A LONG JOURNEY FOR A BIBLE.
Two men came one night to Mr. Ellis, the missionary of Madagascar. They had walked a hundred miles out of their way to visit him. “Have you the Bible?” asked Mr. Ellis. “We have seen it, and heard it read,” one man said: “but we have only some of the words of David, and they do not belong to us—they belong to the whole family.” “Have you the words of David with you now?” asked Mr. Ellis. They looked at each other, and would not give answer. Perhaps, they were afraid; but Mr. Ellis spoke kindly to them. Then one of the men put his hand into his bosom and took out what seemed to be a roll of cloth. He unrolled it, and after taking off some wrappers, behold, there were a few old, torn, dingy leaves of the Psalms, which had been read, passed around, lent, and re-read, until they were almost worn out. Tears came to Mr. Ellis’s eyes when he saw them. “Have you ever seen the words of Jesus, or John, or Paul, or Peter?” asked the missionary. “Yes,” they said, “we have seen and heard them; but we never owned them.” Mr. Ellis then went and brought out a Testament with the book of Psalms bound up with it, and showed it to them. “Now,” said he, “if you will give me your few words of David, I will give you all his words, all the words of Jesus, and John, and Paul, and Peter besides.” The men were amazed and delighted; but they wanted to see if the words of David were the same in Mr. Ellis’s book; and when they found they were, and thousands more of the same sort, their joy knew no bounds. They willingly gave up their poor, tattered leaves, seized the volume, bade the missionary good-by, and started off upon their long journey home, rejoicing like one who has found a great spoil. Did not these poor men prize the Bible? And had not they found a treasure?