Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1908-01-23
The Thiefs Testament.

this story, ana tnorouRhly haru
Sd ect. One dark night he and an
other thief decided to rob the mission
school for girls. They had reconnOit.
cred the place. and had no trouble in
getting in through the kitchen window
and going to the dormitory. They
heard the sound Of girls voice as
they approached the room, and Sad
ajiro said:
What is that ?"
His companion laughed. cit is
some one praying. They are asking
their God to protect them because they
are afraid.
1t was, indeed, one of the mission
girls on her knees in prayer. The
thieves took her clothes, which were
neatly folded, while she was praying.
AS they were making them into a
bundle, sbe rose from her knees. She
showed no fear, but said. gently:
please leave me one of those gar
ments. My mother made it and sent
it to me to remember her by"
The garment was of very small val
ue, so Sadajiro handed it back to her.
They then went through the room,
taking all the money and clothing.
AS they were about leaving, the same
girl held something out to them.
please take this and read it," she
said, offering a small book.
Sadajiro took it, but when he got
outside he threw it away, for he could
neither read nor write.
Three days after, he and his fellow
thief we're arrested for the burglary,
convicted, and sentenced to term in
prison. After he was sentenced, the
police inspector brought him the book
he had thrown away.
"Do you recognize this ?" he asked.
"This is the book that was given to
you when you were at the school.
The girls heard you were arrested,
and they have brought it to present
it to you again. By reading this you
will be led to repentance. You have
done very wrong, but Christians are
accustomed to treat their enemies with
kindness"
Sadajiro was deeply impressed. He
did not know what the Christian re-
ligion was, and he could not read the
book. But he was filled with shame
when he thought of these girls to
whom he had done evil, and how they
returned good. he determined to
turn from his thieving and lead an
honest life.
In the city prison there was chap
lain, Mr.. Hsra. He noticed Sadajiro
and his book, which the thief always
kept near him. What could such q
vicious-looking thief, evidently one Of
the worst criminal class Of Yokohama,
have to do with the New Testament,
especially as he could not read ?
When the chaplain asked the thief
about 1t, Sadajiro at 6rst would not
answer. Then he said, simply:
"This book is something that l
prize very highly"
why do you prize it ?" asked Mr..
Hara.
His tone was sympathetic. sadajiro
opened his heart.
II am a sinner. Heaven will help
to keep me from sin. Please allow me
to tell my story"
he told the chaplain all about the
girl and her prayer and her book, and
| Mr.. Hara prayed with him, and taught
him how to read. Sadajiro was 80
anxious to read his book that he made
wonderful progress, and soon could
spell his way ahead. After that he
read and reread his Testament all
day, and a very deep and genuine
conversion was the result.
When Sadajiro came out of prison,
he first sought out his accomplice in
the theft, and converted him, too.
Then he returned to his mothers 8
home, where she was living in great
poverty. He set to work to support
her and himself by honest work, and
is doing it yet, living happily and
respected, true Christian.
The power of the Bible is something
that is only half-realiIed by most
Christians. The power of Christian
example is, as Saint Paul has put it,
"liviug spistls." The scene of the
little mission girl in the dormitOry,
praying and offering her Testament to
the thief, reads like a page out ol
Lies Miserable" But the result, as
with Jean Valjean in the romance, so
with this japanese thief in reality,
was the old, yet ever new, miracle o.