After a while these Missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Nettleship, heard of this poor boy, and went to see him. They told him of Jesus our Saviour, and how He loved him, and had given His life for him.
By and by this living Seed sank into the heart of the poor child, and a change came over him. He ceased to throw stones, he ceased to swear; and when the dear Missionaries offered to take care of him, he gladly went to them, and was with them for years. They called him Samuel, and he learnt to read and write, then helped them afterwards in their work. He learnt to play the concertina, and used to lead the hymns in the Sunday School; and he was full of joy and brightness.
The kind Missionaries made a loose Japanese robe for him, in which he could move about, and which covered up his poor maimed body. He learned to move about, swinging himself on his hands and arms, so that he could cross a room quite quickly; and they told me that his face was full of Heaven's sunshine.
I used to send him a book every year till his death; and he painted several beautiful Japanese pictures for me, which I keep as great treasures.
On one of these, he outlined these words in Japanese: "When the Chief Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
Just before his loving friends had to leave Hakodate for a time, dear Samuel was taken "Home!" after a short but painless illness, so that he never missed the loving care he had had!
It seems to me that this simple story helps us to understand what "sowing" and "reaping" mean.
The "Sowing" was done in that dark and dirty hovel in Japan.
The full of joy of the "Reaping" will come by and by in Heaven; but a foretaste of it was surely in the hearts of those dear Missionaries who carried that Living Seed to that poor neglected child, and who saw him grow up into an earnest, devoted Christian!