"And the Rest of the Story"

A great fire blazed in the plaza of a little town in a South American republic. Around the fire a lot of sullen, angry-looking men and women gathered, watching the gestures of a big, long-robed man, and listening to his denunciations of the book he was passionately tearing in pieces to cast into the flames. A pile of these books lay at his side, some well-bound volumes, and some in paper covers, but all destined for the flames.

The watching crowd did not quite approve of the proceedings, while the children chased and frolicked with the fragments that the wind whisked out of the burning mass. Only a few days before there had come to their town a young missionary with winning ways and speech, who told a wonderful story. He had persuaded many of them to buy these books, which, according to him, contained the very words of Christ and told them how they might be saved.

The man, however, had terrified them all by denouncing as false, wicked and dangerous the books which they had bought, and had ordered them to deliver them up, under threat of harsh penalties for disobedience. What they had read of the book had not seemed very dreadful, but the man assured them it was so, and as they listened to his bitter denunciations, some felt they had only narrowly escaped!

One by one, Bibles, Testaments and portions, for such they were, were torn in fragments and cast to the flames. The breeze fanned the glowing mass to such an extent that the crowd was glad to fall back from the heat.

A gust whirled through the spreading crowd as a fresh handful of Bible leaves was cast, with a curse, to the fire, which seized them greedily, all save one, which, scorched and crinkled, was tossed aloft by the wind and whirled away over the heads of the crowd and above the housetops, till on the outskirts of a village it fluttered own a quiet street, where a breeze sent it floating in at the open window of Dona's little cottage.

She was a good soul and devout, and she read the fragment that had come to her in such a wonderful way. It stirred her heart strangely. She showed the scorched leaf to her husband when he returned in the evening, and he, too, ignorant of its source, was deeply interested. But entirely ignorant of its origin, he gave it back to the wife, saying, "Keep it, for it must belong to a very religious book, and some day we may find the rest of the story."

A year passed away before the village was visited again by the missionary. He came right to the street where Dona lived. Knocking at her door, he offered a book for sale, at the same time explaining its nature. "Oh," she said, "are you selling good books? Perhaps you can tell me about this one!" She hurried off and brought her treasured leaf.

"This seems to be some very religious book, and we should like to get the rest of the story; do you know it?"

"Why, Senora," he said, as he recognized the familiar page, "that belongs to this book that I am offering you. See, here it is." He turned rapidly to the New Testament and showed her the precious leaf in its proper place. Where do you think that stray leaf had come from? It was a leaf from John's Gospel. She and her husband had been reading part of that wonderful sixteenth verse of the third chapter. No wonder they wanted to hear the rest of the story.

Gladly she bought the New Testament. On her husband's return, she greeted him joyfully with the news that she had found the book for which they had waited and longed. Together they sat down and read the rest of the story. Earnestly, reverently, they poured over the sacred pages until the light of the Gospel shone into their hungry souls, and they found peace and joy through believing in Jesus. One by one the whole family came to know God through the reading of the Scriptures, and a center of Gospel light and testimony sprang up in that little town through the very action of that fanatical man, who thought to destroy the good seed of the Word, but he only succeeded in planting it more firmly, in one family at least, thereby bringing gladness, joy and salvation to many hungry hearts.

—J.W.H.N.