THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Down, in the north of Ireland. The place of his birth being a small seaport town, with vast stretches of the stormy North Channel tossing before it, it is little won der that the boy was filled with a long ing for the water. His father was a sea captain, and the earliest recollections of the boy are associated with % wonderful voyage, which he took at the age of six, from Hull, England, to 'the West Indies. The return voyage was made to Bremer- haven, Germany, and the boy well recalls the deep anxiety of the father who waited day after day in th a t’port, expecting the arrival of the mother, from England. It was subsequently learned that the passenger steamer on which she had embarked had lost its propeller in a storm' and had drifted helplessly about in the wild North Sea until found by another vessel and towed into harbor. Naturally, the box was very proud , of this, his first long voyage, and felt greatly superior to his small playmates in his home town, to whom he ,told, again and again, of the sights he had seen, and of the adventures he had met; and, doubtless these stories lost nothing in the telling. For a time, he Settled down at home, but the lure of the sea had gripped him, and its call was too strong t6 be resisted- At every opportunity he was down by the waters, looking with longing eyes at the restless ships, the busy sailors, and the far stretches of the sea. At the age of seven teen he could no longer resist the tempta tion, in spite of the efforts of his parents to keep him at home; and throwing off all restraints of school and loved ones, he found himself apprenticed on the large barque “Galgorm Castle” for four years. His first experience as a sailor proved a rude awakening from his dreams of ideal life at Sea, for a storm arose at the very beginning of the voyage and he became deathly seaisick, and would have given much to be in his own snug home once more. He himself declares that he would have been willing to take any position, how ever menial, if only he could be on shore
again. But it was now too late, and he had to join with a number of drunken sailors in setting the sails. The rain came down in torrents and the wind blew madly through the rigging; the ship, in spite of her size, was but a plaything in the raging tumult of wind and water. But God was preserving the boy as he preserved Jonah and Paul in similar peril, and he was destined to outlive this and many other •storms. IS SHIPWRECKED In his wanderings' over the 'ocean he had many thrilling adventures. On a voyage , from England-to Valparaiso, with coal, the cargo shifted and the ship capsized while rounding Cape Horn. After hours of in tense suffering and danger, expecting every moment to 1be -washed into the sea or to have' the ship turn completely over, the twenty-four men clinging desperately to its side saw a vessel approaching; but it finally left them to fheir fate, claiming that it was unable to render assistance because of the high sea. After some days of drifting the vessel was picked up. by a British man of war and towed .into Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. In due time the four years of his appren ticeship expired. The first port touched after this event was that of Cape Town. He determined to remain for a time. He was here for two years, working on the construction of the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad, and wandering almost 'aimlessly through Matabele, Rhodesia and other portions of Africa, Although his life was wayward, he could never quite free himself from a conscious ness of his sinful habits, and a feeling that he should overcome them. His mother’s prayers had gripped him in early life, and he was never able altogether to free him self from their, blessed influence. Thanks be to God for praying mothers ! What a striking example this is of the power of their supplications to abide and exert an influence for good in spite of the lapse of time, in spite'of distance, and in spite of evil companions! A kindly providence
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