Saved at Sea

by Mrs. O. F. Walton
Available from Lamplighter Publishing and Amazon
*****
Alick Fergusson lived with his grandfather on a small island off the coast of Scotland. His grandfather was the keeper of the lighthouse, and Jem Millar, his assistant, and his family were the Fergusson’s only neighbors. They lived their life on the island, tending their gardens, keeping the light going, and rescuing shipwrecked people whenever they could. Only once a month were they allowed to leave the island to go shop and take care of affairs in the village, and Jem and Sandy Fergusson took turns. They did have a “general store” boat that came out once a week to sell provisions.

In a powerful storm one night, the men from the island were trying to rescue passengers who were shipwrecked on Ainslie Crag. They were unable to get close, and the violence of the waves finally destroyed the boat right in front of them, but not before a little girl had been thrown to them through the storm. They looked for survivors, but there were none to be found. They assumed that the little girl’s family had drowned with the others there, and the Fergussons made her a part of their family. She soon won their hearts, and they hated to think of parting with her. When they again went to the mainland, they notified the officials there that only one survivor had been rescued from the wreck, and gave the name found on the hem of her dress.

Later two men came to the island, whom Alick and his grandfather feared had found relatives of the girl, and were going to take her away. However, one was the owner of the ship, and had come to meet them and the little girl. He asked them if they were founded on the Rock. Sandy assured him that if they were not, the lighthouse and other buildings would never last the first storm that blew over; they were not buildings were not on the sand seen by the shore, but on the solid rock of the island. When the man left, he sent back a piece of paper with the words, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand: all other ground is sinking sand.”

Puzzled, they talked it over with Jem Millar, and he said he thought he understood. He was heading to the mainland soon, but before he left, he told Alick that he knew he was on the Rock. It was well for him, because he never returned, having missed his step on the dock in the fog.

In the course of the rest of the book, a new man with links to the Fergussons’ past comes to take Jem’s place. Sandy is asked, “If your house was built on the sand down by the shore, what would you do?” He responded that he would tear it down, piece by piece, and rebuild it on the rock. He came to see that the good works he was counting on to get him into heaven were a sandy foundation, and he chose to rebuild his life on Christ. Alick also believed in Him.

After a while, it was discovered that the little girl’s parents were not with her on the ship, after all. They came to claim her, and although the Fergussons hated to part with her, they were happy to see her with her parents again. Alick, after all, did not have to part with her. Grateful for the islanders’ kindness, the girl’s parents took him with them, and sent him to school. He left the island, knowing on Whom to build his life.

A sweet, touching story.