I replied, "I can see them now." He then asked me the color of the lights.
After I had given him a description of them, he saw them himself and
explained, "They are steamers. Where are we? We are lost!" He called out in
agony.
We lay there until six fifteen in the morning. When we turned around to the
right between the rocks, they knew where to go. The pumps were in full
operation, but our ship was tipping backward more and more as if it were
going to stand on one end. We landed in Tronheim in the afternoon with our
handsatchels and our lives, and as soon as the pumps stopped, the ship
filled with water and sank in the harbor.
I saw an account of the wreck in two Norwegian papers after the ship had
been raised and placed on dry dock. The paper stated that the cargo was a
total loss and the ship was about thirty eight thousand dollars. That
nearly every plate from midship to stern was torn loose, just as I had seen
in my dream and the paper said they could not understand why the ship had
not sunk before, as one plate hole was enough to sink the ship. My wife
wrote me later and said, "I know why the ship did not sink. I and many
others were praying that God would keep that ship on top of the waves,
because he had one of his little ones on the ship." The Lord verified his
promises by hearing the prayers of his people to protect me and bring me
safely to my destination. The blessings of salvation never seemed more real
to me than at that time, as I was enabled to be calm and quiet through all
the perils, having the sweet assurance that the mighty arm of God was
upholding me and protecting not only me, but those who were traveling with
me. He hears and answers prayers. Those who trust and believe in him he
often saves from death and destruction.
HOMEWARD BOUND
My return trip was just as eventful as my trip to Norway. For some time I
had been praying earnestly for the Lord to direct me in getting the right
ship across the ocean, as I was to sail during the stormy season of Spring.
On the twentieth of March, 1905, I left the home of my parents in Norway,
with the intention of sailing the next morning. I was to sail on an English
boat bound for Hull, England, in order to reach the fastest boat on the
Cunard Line bound from Liverpool to New York, as I thought that would be
the best vessel to take. Soon after leaving my fathers home, I stopped at a
little seaport called Levanger to visit a relative of mine for a few hours,
expecting to leave on the evening train, but my relative persuaded me to
stay and take the early morning train. He said I would have ample time to
reach my boat in Tronhiem, but when my train entered the station the next
morning, the ship upon which I had intended sailing was just leaving the
harbor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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