What I used to think of in my days that were most full of sorrow, was just that it could be no mortal that was guiding us through everything; my past life rose constantly before my eyes. My father, Hendrik Adrian Greef, who is now long since dead, was one of the Voortrekkers of Transvaal, and he went then to live in Lichtenburg, where I remained from my fourth year, till the day I was driven away by the war. My father too had had to go through a great deal; for in those days the whole place was a wilderness. When my father went on a shooting expedition, as we were living alone on the farm, my mother would not let him leave her behind; so she used to go with him with her four children, of which I was the eldest, then twelve years old. It was a wild country; one met only Kaffirs and other savage people. They were like wild beasts; as soon as they caught sight of us they would run off as hard as they could; thus very often my father could not get anybody to show him where there was water. He went on then to the Lake, and from there to Damaraland, so that this journey kept us for a year on the veldt. We were often in danger from the black Kaffirs, who tried to get hold of us; and often we came to places where there was no water to be found. When passing through these later days of trial I often thought of my father, for a child does not easily forget what its father has done. When living in prosperity, it had always been my wish to walk in the ways of the Lord, and now, however hard the storm of injustice might strike me, never would it be heavy enough to part me from the love of Jesus. In the days when all was well with me I often wondered how it would be if I had to bear great troubles; and if I should not then despair. When one is happy it is easy enough to be a Christian. And though, like everyone else upon this earth, I have my cross, yet the Saviour has always made it lighter for me, so that I am able to bear it. And this weary war has taught me to see one thing clearly;--that the bent reed will not be broken. For many a time when I thought, “Now all is over,” I would seem to hear God’s voice answering me, and saying, “He who persists unto the end shall be saved.” Thus I cannot come to understand how in such times men can drift away from God instead of drawing closer to Him. So I can say about myself, “I shall still praise and thank the Lord for His Fatherly guidance”; for who was it that watched over me when I wandered around for many a stormy day and night?--It was our gracious God. Who was it that kept me and mine from falling into the hands of our adversary?--It was the Lord, before whom we must all of us come one day. How can I then prove unfaithful? No--however great may be our sufferings, I shall always put my trust in the salvation of the Lord. * * * * *