His Touch.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIV, Issue 4, 1 October 1923, Page 307

His Touch.

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Just a pathetic little bundle of skin aiid bone, rags and dirt; a mop of tousled fair curls caked with black slum mud, and a tiny sharp wizened face!. Knocked down by a motor car outside the Mission Church on Good Friday night, he had been taken into the hospital opposite. The doctor looked him over with shrewd kindly eyes, then shook his head. "If this happened .to be a healthy child," he said, "there would be nothing- to fear, for his injuries are surprisingly small ; .but m this little chap's case it is different. He is m such a state of weakness and neglect that he may not get over the shock." Day after day the child lay there, m his hours of consciousness winning 1 the hearts of all by his brightness and quaint flashes of Cockney wit. But there were times of delirium, when those who heard him shuddered, for from the childish lips poured forth torrents of oaths and blasphemy, all jumbled up with entreaties ' ( not to be beaten," scraps of- hymns and prayers, and reminiscences of the Mission pictures, evidently seen and much appreciated on Good Friday evening. No one claimed him, and apparently no one. wanted him. When questioned, he clung 1 to the nurse ki an agony of fear. "0 don't let 'em send me back. Bill kicked me out, and said 'c 'd 'arf kill me if I showed my fice there again." She gently reassured him, and drew from him further information. "No, I never 'ad no farver and muvver as I can remember. Bill and Sue took care of me. Nime! What's that? I never 'ad none. 0-h, they called me Shrimp 'cos I allus never growed." At first it seemed as though the. bright, brave little spirit .would win through, but after a while it became evident that he was not gaining ground. "No vitality, and total lack of recuperative power," the doctor said. Then the day came when a screen was placed round the bed, and the voices of those who had grown to love the little lad were hushed as they passed the spot. . At the bedside stood two of ' the child's special chums, the .nurs6, and the chaplain. The chaplain was a great broad-shouldered man with "noticeable grey eyes" and a firm, sensitive mouth. Born and brought up m a refined home, with .every advantage which love, good taste, and worldly means were capable of giving, he had vowed that his .whole life should be spent m ministering to his less favored brethren. He was deeply loved by the people amongst whom

he worked, and his visits were eagerly looked forward to- ; by the patients m the hospital. Still, though ever ready with cheery good humor and loving sympathy, to be a friend to any who needed his help, he was coining 1 only slowly to a realisation of the riches of the Christian faith, and was over-diffident m offering spiritual help. As he stood now, looking 1 down with a troubled face at the evidently dying child, the- nurse* handed him a small paper-covered volume, and then knelt down very quietly by the little white bed. The book was written by a missionary bishop, and described how m his work amongst the natives 1 he had himself come to an ever-cteepening and widening understanding of Christ 's teaching 1 . The natives were taught, simply and as a matter of course (after careful preparation) to make their Communions. Disappointments there were —many and grievous. But; to counteract this, there were, the faithful few: a band of communicants, who by their altered lives bore eloquent testimony to the Christ power working within them. Underlined was a passage telling how, confronted by the terrible and loathsome .disease and sickness, so rife among the natives, the Bishop had been thrown back upon Christ 's promise, "Greater works than these shall ye do. ' ' He felt that what our Lord said He must surely have meant, and found that Avith the need came the power. By means of "anointing with oil m the Name of the Lord," and the laying-on of hands, many and wonderful miracles of healing were performed. The chaplain read and re-read the passage, then put down the book. His face was aglow with the light of a great revelation which had come to him with almost blinding 1 intensity. He knelt down for «, moment. Then going up to the child, he put . both hands firmly. and tenderly on the fair curls, holding them there with gentle pressure. "Child," he whispered, "I claim my privilege as a Christian, I exercise my office as a priest, and lift you up into the healing presence of God. May Our Lord bless you, and give j/ou health of body, soul, and spirit. " As he spoke the child stirred slightly, the breathing 1 became more even; a faint tinge of color crept into the ashen cheeks, the lines of suffering disappeared from the little face; the child slept. Before the very eyes of the awed and amazed watchers a miracle had been performed;: and they knelt m adoration before the invisible Presence. •.,.. ; .When, after many hours of healthgiving 1 slumber, the child awoke, he had a wonderful tale to tell of One

who had been with him through the night. "I khow'ct 'Ini) Miss," .he said eagerly to his chum the ■ nurse, "I kriow'd 'IriVvt'ne 'minute I set eyes on Im, I -know. 'd) it was 'Inv 'as blessed the litt;le 'iiiis. 'E looked so sweet arid loving, and all soi't of shiny, and I see the marks on ' 'Is 'ands, and they Avas all shiny, too. And Oh! it was a just fine to: feel 'Is arms I'ound me; arid when 'E left, 'E puti 'Is 'and on my 'ead,and told me I'd got to be good and brave arid one cf 'Is soldiers 'cos that's Avhy 'Ed made me -well.-; And aint "I- .-just going to," added the boy with an exultant smile. "A pretty fancy" said the doctor when he heard the story, "a very pretty, fancy, and a happy one too, for this wonderful thought m, the mind of the child has so acted on his body that he seems on the: fair.- way to recovery. In fact I should not- be at all surprised if he's better "than he has ever been. \ ' But the gentle sweet-f aced nurse, Avho knew and understood, Avent about her Avork that day with feet AA r hich seemed as though they trod on air, and a look of such beamingly happy radiance that furrows were smoothed from pairi-Avorn faces and tired eyes regained their lustre as they • followed her down the Avard. -"Bless the bairn, ' ' said one old soul who was being carefully tended by her, . ' ' the smile of ye and the look of ye arc like Heaven begun." That night she poured out her soul m passionate thanksgiving to. the great Healer; not only for this fresh manifestation of His power, but also for the fact that she had the means . to provide . for this poor little waif, and could place him m the healthy, happy atmosphere necessary for the perfect development of body, soul and spirit, so that the work of healing so wondei'fully begun that day might be carried on. • ' (From "The Church Teacher," kindly sent to us by our Gisborne correspondent). ■ ■