"No, ma'am, not a prayer. I wasn't fit for it, you know; but when he was swearing and threatening to kill me,—not him, but rum,—I used to whisper, O God, pity me. Dear Jesus, take away the bad heart that makes him treat me so. Once after I had asked God to make him good and help me to be patient, he came and looked at me as I lay on the straw. He wasn't drunk then, and he said, 'I'm sorry for your sake you ever saw me, Esther.' His voice was real kind, like as though he pitied me. When he'd gone, I told Jesus about it. Was it naughty?" as she saw Miss Howard suddenly put her handkerchief to her eyes, "and I loved Jesus Christ so much that I forgot all the pain in my head and my side, so I fell asleep."
[CHAPTER VII.]
ESTHER'S FORGIVENESS.
NO one but a faithful Christian worker in Christ's vineyard can understand the encouragement such a revelation as that described in the last chapter is to those who have been for years sowing good seed and waiting for the harvest.
Esther, for years a member of the mission Sunday school,—light and frivolous, seemingly almost incapable of retaining any of the teachings repeated Sunday after Sunday in her hearing,—had been impressed by something in this simple prayer which the gracious spirit of God had fixed in her memory. It seemed to have been the "word in season," which had come back to her in her hours of deepest need, and proved to her in truth that God was really a loving Father watching over and pitying His sorrowing children.
Marion related the incident which had so deeply affected her to her friend in England adding, "I suppose I may learn from this a lesson of trust. We have the glorious privilege of sowing the seed in the hearts of these poor waifs. It is God's part, which He has promised to do, to help it to sink into the light soil and spring up to everlasting life.
"How many times I have heard people say, 'Such work does no good. The influences around these poor creatures are all against them. Once in seven days they repeat the command not to swear, not to steal, not to lie, and every hour of the other six days they hear the vilest oaths and are witness to a breach of every other command. If it were any truths but God's own truths, which He has promised to bless, we might well be discouraged; but in the case of Esther, when to human appearance all her surroundings were against her, one little seed of divine truth sank into her heart and bore such wonderful fruit that I take fresh courage and feel that I can labor with fresh diligence."
Never in all her acquaintance with Mrs. Douglass had our young friend enjoyed her visits there as now. The lady had recovered from her recent illness, and was able to take a short walk every day, supported by her daughter's arm. In Mrs. Cheriton's countenance there was an added beauty. Her eyes no longer flashed defiantly, as of old. Her head seemed to have forgotten its fashion of throwing itself back, as she haughtily refused any request which crossed her own inclinations. Upon her brow there was a sweet serenity that spoke to the observer of inward peace.
I have already spoken of the change in her treatment of her boy. Her resolutions made during that dreadful night were never forgotten. Conscience, once aroused, did not slumber again. She prayed earnestly that she might have help to command her own temper, and thus be able to teach Geenie to conquer his. The resemblance in many of her traits to her uncle Henreich, which has caused her mother hours of anxious forebodings, grew less and less every day. She saw that her daughter was making a great effort to correct her faults, and that in her government of her son she was kind but firm.
Formerly, as Marion went into their room, she was aware that her entrance had interrupted some unpleasant discussion. Mrs. Douglass would either be trembling with agitation or in tears while Mrs. Cheriton was flushed and defiant.