During the reign of England's Bloody Mary, in the village of Harrant lived a blacksmith whose prize possession was a leather-bound Bible.

To possess or to be caught reading a Bible subjected one to the penalty of death. The blacksmith's wife was dead but his little blue-eyed daughter Elsie, loved to play in the shop and watch the sparks fly heavenward.

Entering the premises on a certain morning she saw her father standing behind the door reading the precious Book. Finally taking a stick, he reached up, opened a panel in a log and carefully hid it to safe keeping.

Turning he saw Elsie and said sternly, "How dare you spy on me. Don't you know if the Queen knew I had this Book she would take my life?"

The child's blue eyes filled with tears and she said, "Father, I will never tell anyone. I love the Bible as you do and would guard it with my life."

Again warning little Elsie that their lives depended on secrecy, the blacksmith turned to his anvil. Then followed darker days for Elsie and the blacksmith of Harrant. Others who believed as they did suffered with them. Agents of Queen Mary were sure there was a Bible somewhere in the village. They searched again and again, but the people of the neighborhood shoutingly refused to accept the Queen's religion.

Finally the blacksmith was thrown into prison since he seemed to be the one to whom the villagers looked for comfort and counsel. Elsie's heart was sad and she spent many lonely days in spite of the kindness of her neighbors. Her rosy cheeks grew paler and her heart sadder as she thought of her dear father in jail and the treasured Bible he could not handle and read.

One day soldiers came to Harrant, searched every house but without success. Finally they decided to burn the blacksmith's home and shop in case the Bible was hidden there, and if it was "it would be destroyed" they said.

As the soldiers approached the house Elsie fled down the garden path and out upon the moor where she laid flat on her face amdist the rushes. She was terror-stricken lest the soldiers find her and she be compelled to tell where the Bible was, for she counted that precious volume of greater value than the Queen's crown jewels.

She began to breathe more freely when the soldiers marched away. Then she smelled burning wood and fresh terror struck her heart. Looking up she saw the thatched roof of their home and the shop all ablaze.

Remembering that her father had told her that their Bible was the only one between Harrant and the sea, she hurried back unnoticed in the darkness. Flames scorched her hands and face as she entered the shop. Quickly she climbed to where the Bible was hidden, clasped it firmly and ran again into the garden.

To make sure of its safety, she removed her skirt and wrapped the bible and buried it in a hole dug with her blistered hands. Elsie then crawled to the garden spring and tried to bathe her face and hands. She was found unconscious by the villagers and soon revived to tell them where the Word of God was buried. They followed her to that spot and the precious volume was uncovered, every man pledging himself to defend it with his life.

This true story has been told over and over again for the children's children of that group. It has caused many eyes to be dimmed with tears. Time grew brighter until freedom of worship was granted throughout England. Elsie's granddaughter, followed her Puritan husband to American and brought that Bible with her.

Quoted From The Newsletter of Dr. Gerald Johnson, Missionary to Korea