The parents, naturally, were delighted to have their growing boy displaying his gift of song; but he sometimes sang at what appeared to them to be inopportune moments. For instance, one night the family were going to a party, and the little fellow was warned not to sing on that occasion. During the evening, however, the boy was in a corner of the room, and, being alone, began to sing his beloved hymn in a clear, sweet voice. Those present were delighted at the pleasing incident. When, however, the boy observed his parents look at him, somewhat reprovingly, he said to them, “I didn’t mean to do it, but it sang itself.” Song of the Child in the Shelter “Mummie, do you think they would listen if I sang for them?” “Oh, no, of course not,” was the mother’s reply. “You can’t sing here,” she added. Mother and her little girl were in an English air raid shelter and the wartime experience was a new one for the perplexed child. England was being terribly bombed in the spring of 1941, and on this occasion more than a hundred people, highly nervous, were trying to meet their fears with loud conversation, shouting, laughter, and some kind of singing. The scene of commotion distressed the little girl, and she wished the people were less noisy. A British writer told us what happened. The conversation of mother and daughter was overheard by a woman who was sitting near by. Turning to the mother the woman said, “And why should she not sing?” Immediately, therefore, she stood up, called for order, and invited the little girl to sing. The child, very shyly, advanced to the middle of the shelter, and clasped her hands, as though in prayer. Lifting her sweet childish voice she sang: “Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me; Bless Thy little lamb tonight; Through the darkness be Thou near me; Keep me safe till morning light. “All this day Thy hand has led me, And I thank Thee for Thy care; Thou hast clothed me, warmed and fed me; Listen to my evening prayer. “Let my sins be all forgiven; Bless the friends I love so well; Take me when I die to heaven, Happy there with Thee to dwell.” Silence immediately prevailed. Hearts which were unmoved by the confusion of the earlier noises were touched by the song of the child. Their spirits became responsive, for a little child had led them in a song which was both a prayer of thanksgiving and reverent petition. Mary Lundie Duncan, who was the daughter of one minister and the wife of another, wrote this hymn, as she did others, for her own children. “In every word it breathes the childlike spirit.” Dr. James Moffatt, speaking perhaps more for his native country than for America (though the hymn is found in the section for children in some of our American hymnals), said that this is “the first evening prayer that thousands of little children learn.” What the Scouts Sang