A French Officer Under the Shadow

A young French officer got separated a little distance from his men; he was going through a small wood in the dark, when the German scouts caught him. Their bayonets touched his breast, and a voice whispered in his ear, “Make but the slightest noise and you are a dead man!” At once he saw that the German Army must be coming up to take the French by surprise, and that if he did not warn them his countrymen would probably be overwhelmed. He was not a coward, but instantly shouted at the top of his voice, “Here are the enemy.” The next moment he fell dead, pierced to the heart, but his devotion saved his friends from surprise and defeat. The German attack failed. Oh, if we only had equal courage in serving Christ! —the courage to warn our fellow men and prevent them from falling a prey to the great enemy of their souls! Are we brave enough to warn men to flee from the wrath to come, or do we in coward ease rest careless and heedless while the devil and his hosts are seeking for the souls of men? If God were to ask you now if you had warned any of their state, or if you had helped to lead souls to Christ, what would you say?