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WHEN HE CALMED THE STORM
HEY knelt at the parting of the
ways, knelt and asked for guid
ance. He the stronger spiritual
ly, she the stronger physically.
They asked God to be near and
direct their way, and they felt
His presence.
He looked into her eyes and
said, “What shall we do?” and
T
she answered, “We will step out on the wa
ter and go, He will hold us up.”
She knew where they were going the roses
were blooming, and soft winds were blowing,
and prayed that the lustre might come back
to his eye the color to his cheeks.
There was the sweet little journey, when
they were so happy to be alone together. And
at the journey’s end the beautiful hotel with
the pleasant room they called their own, in
the dear little southern city.
She remembered afterward how, when
they first entered the room, he knelt, thank
ing his Heavenly Father for the safe jour
ney, and the beautiful hotel home.
The days slipped by, they read and talked
and prayed together, and went up to the
house of God in company. Here he seemed
stronger than elsewhere. There were peni
tents at the altar, he talked to them, seeking
to lead them to Christ. There was a testi
mony meeting, he stood and testified for his
blessed Master in sweet words of love and
truth, that those who heard could never for
get.
They had never been so entirely one as
now T . She found such joy in doing for him
the little necessary things, in hovering over
him anticipating his wants.
One day he was in bed, there was a look
about his face she did not like, a look that
chilled her heart.
The physician came, a little man, with a
big w 7 atch, a wise little man with a big heart.
He thumped the poor pain-racked body, and
listened to the poor tired laboring heart, then
spoke a cheery word or two and, beckoning
her, went out into the hall.
Here he whispered a word that sent the
blood from lip and cheek. She almost stag
gered, then making a prayer she stood a mo
ment, and went back to him—smiling.
There w’ere strangers all about them, but
0 THE Bible student a visit to the
Orient is the realization of a life
time dream, for it really means
a journey through Bible lands.
Judaism and Christianity, in
their origin and development are
inseparably connected with the
lands and places visited, Spain,
Puteoli, Rome, Rhegiam, Syra-
T
cuse, Crete, Malta (Malita), Egypt, Palestine,
Damascus, Smyrna, Constantinople, Patmos
and Greece. These lands represent a multi
tude of interests, from the early dawn of hu
man history down to the present time, but
to us, a party of Christian people, their chief
charm grows out of their relation to the
Bible.
We sailed from New York, April 8, on the
Friedrich der Grosse, of the North German
Lloyd, a distance of about 4,100 miles. The
voyage has been a splendid one, a fine ship,
excellent fare, good service, a smooth sea,
cool breezes, three landings and a thousand
objects of interest to attract and instruct.
Several days out from New York the Azores,
with their coast towns, vine-clad hills and
snow-capped mountains, were a welcome
OFF TO THE ORIENT
The Golden Age for June 1, 1911.
MRS. LEM GILREATH
such strangers! They opened their arms and
gathered them in to big warm loving hearts,
hearts warm with the love of God. And she
whispered, “I was a stranger, and ye took
me in.”
One day he said to her: ”We stepped out on
the water and came” and she answered, “yes,
we did.” Then he looked up while the tears
gathered and said, “but I am not looking at
the water at all,” and she said, “neither am
I, dear, neither am I.”
He was holding them up and they both
knew it, but the storm was gathering very
fast. She felt every puff of wind grow
stronger, and the waves were beginning to
roll so high, and she could hear the moan of
the sea.
There were times, however, when she al
most hoped, when he slept so well, and waked
and saw her sitting there, and smiled and
slept again. Then the moan of the sea grew
fainter, and the waves rippled about her
feet.
The physicians came and went, two of
them now. Low spoken, kind, attentive,
skillful. He always took leave of them, with
a tender “God bless you both.”
One day he looked up at her dreamily and
said, “We will go home Monday,” and she pat
ted his hand, and answered, humoring him,
“Yes, we will go home Monday.”
The Sabbath dawned bright and clear,
bright as a glance of God. In the darkened
room in the hotel the sea was moaning very
loud, the wind was blowing and all the waves
and billows were going over her soul. She
needed no physician to tell her the white
winged messenger was hovering near.
They came, those kind men of medicine,
and took her in the parlor and told her ten
derly.
Then they spoke a word, warning her, a
word that told of a danger to him in those
last hours, a danger that almost stopped her
heart. It was a terror within a terror, the
awful flash in the midst of the storm.
She turned almost fiercely upon those
about her, those who loved him, and who
served their God. “Pray,” she said, “oh
pray that he may be delivered from this.”
And they slipped away to talk to God, and
beg His mercy.
sight, especially to those who had never be
fore been five days, or even one day, out of
sight of land. Games were given up, books
were laid aside, steamer chairs and sofas
were deserted, conversations were suspended
and for a time one object filled every eye, and
one subject occupied every tongue. After
some hours we settled down again to our
quiet, pleasant and restful ship life, until at
last, three days later we had our first gilmpse
of Portugal and Spain. Soon Gibraltar, that
mighty English fortress, forever linked with
the name of Nelson, rose before us in its
majesty, and argus-eyed, with more than a
hundred cannon, stood guard over the narrow
straits through which so much of the com
merce and the travel of the world must pass.
But we were friends, and so we landed with
out the boom of a gun, and spent the three
hours most profitably with a carriage drive
and then a visit to the shops, so different
from anything at home, and to the market so
Oriental in its character. Whether Paul vis
ited Gibraltar we cannot say, but we know he
meant to visit Spain, for in writing to the
church in Rome he says: (Rom. XV, 24:28).
'‘Whensoever I take my journey into Spain,
Close beside him she sat all that sunshiny
Sabbath day, and watched him slip away. An
awful specter of dread stood beside her as she
watched.
She looked right into his eyes and when
the dear lips moved she leaned to listen.
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust him,”
plain and clear she caught it. Then, as though
speaking to some one standing near he said,
“Blessed precious Jesus.”
He was holding her hand fast now, and
calling her name, he was repeating a little
verse in a foreign tongue, a little verse that
told of a perfect love and trust in God.
The shadows of evening were gathering in
the room, when he looked up suddenly and
said, “What a beautiful May morning,” then,
“Oh the white winged birds, you should see
them.”
She was leaning close now, she was holding
his hand so tight, she was going with him to
the brink of the river.
She looked up, the specter was gone, and lo
in its place, coming to her across the water,
was her Savior. Suddenly she realized that
there was a great calm, the wind was hushed,
the waves had ceased to roll.
He was holding her up, with his nail-pierc
ed hands, and He had brought precious gifts
for them both.
For him a robe of righteousness, a crown
of life eternal, and a “well done good and
faithful servant.” For her a spirit of resig
nation, a wonderful consciousness of His
presence, a new conception of life, and the
“Peace that passeth all understanding.”
She felt triumphant, even happy. The Sa
vior was taking him. Death, like a throttled
lion, held at bay, was not touching him. She
could give him to the kind tender Master.
She leaned low again, might she not catch
one word as an echo from the other shore.
Yes, he was speaking, strong and clear, his
yoice filled the room, “Amen,” he said, re
peating it again and again.” Amen, amen,
amen.”
The gates ajar, that had given him a
glimpse of the “fair May morning” had also
given him some sound of glorious anthems
or wondrous utterance, and he breathed an
echo as he entered in.
They went home Monday.
JOHN H. EAGER.
I will come to you. When, therefore, I have
performed this, and have sealed to them this
fruit, I will come by and go into Spain.”
Our next stop was Algiers, the Queen of
North Africa, which the Arabs say is “a dia
mond set in emeralds,” the city being the dia
mond, and the green hills around the emer
alds. Here we had five hours and they were
hours we can never forget. Built on high
sloping hills, surrounding a horse shoe bay,
the situation is charming. In lower Algiers
European culture has triumphed over Mos
lem life, and on the hills the suburbs are
many beautiful villas, for this is fast becom
ing a favorite winter resort for French, Ger
man and English. Old Algiers is as Moslem
and as Pagan as ever, and our walk through
the narrow, filthy, crowded streets was the
sight of a life time. Even in Naples I have
seen nothing to equal it. One wonders if
such a quarter of such a city can ever be re
generated and purified. I was unable to learn
what Christian work is being carried on
among these people, but one who has read
“Twice Born Men,” and “Souls in Action,”
pannot despair even of the worst slums of a
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