to break the monotony of his life by attending a service at a neighboring station. The first hymn given out was:
“Through all the changing scenes of life,
In trouble and in joy,
The praises of my God shall still
My heart and tongue employ.”
When the minister reached the verse,
“The hosts of God encamp around The dwellings of the just;...”
Jim’s attention was riveted; a throng of old memories and strange, disturbing thoughts rushed in upon him. After the service he asked the minister if he might copy the hymn; but the good man gave him the book itself, and having taken his name and address, sent him soon afterward a Bible and some tracts. These, in the softened and thoughtful frame of mind aroused by the hymn, were diligently studied, and proved, through the blessing of God, the means of his conversion.
He continued with his kind master until the expiration of his sentence, then took a farm on his own account and soon became a prosperous man, looked up to and respected by all around for his Christian character and consistent life.
Some years afterward he revisited England, and made his way to the lonely farmhouse where the seed was sown, which though long buried had at length sprung up and borne fruit. To his great joy he found the old farmer still living with Mary, now grown-up and keeping house for him, and it was to them he told the story of his life and how God had used Mary’s simple faith and the hymn, repeated with such childlike trust, to open his heart to receive the blessed words of eternal life.
ML 03/08/1959