Minister. "And when did you see Mr. Kitchin last?"
Ellen. "Sir, the fever take him; he lie bed; he call us his children. He say, 'Come round the bed, my children.' He then say, 'My children, I go to God; meet me before God;' and then he fall asleep."
Minister. "Oh, then, Mr. Kitchin is dead, is he?"
Ellen. "Dead, sir? oh, no! Mr. Kitchin no die; he fall asleep in Jesus. He has gone to heaven."
"LITTLE WA."
There is a boy of tender years now in England, whose story beautifully illustrates the loving care of God for an afflicted heathen child. He is the son of an African chief, and two or three years since you might have seen him playing about his father's and mother's yard—as happy as the day was long—no kid frisked so merrily, no kitten was fuller of fun. But "little Wa" was deaf and dumb, and soon his mother, "Ti Bla," was to die, and then his father, "Ta Qwia," was to be laid by her side under the palm-tree. God foreknew this, and see how graciously He provided for this helpless orphan.
Little Wa was very fond of wandering from home; and wherever he went, whether to the huts of the natives or the houses of the colonists, he was a great favorite, and everybody treated him kindly. He liked to sport about with those of his own age, and would amuse the tribes by the hour. Often he came to the mission station, and the missionary got quite attached to him, and encouraged him to stay, and gave him a white shirt—his first civilized suit. This delighted him, and kept him hovering around for a week together; then off he trotted to the town.
By-and-by he reappeared with his shirt dirty, and the missionary exchanged it for a clean one. "He seemed so pleased to be with us, and was such a good boy," says the missionary, "that pitying his sad case, I thought I would try and get him into my family." He asked his father, who was still an idolater, if he would let him keep him. His father said, "Yes, he might keep him if he could." He meant that "Wa" was such a gad-about that no one could keep him. However, the missionary determined to try it. He had some new clothes made for him, bound with scarlet; he set him a stool to have his meals, and he had his own plate and fork, and a snug corner to sleep in at night, and a warm blanket to wrap himself in.