303
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
August, 1936
Junior KING’S BUSINESS B y M a r t h a S. H o o k e r
GOD ’S LITTLE CANDLE B y A. O . S tott
T h e s e famine times are too bitter- bad, and how can we fill so many mouths? M -Yu faeh [there’s no help for it]. We must sell the boy.” These words fell on Mrs. Wong’s heart like a heavy weight, for she had grown fond of the little orphan they had adopted a few years:: before. But her husband’s: widowed sister and her four small chil dren had unexpectedly arrived to “eat their family,” and unbreakable custom re quired that the Wongs should feed them. It was almost impossible to provide
The boy was suffering too much pain to resist in any way, and when he was warm ly tucked into the chair, the swaying mo tion seemed to ease his pain. At last they reached the hospital. The doctor’s face .was: grave when he saw Siao-Teng, but his young Chinese assist ant, who was a cousin of Siao-Teng’s “good Samaritan,” took a very special in terest in the new patient. His tireless ef forts and skill were rewarded at last, and very, very slowly, Siao-Teng got better. “Why do you waste your heart in all
“ Since you cannot walk and we cannot carry you, you must stay where you are,” he said. And the band passed on, leaving Siao-Teng lying on the lonely hillside. The boy felt much too sick and miser able to care what happened to him. He lay in a sort of stupor until roused at last by a kindly voice. “My small brother, you must not stay here, for the curtain of darkness is falling quickly, and this is a very lonely place. Come, I will help you.”. . Siao-Teng only shook his head feebly.
this trouble for me?” the boy asked his: kind ® octor one day. “I am not worth it at all. How can I repay such kind ness?” “We don’t want you to try,” Said Dr. Lee, smiling. “ But we hope you may become a little candle shining for Jesus CS-ou know your name means ‘Little Candle;’ I think that God will help you to live up to it. He needs you, Siao- Teng, to be His little light in this dark world of sin.” “Just as my hymn says,” said Siao-Teng, “ I always call it my hymn, when we sing
enough food, for their rice crop had failed. Therefore Siao-Teng — whose : name meant “ Little Candle”—must go. Mrs. Wong looked at the boy with tears in her eyes, for, as they say in, China, “her heart was beaten with thorns.” The next day her husband came in looking pleased. “Good luck!” he exclaimed. “ I have just seen a traveling t h e a t r i c a l band passing through our village. The head man is an old acquaintance of mine. He told me he wants another pupil to train for act ing, as one has just died. I said we had an adopted boy
Courtesy. China’s Millions.
Sedan Chairs in China
He was too weak to move. When Dao- Sing [True Heart], the young man bend ing over him, xsaw that his limb was broken, he gently lifted him up on his back. When they reached the village, what a strange sight they were for the neighbors to see! A tall, well-dressed young student in his spotless white gown, carrying a help less boy in ragged, filthy garments! O f course people asked questions, but Dao-f Sing did not stop to answer, for he was in too great a hurry to get Siao-Teng home, and to take him as soon as possible to the nearest mission hospital. Dao-Sing was home from college be cause of his father’s recent death, and was eager to do all he possibly could for his Saviour’s sake. He carried little Siao- Teng to his own hojne. “My son,” said his mother in surprise, “who is the sick boy you are bringing in ?” “I found the poor little fellow on the White Cat Mountain road with a broken limb. He looks pretty sick. No doubt he was left there by that theater band which passed through our village this afternoon.” “My son, we do not want him to die here,” said his-,mother nervously. “My mother, I must do all I can to help him, and tomorrow we will try to get him to the hospital at Sin-chow. Unfortunate ly, a carrying chair will cost much money.” “True, and we are without a dollar to spare just now,” said his mother, although she felt very sorry for Siao-Teng. Her son, however, was not one to be hindered in anything he resolved to do, and he managed to get a loan from a neighbor which paid for the chair to take Siao-Teng to the hospital twenty miles away.
God’s songs together in the evenings. When my time comes to choose, I always say ‘Siao-Teng’SL ittle Candle .’mm “Justso,j” said Dr. Lee, “when you are strong enough, we are going to send you to school for. a while, and then we must find out what God wants you to do after wards. But now, Siao-Teng, we are to be shining for Him where we are.” “Yes, I know,” said Siao-Teng. Then he bowed his head as he sang the song that the missionary doctors had taught him: “Only a little candle, Lord! But keep me shining bright. Wherever I may be, Lord, Let me show forth Thy light.” Why Priscilla Arose So Early Priscilla’s mother heard sounds coming from her little daughter’s room very early in the morning, and hurried to see what was the matter. As she opened the door, there, kneeling by the side of her bed, was six-year-old Priscilla. “Darling, why are you up so. early?” Mother asked. And Priscilla replied, “ Our Bible class teacher told us to jump right out of bed the very first thing in the morning, and pray. Priscilla’s mother quietly left the room, rejoicing in her heart that her little daugh ter was talking to her heavenly Father the very first thing in the morning. Let us, too, set aside a time daily for prayer. In Psalm 55 :17 we read: “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” —M. S. H.
to sell and that he might suit. Truly I have often wondered'what Siao-Teng would do later on, for he seems to have no strength for hard work and can neither read nor write.” Mrs. Wong sighed, for she knew that the words were true, but they had hoped to provide for him in some way. The sud den death of her husband’s brother had changed everything. Four small girls and their mother to keep! It was a crushing burden indeed. Siao-Teng had a very good singing voice, and he loved acting. He was even better at it than are most Chinese boys, which is saying a great deal. The master thought that Siao-Teng would make a good pupil for his band of youths who went about the country villages acting plays at the local temples. The boy was willing enough to go, for the life seemed to have plenty of fun and variety. He hated weeding in the slushy mud of the rice fields and often became sick if he worked long. A las! He was soon bitterly disappointed, for the new life was abso lutely different from what he had pic tured. He had to make long journeys in bad weather, to and from distant villages, carrying heavy loads of clothes and wood en boxes. He had never been a strong boy, and though he struggled along for some months, one afternoon he fell down on a steep mountain path and broke his leg. The master was not really a cruel man, but money had been frightfully scarce, and engagements impossible to “glue up.” He scarcely knew how to feed the. boys as it was, and a sickly, useless one was an im possible burden.
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