Chapter 5. Part 2.
The man stopped, and William looked thoughtfully from one to the other. A thought arose in his heart: Might not these ragged old men be his brothers, who had once treated him so cruelly? Was it not possible that God had sent them in their misery to him, that he might show them love and return good for evil! To be sure of this he continued his questioning and asked:
“What was the cause of losing the favor of your landlord? Did you do anything wicked?”
It was quite a while before an answer came. Finally the oldest of the men said with a trembling voice: “Yes, sir, it is as you have said. We had been poaching for many years and had killed many deer and other game. They had been suspicious of us for a long time, but could not prove it. At last the whole thing came to light through a dealer to whom we had sold venison. We were, as my brother already stated, arrested, and, having carried on the poaching so long a time, we were punished severely. At first we were full of rage and anger, but by and by other feelings arose in our hearts. We remembered our father, who had often admonished us, because of our evil doings, and reminded us of the righteousness of God. This righteousness had overtaken us now, we felt; but at the same time, we saw that instead of being angry and rebellious, we had every reason to condemn ourselves and to confess our sins to God. After our release we desired to live honest lives; yes, sir, it was our earnest desire so to do; but nobody would have anything to do with us; not so much as a few hatchets would they loan us, so we had to give up the plan of going back to our old occupation.”
“Well,” said William, in whose heart the conviction was growing stronger that these men before him were his brothers, and being moved by deep pity, “haven’t you any relatives in the neighborhood where you came from? Isn’t there anybody who could take care of you?”
“No,” responded the elder one, “we are all alone. Our father settled in that district years ago, coming from another place. He was a wood chopper and his name was Robert Hartmann.”
“And did you not have another younger brother?” asked William, who was hardly able to control himself.
The men looked at each other in fright and then stared to the ground, but not one said a word. After a pause William jumped up, and, going with outstretched arms toward his brothers, said:
“Yes, you had yet another younger brother, and I am this brother! You meant to do me harm, as once the sons of Jacob did when they sold their brother Joseph, but God has turned all for good. He has kept me alive and led me in a wonderful way to this place, to my old grandmother, the mother of our father, which at that time still lived, and who brought me up in motherly love and care. She lived here in this little house which is now mine, in which I have now lived many years in peace and quietness. God has given me besides these earthly possessions, a faithful wife and dear children. And now you are all welcome here with me! I have enough to keep you till you have gained strength, and are able to make your own living. I forgive you for what you have done to me, and hope that God, too, will forgive your evil deeds.”
ML 08/01/1909