W A '/ A & Z I ■ - , ^ j \ / / / / / / / / // //. fiÀ V ictor Summers could hear the seemed to sense the need for haste as they moved swiftly over the narrow mountain trail that led from the bus stop to the community hospital. Vic tor had just spent four days of dirty travel in a crowded, hot train com partment and now he was swinging along in mid-air as the coolies car ried the chair-dandee on their shoul ders. The cold, brittle wind felt good on his flushed, feverish face. It gave new life to his wilted body as it swept down from the snow-covered Himalaya ridges. All the other fellows would be hik ing the two miles to the school dormi tory. “ Oh, well,” he thought, “ what difference does it make?” He didn’t feel like scuffling with the fellows anyway. Last night on the train Mr. Harder had said: “Vic, you’ll have to be a brave boy. Your fever’s bad, but there’s no chance of seeing a doctor until we get you up to the top of the ridge.” And Victor wanted to be brave, but it was no fun being sick the last day of their trip. The coolies let the chair-dandee down easy from their shoulders onto the hospital veranda and handed the note from Mr. Harder to the cha- prasi at the door. Victor didn’t care much what would happen. His eyes burned, and there was more throb bing pain than before in his head and body. “ Dear Jesus,” he prayed, “ don’t let me die up here all alone. Why did Mother and Daddy send me so far away for school? It isn’t fair, it isn’t fair to be a missionary’s boy!” “ Hello, Victor,” greeted the nurse as she read the note from Mr. Harder. “ So you’ve been a sick boy. We’ll let Budhi chaprasi carry you in here on the couch, out of the wind. We’ll just trust the Lord Jesus to bless the medicine and soon you’ll be well.” His eyes closed but he heard the nurse say, “ Doctor, the fever is 104; what are your instructions?” Victor
By M atild a Ja n tz e n , M ission ary to India
mother had very suddenly taken sick, and when Roger returned home after several days he was shocked to find no one there. His neighbor told him: “Your mother’s sick in the hospital. You better go there right now.” Roger arrived at the hospital in time to see his mother and hear her last words, “ Roger, I want to meet you in heaven,” and with that she was gone. Victor felt more homesick than ever after hearing the story and he longed to be with his family once more. “ Roger should come up here for a year; then he’d know better than to run away from home,” he com plained. “ Now, don’t talk that way,” said Miss Day. “ I think it would be a good idea and help keep you busy right now to write a letter home.” So he decided to do just that. He told them of the trip. He told them how he missed them and even of his tears. When the letter was mailed Victor felt better. He settled back on his pillow to study his surroundings for the first time. The room really looked bare and cold except for one motto on the opposite wall. He read the motto aloud, “ Call upon me in the day of trouble.” Well, he was in trou ble now, wasn’t he— sick and far from home. “ Dear Lord Jesus,” he prayed, “ I’m sick, and I’m tired and I wish I wasn’t a missionary’s boy. I think I’m in trouble, and I need Thee to help me get a good bed at the dorm.” “Mail man, mail man,” fairly shouted Miss Day as she came back with a letter from home. His mother said they were looking for a letter from him telling them all about the trip to Landour. His broth ers, Jackie and Donnie, were already talking about coming to see him. “We know it is not easy for you to go so far away for school,” wrote his mother, “ but you were a very brave boy and did not even cry at the station. I know the Lord Jesus helped you and that you were trust-
didn’t hear anymore. Soon they were taking him upstairs to a warm bed and doctors and nurses to care for im. The next few days passed quickly. He knew the doctor and nurses had come and gone several times. He felt his head, “fever’s gone, I must be well. Wonder when I can get out of here.” He lifted his arm to throw back the cover and then realized that he had little strength. “ Guess I’ll stay here until the nurse comes,” \ thought Victor. “Wonder if the fel lows took all the good beds at the dorm?” “ Good morning, Victor,” greeted the nurse, Miss Day. “How’s the boy?” “ Miss Day, when do you think I can go to school?” “ Do you want to leave me so soon? Do you know that you’ve been a very sick boy for the past few days? You’re still running some temperature, so it’ll be several more days until you’re well and strong enough to go. While you were so sick, Dr. Brad wrote a card to your parents letting them know of your condition here in the hospital.” “ Miss Day, you know it takes six days for a letter from up here to get to my folks at Jagdeeshpur. I don’t like it here so far from home.” “ How far do your Mother and Daddy live from here?” asked Miss Day. “ I’m not real sure, but I’ve heard Dad talk about 1,000 miles. It’s far, because it always takes us four days to make the trip from our mission station in the jungle. Why did the Lord ask Mother and Daddy to come to India? My cousin Gene in Ameri ca can live at home with his folks while he goes to school. Does God love him more than He does me?” “ God loves all His children, Vic,” she said and then started to read a story to him. It was about a young boy, a bit older than Victor, whose name was Roger. Roger had been a disobedient boy. Because his parents had punished him, he left home. His
crunch of the soft snow under the thin soles of the poorly clad feet of the Tibetan coolies. They
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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