Then the love they had for Tamate brought a new strength. They wished to do more for the work for which he died than they had ever done before.
There was one old man called Rua. His hands were weak but his heart was strong. It was so good and strong that though it had loved Tamate with passion, it did not hate the men who had killed him.
Rua sat and mourned. His heart knew the thoughts of the white chief’s heart. Tamate had longed to win the love of the wild men of Dopima for Jesus Christ. He had died for this. Would his death be in vain? No, it must not be! It might be that Rua could help. He might live for the people for whom his friend had died. The thought fired him. He wrote:
“May you have life and happiness. At this time our hearts are very sad. Tamate and the boys are not here. We shall not see them again. I have wept much. My father Tamate’s body I shall not see again, but his spirit we shall certainly see in heaven, if we are strong to do the work of God, thoroughly and all the time. Hear my wish. It is a great wish. My strength I would spend in the place where he was killed. In that village I would live. In that place where they killed men, Jesus Christ’s name and His word I would teach to the people, that they may become Jesus’ children. My wish is just this. You know it. I have spoken.”
Rua could not go to Dopima. A greater joy came to him. Instead of going there to live for Christ and for his friend, he went on a longer journey, to be with Christ and with his friend.
In the clubhouses round Dopima the warriors had stuck up pieces of the broken boat. They pointed to them at their feasts as the signs of their great victory over the white chief and his power.
But in Dopima and all over New Guinea, the death that had seemed to give them the victory was in truth a triumph for the army of Christ. Weak hearts grew brave at the thought of it. Men and women came forward to fight for the Hero whom Tamate had followed even unto death, Jesus Christ, who died for those who hated Him, because He loved them.
THE END
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh & London
Transcriber’s Notes