little quicker on foot we reached Sapocanike almost as soon as
she did. As we approached the house we heard the lamentations of the
women and children; and on entering we found there no one except the
mother, the sister Rebecca, and a female neighbor who was a _faus
pieuse_.[325] As soon as we came in, he stood up and came to meet us,
holding out his hand, and calling out: "Friends, is there still grace
with God, is there still grace for me with God?" We grasped his hand
and said: "Yes, there is grace for you with God, and for all repentant
sinners." He exclaimed, "What wickedness have I committed! how have I
sinned! how have I stolen God's honor, His name profaned with vile
oaths, his sabbaths violated, his word despised! how godless have I
lived, and run from Him! But He has overtaken me. How has the devil
troubled and tempted me, how has he for six years assailed me, seeing
that I no longer wished to serve him! And now when God comes to touch
me and draw me, he seeks to devour me; but he shall not have me. God
who protects me is stronger than he," and much more of similar import.
We then spoke to him according to his state and condition, which did
him much good. This _pieuse_ prated also after her manner, but we
tempered her down a little. She had urged him very strongly to go and
sit down and read I know not what kind of a book; for, she said, she
had also been in such a state, and that reading had done her much
good. She was much astonished at our saying he should not read, which
could be done afterwards, and would benefit him when he should be well
and quiet, and felt a desire and longing for it; that he should now,
if he could, go to work at what had to be done or he had an
inclination to do, whether in the barn among the grain or in the
stalls among the cattle, or any other necessary work. We exhorted him
to put his trust in God, to pray to Him and cleave to Him; the devil
would then have no more power over him, as this perhaps was his last
attack. He said, "I fear him no more, God will protect me; I feel more
tranquil, I will not yield." We told him what he must do in future. He
answered, "I hope and trust it will go well." He thanked us very much
and added, "Friends, you are the cause that I still live and of my
preservation." We told him it was God to whom he must give the honor
and thank for His grace and mercy; and that we would perhaps call the
next day, if we did not leave, at which he was glad. We wanted