HOW THE OLD MAID-SERVANT HUMBLED ME BY HER FAITH, AND THE LORD YET BLESSED ME HIS UNWORTHY SERVANT
"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is me, his name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and not all his benefits. Who all iniquities; who all diseases; who life from destruction; who with and mercies" (Psalm ciii.).
Alas! man that I am, how shall I all the and which the Lord upon me the very next day? I now for joy, as of late I had done for sorrow; and my child about the room like a roe, and would not go to bed, but only and dance, and between-whiles repeat the 103rd Psalm, then and again until broke. But as she was still very weak, I her presumption, that this was the Lord; and now mark what had happened.
After we had in the with sighs, and called upon the Lord to to us in our what we should do, we still not make up our minds. I therefore called to my child, if she enough, to her and light a fire in the herself, as our was gone; that we would then the further. She got up, but came in an with of joy, the had privately into the house, and had already a fire. Hereupon I sent for her to my bedside, and at her disobedience, and asked what she now wanted here but to me and my still more, and why she did not go yesterday with old Paasch? But she and so that she speak, and I only thus much--that she had with us, and would with us, for that she part from her mistress, she had from her cradle. Such love moved me so, that I said almost with tears, "But not that my and I have to as about the country; where, then, remain?" To this she answered that neither would she behind, it was more for her to than for us; but that she not yet see why I to go out into the wide world; I had already that I had said in my that I would with my in and in death? That I should yet a little longer where I was, and send her to Liepe, as she to something having for us there from her friends and others. These words, those about my sermon, on my conscience, and I was of my want of faith, since not my only, but yet more my maid, had than I, who to be a of God's word. I that the Lord--to keep me, hireling, and at the same time to me--had the of this maid-servant to prove me, as the in the of the high-priest had also proved the St. Peter. Wherefore I my the wall, like Hezekiah, and myself the Lord, which had I done my child ran into the room again, with a of joy; for behold, some Christian had into the house in the night, and had in the two loaves, a good piece of meat, a of oatmeal, item, a of salt, near a pint. Any one may what of we all raised. Neither was I to my my maid; and in our common prayer, which we said on our knees, I fresh to the Lord of and faith. Thus we had that a breakfast, and sent something to old Paasch besides; item, my again sent for all the little children to come, and them with our store they said their tasks; and when in my of little I thereat, although I said nought, she smiled, and said, "Take therefore no for the morrow, for the shall take for the of itself."
The Holy Ghost spoke by her, as I cannot but believe, either, reader: for mark what happened. In the she (I my child) up the Streckelberg to for blackberries, as old Paasch had told her, through the maid, that a were still left. The was in the yard, to which end she had old Paasch his axe, for the Imperialist had away mine, so that it be found; and I myself was up and in the room, my sermon; when my child, with her full, came in at the door, red and with eyes, and able for to say more than "Father, father, what have I got?" "Well," I, "what got, my child?" Whereupon she opened her apron, and I my when I saw, of the which she had gone to seek, two pieces of amber, each nearly as big as a man's head, not to mention the small pieces, some of which were as large as my hand, and that, God knows, is no small one. "Child of my heart," I, "how by this from God?" As soon as she her breath, she told me as follows:--
That while she was for in a near the she saw in the sun, and on near she this godsend, that the wind had the away from off a black of amber. That she had off these pieces with a stick, and that there was more to be got, that it about under the when she it into the sand, neither she it than, at most, a into the ground; item, she told me that she had the place all over again with sand, and it with her apron, so as to no traces.
Moreover, that no was at all likely to go thither, that no very near, and she had gone to the spot, moved by and a wish to look upon the sea, than from any need; but that she easily the place again herself, as she had marked it with three little stones. What was our act after the all-merciful God had us out of such misery, nay, even, as it seemed, us with great riches, any one may guess. When we at length got up off our knees, my child would have to tell the our news. But I her, that we not be sure that the might not tell it again to her friends, in all other she was a woman and God; but that if she did that, the Sheriff would be sure to of it, and to upon our for his the Duke--that is to say, for himself; and that would be left to us but the thereof, and our want would all over again; that we therefore would say, when asked about the luck that had us, that my brother, who was a at Rotterdam, had left us a good of money; and, indeed, it was true that I had near two hundred from him a year ago, which, however, the (as mentioned above) me of; item, that I would go to Wolgast myself next day and sell the little as best I might, saying that them up by the seaside; tell the the same, if wilt, but the larger pieces to no one, and I will send them to uncle at Hamburg to be into money for us; I may be able to sell one of them at Wolgast, if I occasion, so as to for the winter for and for me, thou, too, go with me. We will take the which the have together to pay the ferry, and order the to wait for us till at the water-side to home the victuals. She to all this, but said we had off some more amber, so that we might a good for it at Hamburg; and I so too, we stopped at home next day, that we did not want for food, and that my child, as well as myself, to ourselves a little we set out on our journey; item, we us that old Master Rothoog, of Loddin, who is a cabinetmaker, might together a little box for us to put the in, I sent the to him in the afternoon. Meanwhile we ourselves up the Streckelberg, where I cut a fir-tree with my pocket-knife, which I had saved from the enemy, and it like a spade, so that I might be able to therewith. First, however, we looked about us well on the mountain, and, nobody, my walked on to the place, which she again. Great God! what a of was there! The was hard upon twenty long, as near as I feel, and the of it I not sound. Nevertheless, save four good-sized pieces, none, however, so big as those of yesterday, we this day only out little splinters, such as the for incense. After we had most and over the place, a great was very near us; for we met Witthan her little girl, who was blackberries, and she asked what my in her apron, who red, and so that our would have been if I had not presently said, "What is that to thee? She has got fir-apples for firing," which the child believed. Wherefore we in only to go up the at night by moonlight, and we home and got there the maid, and our in the bedstead, so that she should not see it.
