"Before I sing this song for you," she said in a clear, sweet voice, "I wish to say something about it. Most of you, no doubt, know this song and many of you like it, but to me it means more than any song I could sing. It simply tells my life story. Let me read it to you.
"When I was but a little child, how well I recollect,
How I would grieve my mother with my folly and neglect.
And now that she has gone to Heaven, I miss her tender care,
Oh, angels, tell my mother I'll be there.
"Tell mother I'll be there, in answer to her prayer,
This message, guardian angel, to her bear.
Tell mother I'll be there, Heaven's joys with her to share,
Yes, tell my darling mother, I'll be there.
"When I was often wayward, she was always kind and good,
So patient, gentle, loving, when I acted rough and rude.
My childhood griefs and trials, she would gladly with me share,
Oh, angels, tell my mother I'll be there.
"When I became a prodigal and left the old roof-tree,
She almost broke her loving heart in grieving after me.
And day and night she prayed to God to keep me in His care,
Oh, angels, tell my mother I'll be there.
"One day a message came to me, it bade me quickly come,
If I would see my mother ere the Saviour took her home.
I promised her before she died for Heaven to prepare,
Oh, angels, tell my mother I'll be there.
"This last verse has been enacted in my life within the past week. Mrs. Morton had written home and told father and mother that I was with her. This message came the next day, 'Come at once. Mother is dying'; it was signed 'From your Father.' In company with Mrs. Morton I reached the old home at four o'clock the next afternoon. I used to think the place was lonely and dreary, but I can never tell you how glad I was to set my foot in the old yard once more. Everything looked so good to me, and the same old apple tree where I used to swing when I was a little girl seemed to welcome me home. Dear old Rover came to meet me and, although it had been three years since he saw me, he knew me. We hugged each other and in his dog way he made me feel that I still had a place in his warm heart. The night I left home, the old dog followed me down the road and it nearly broke my heart when I had to send him back; he loved me when I thought all the world hated me. As I reached the porch, father came to the door. Oh, how different he looked! When I left home he was strong and active and now he is bent with sorrow, sorrow that my sin has brought to him. He took me in his arms and kissed me again and again. I tried to ask him for forgiveness; but he would not listen to me. 'You have been forgiven ever since you left home that awful night, and I have searched for three years to find you and tell you so. But come, my child, you must see your mother; she has been calling for you ever since her sickness.' He led the way into mother's bed chamber. 'Here's daughter, Mother,' he said.
"'Oh, I knew you'd come,' she said with a feeble voice; 'I just knew that God would send you to me before He called me home. Raise me up, child, I can't see you.'
"I lifted her frail body and held her in my arms and—and—well, after I made the promise that is in this last verse, she smiled and, with her eyes turned heavenward, my dear, sweet mother went to be with Jesus. You all know my life, how I suffered for my sin; I tried to forget father, mother, home and God. Loving hands have lifted me back to life once more and Jesus has saved me from it all and I can truthfully say, 'Oh, angels, tell my mother I'll be there.'"
The song that followed carried everything before it, and nearly every one was weeping. The rich contralto voice was never better and Floe was singing from her very soul. She forgot the people around her, she was in another world. When the chorus had been sung for the last verse the male quartet took it up, singing softly, and seemed to carry that crowd into the very heaven of which Floe had been singing.