Your Story Hour

Aunt Carole: Hi kids, moms, dads, and grandparents. We're glad you're all back with us.

Uncle Dan: Hello everyone and welcome to our program.

Aunt Carole: Every time with you is a special time, like a family get-together.

Uncle Dan: That's a time for having some fun and telling stories. Right. And I happen to know Aunt Carole has one all ready to tell.

Aunt Carole: That I do, Uncle Dan.

Uncle Dan: What's it about, Aunt Carole?

Aunt Carole: My story's about a Canadian woman who lived back in the 1800s.

Uncle Dan: Someone who was famous?

Aunt Carole: The fact is, almost no one knew her until she did something that attracted the attention of millions of people.

Uncle Dan: She must have gotten her name in the papers.

Aunt Carole: That she did. Tell you what, why don't we get started?

Uncle Dan: Great!

Aunt Carole: I call my story, The Lady of Long Point. Our story begins in 1854 in a little port town called Amherstburg, Ontario. This was a time of commercial expansion in Canada, making towns like Amherstburg lively places where hundreds of sailing vessels came and went. Raw materials like lumber, coal, iron ore, and agricultural products like corn and wheat were transported in huge quantities on the Great Lakes to growing cities in the East.

Most of these goods were loaded onto schooners, the most popular type of sailing vessel used in Great Lakes shipping. One of the many schooner captains who sailed the frigid lake waters was Henry Hackett, son of the local lighthouse keeper. It was the last week in November when increasingly bad weather on the lakes made sailing a risky business. Soon, shipping would stop entirely for the winter. We join the 23-year-old captain of the schooner Conductor as he calls on his girlfriend, Miss Annie Archer.

Henry Hackett: Good morning, Mrs. Archer. Wondering if I could see Annie?

Mrs. Archer: I suppose. She's in the kitchen. Come in out of the rain before we have a flood in here. It's not proper, but I'll let you see her there. Wipe your shoes on the mat now.

Henry Hackett: Yes, Mrs. Archer.

Mrs. Archer: Come on now. Something smells really good. That's the biscuit she's baking. I suppose she'll let you sample one. Someone you know, Annie.

Annie Archer: Henry! What a surprise.

Mrs. Archer: Annie, mind your biscuits now. I'm going back to mending that quilt.

Annie Archer: Yes, Mother. It's such a dreadful day. But I guess a little rain doesn't stop a new sea captain, does it?

Henry Hackett: Hardly. Nothing could keep me away. My goodness, those biscuits smell wonderful. I don't suppose you could...

Annie Archer: You may help yourself. How about this one? It looks perfect. Oh, but there's a price. You must do something about that window. The rain keeps leaking in.

Henry Hackett: Of course. You got a loose board here. Looks like a two-biscuits job to me. There! Just takes a man's muscle. You just let me know whenever you got a job like that. That's a man's work.

Annie Archer: I know. Dad's down at the store like always. I'd hoped we'd see more of him when he left the regiment.

Henry Hackett: When you get a chance, you tell him for me that flour of his makes great biscuits. Of course, it's from the same wheat we carry on Mr. McLeod's schooner. Well, that reminds me why I came over.

Annie Archer: Yes?

Henry Hackett: We're taking out a shipment of grain tomorrow over to Port Dalhousie, leaving in the morning. But we'll be back about the 7th in time for a sociable at Mr. McLeod's residence.

Annie Archer: At McLeod's? And you're invited?

Henry Hackett: Sure am. I think all us captains are invited, and I can bring a guest, too. I wondered if you'd like to go?

Annie Archer: Yes, of course! That would be very nice. Well, I'll have to talk to Mother, but I'm sure it'll be all right with her. I can't wait!

Henry Hackett: They say he's even going to have a string quartet from Windsor.

Annie Archer: He's such an educated man. I heard he was going to be an attorney in New York.

Henry Hackett: That's true, and I'm glad he changed his mind. I got a good future now, thanks to him and his schooners.

Annie Archer: Good, you say? The storms out there have taken so many souls. I worry about you.

Henry Hackett: Well, the way I look at it, a man needs to do his best all the time, and that goes doubly on a schooner. After that, whatever happens is in the cards. Know what I mean?

Annie Archer: I believe there's someone who looks out for us if we let him do it. So I'll pray for you again just like always.

Henry Hackett: Whatever you want to do, Annie. Right now, I got to get down to the dock. I just wanted to tell you about the sociable.

Annie Archer: Oh, here. Take some biscuits with you. I'll wrap them in a napkin.

Henry Hackett: Thanks.

Annie Archer: I wish you'd come more often. You're always sailing off somewhere.

Henry Hackett: Yeah, but it's not like whaling. I wouldn't see you for a long time.

Annie Archer: I'm thankful for that.

Henry Hackett: Maybe in two or three years we can see a lot more of each other.

Annie Archer: I do hope so. So much.

Henry Hackett: Got to go now. I'll come by first thing when we get back.

Annie Archer: And don't let anybody talk you into stopping at one of those saloons along the way. Promise me?

Henry Hackett: I promise. Bye now.

Annie Archer: Bye.

Aunt Carole: And so began another of Henry Hackett's trips across Lake Erie. Many of the men on these ships were not experienced sailors at all, but people who signed on because they needed the work and held other jobs like lumbering in the winter.

Guest (Male): All right, bring it on, bring it on! Captain Hackett, here's your manifest. Just corn this time, no wheat after all.

Henry Hackett: No matter. We just as soon haul corn as anything else.

Guest (Male): Well, have a good voyage, Captain.

Henry Hackett: Thanks. Jones, come here a minute.

Jones: Yes, Captain Hackett.

Henry Hackett: We should be ready in about an hour. Looks like this will be our last load out before the ice comes in. Got to keep Boss McLeod happy, so we're putting in a big load.

Jones: Yeah, she's well down. Likely to leak with a load like this.

Henry Hackett: And we don't want that. So let's hope for good weather.

Aunt Carole: Captain Hackett raised his mainsail, his foresail, and jibs, and sailed away from the wharf. Once clear of the land, he raised his topsail and headed east. Toward evening, the wind began to rise, so he lowered the mainsail and jibs. About midnight, the weather grew worse.

Jones: Doc, this doesn't look good.

Macaulay: You're right about that, Macaulay. We've got a gale building up. We may have to take down more sail.

Jones: I know, we've already lost time. Should be up to Long Point about now, but who can see anything in this snow?

Macaulay: No point posting a lookout on the bow. The seas are getting high. They could wash him right over. We better get the foresail down. I'll get the Captain. Captain! Captain!

Henry Hackett: We've got a bad one here, don't we? Macaulay's hands are about frozen to the wheel. Can't make out anything ahead. Let's get the foresail down, boys! We'll keep the topsail up and run for it. After that, Jones, go forward and make sure those hatches are secure. Got to keep her running before the wind.

Jones: Yes sir, Captain.

Henry Hackett: Stand by to come up into the wind! Heartily! Get that foresail down!

Jones: Oh! That water's cold. Captain, are you there?

Henry Hackett: Yes! Over here on the fore sheet. Get that sail down!

Jones: Captain, the ropes are frozen solid! Can't run them through the block!

Henry Hackett: Break that ice with a belaying pin!

Chambers: Captain Hackett, down below we've got a bad leak. Water's coming in fast.

Henry Hackett: Cousins, you tend to the bilge pump. That's a good job for a cook right now. We're too busy on deck.

Macaulay: Captain, that noise!

Henry Hackett: Had to be the topsail. Can't worry about that one now. Got to keep her before the wind.

Jones: Captain Hackett, the topsail's gone! Just ribbons left!

Henry Hackett: I know, we heard it go! Hang on up there and check those hatches!

Jones: We're trying! We're trying!

Aunt Carole: The schooner, now without sails, had to be steered most carefully downwind to avoid swinging sideways to the wind—what the sailors called broaching to—and be at the mercy of the high seas.

Jones: More ice up here! Real bad!

Macaulay: Captain, we've got to stay out of the trough. Top-heavy with ice, we'll...

Henry Hackett: Yeah, we'll capsize. Happens every year to somebody. We better make it to the bay soon. Jones, you take the wheel.

Jones: Captain! Light, port side!

Henry Hackett: Light? It must be the lighthouse. You see it, Jones?

Jones: No, too much snow.

Henry Hackett: There! There it was! I think we'll make it. Come to port, Jones.

Jones: It's gone! The light's gone! The snow is too thick.

Henry Hackett: Come to port. Come to port. We'll have to risk it.

Jones: She's hard over, Captain.

Chambers: Captain, the bilge is full! They can't pump fast enough!

Henry Hackett: Well, that's all we need right now. Ten thousand bushels of wet corn. Mr. McLeod won't like this one bit. Try to come off the wind! Get the wheel over!

Jones: She won't respond, Captain! Oh! Oh! We're broadside! We're over!

Henry Hackett: Nicodemus! Nicodemus is still there!

Nicodemus: There, by the grace of God, Captain Hackett. The yawl boats are gone! Been swept off the davits.

Henry Hackett: Yawls are gone? Oh, we've had it now, for sure.

Uncle Dan: Well, we'll find out what happens next in just a moment. But first, listen to what some parents have written to us about our dramatized Bible stories.

Aunt Carole: Okay, here's a note from Idaho. These are an excellent way to teach morality and godly obedience.

Uncle Dan: And from Michigan, the stories have been well done, biblical in content, and very exciting.

Aunt Carole: From Georgia, you've been a blessing to our family throughout the years.

Uncle Dan: And what do kids write in? From Kentucky, on dark, lonely nights, your stories are a great comfort.

Aunt Carole: From the Virgin Islands, I enjoy your stories so much. They really make the Bible come alive.

Uncle Dan: And another from Michigan, your stories are cool. You're never too old for God.

Aunt Carole: And that's the truth. So if you'd like to see a listing of all the Bible stories we have ready for downloading or available on CDs, as well as our historical and true-to-life stories, just visit our website at yourstoryhour.org.

Uncle Dan: Or call us toll-free at 800-987-7879, and we'll send you a catalog free of charge right away.

Aunt Carole: That's yourstoryhour.org or call us at 1-800-987-7879. But now let's get back to Aunt Carole's story, The Lady of Long Point.

The schooner Conductor was in a desperate situation, tossed about by a furious storm with heavy snow and tons of ice weighing her down, and her sails ripped by the wind. The only small boats on board, called yawls, had just been washed away by a huge wave. A sense of hopelessness was closing in on the sailors like the darkness that surrounded them.

Henry Hackett: Yawl boats are gone! Now we've had it now, for sure. We must have passed the lighthouse already. There's calmer water ahead. We still got a chance. Chambers, see anything up there?

Chambers: Can't see a thing, sir.

Henry Hackett: We should have seen the lighthouse better than that. Jones. Oh no, we're running aground! Oh, we're goners now. Captain Hackett, that light back there...

Jones: I know, I know. Had to be on the cut, not the lighthouse. These waves, they'll beat the Conductor to pieces. The yawl boats are gone. We're covered with tons of ice. We can't stay here. We still got a chance to get ashore. We can make a raft. Sawyers, Andrews, Nicodemus, all you men! Get over here! Now!

Aunt Carole: Quickly, the men gathered anything that would float and began lashing the pieces together to form a crude raft. Finally, they were ready.

Henry Hackett: Steady there! Hold it!

Jones: It's impossible! With these waves, how are we going to get on this thing?

Macaulay: Here, I'll pull on this end while you... don't let go! It's loose! Oh! I can't hold it! It's too late! It's gone! Now that's our last chance.

Henry Hackett: We've only got one choice now. It's into the rigging, men, before the waves take us away too. There'll be daylight soon. Maybe someone will see us.

Jones: Who's going to see us anyway? The other schooners would be at the bottom.

Henry Hackett: Tie yourselves into the rigging! It's all we can do for now.

Aunt Carole: Longpoint was a forlorn island of scraggly trees and windswept sand. The only inhabitants were the lighthouse keeper some 10 miles away at the end of the point, and the family of a hunter named Jeremiah Becker. He and his wife, Abigail, and several children lived nearby in the crudest of shanties, built largely of scrap wood from previous wrecks that had washed up on the beach.

Jeremiah had gone to the mainland to sell pelts and buy supplies, leaving Abigail at home with the children. This morning, like every other in her monotonous life there, she had gone down to the beach to get water for her iron pot. And as she dipped into the water, she heard something unusual coming through the noise of the blowing wind and crashing waves.

Recognizing it as a flapping of canvas in the wind, she knew instantly that a vessel must be in trouble somewhere close. Then she spied the Conductor aground about 200 yards offshore, the nearly shredded sails flapping angrily in the violent winds. At that moment, her every thought turned to helping the sailors, and she rushed back to her cabin through the drifting snow.

Abigail Becker: Eddie! Oliver!

Eddie: Yes, Mother.

Oliver: Yes, Mother.

Abigail Becker: There's a ship stuck in the sandbar. Must have hit bottom during the night. Get your coats on and go down there. They must be looking all over for shelter. Tell them we have the only cabin that's close and bring them back here.

Oliver: Sure, Mom.

Eddie: Edward and me both? Why do I have to go too?

Abigail Becker: You know it's hard for Eddie to get around in this snow on crutches. He might need your help.

Eddie: Oh, all right.

Abigail Becker: Now get down there and show them the way here. No one ought to be out on a day like this. I'll heat up something for them to eat.

Aunt Carole: A few minutes later, as she peered through the frosty window of their cabin, Abigail saw the boys coming back alone.

Abigail Becker: Well, where are the men? Why didn't they come with you?

Eddie: They're still out there on the boat. They're all hanging up there on the ropes. You can hardly see them.

Abigail Becker: Oh my word, those poor men!

Eddie: They're all white from the snow, and there's ice all over everything. And their lifeboat is all broken up on the shore.

Abigail Becker: Oh, maybe some drowned already. They'll freeze to death for sure. We've got to help them.

Eddie: Dad took the boat to Port Rowan. What can we do?

Abigail Becker: I don't know, Eddie. We'll see.

Oliver: Well, maybe we can fix their boat that washed up.

Abigail Becker: I'll take a look. Now you and Eddie go back quick as you can. Make a pile of driftwood close to the wreck, and I'll get some coals out of the fireplace. We'll make some tea, too. Nobody's going to freeze to death near this cabin.

Aunt Carole: Quickly, Abigail gathered up a few items—a pot, some tea, a pan with coals—threw on a shawl and rushed to the scene of the shipwreck. The gloomy dawn had come grudgingly, and the crew was desperately looking for help in any direction. They didn't know how long they would last with the mixture of snow and sleet still whirling around them and the ice getting thicker by the minute. All could see their end coming fast, and everyone prayed earnestly for deliverance.

Jones: Captain Hackett, thought it was going to clear some, but it's worse.

Henry Hackett: How could it get worse? Cousins, you all right?

Cousins: I'm alive, that's all.

Henry Hackett: How about you, Chambers?

Chambers: I feel like a statue. There's so much ice.

Henry Hackett: Jones, my friend, it's just a matter of time.

Jones: Yeah, no other schooners out and no houses on shore.

Henry Hackett: Annie said we'd have some tea when I get back. She's a fine lady, your Annie. Good cook, too. Some of her biscuits are out there in Lake Erie right now. And she's got religion too, you know. She always prays for us on these trips. She's a delicate lady. Maybe she has the ear of the Almighty.

Jones: Let's hope so. Captain! Captain! There's a fire on shore! A fire! Look over there!

Macaulay: Yes, I see it too! Captain Hackett, can you make out anything? No time to see better through this infernal snow. There's somebody by the water. I think it's a woman. She's waving her arms!

Henry Hackett: Quiet! Quiet, everybody! I think she's calling out to us.

Abigail Becker: Hey! Out there! Can you hear me? Wave if you can hear me!

Jones: She's yelling something. Can you make it out?

Henry Hackett: No, I can't. Maybe the wind's calm down soon and we can hear something.

Aunt Carole: All day, Abigail Becker paced up and down the beach, while Edward and Oliver stood nearby watching the tea and keeping the fire burning brightly. By mid-afternoon, as the storm continued to rage, Abigail knew something had to be done to get the crew to swim ashore, since the yawl boat from the Conductor was in hopeless condition. They would surely die of exposure if they stayed all night in the rigging. All she could do was to wade out closer to the Conductor and by gestures communicate with the crewmen.

Jones: Captain Hackett, look there. That woman. She's coming into the water. Waving. She's acting like she's swimming. She wants us to swim ashore!

Macaulay: Swim? She thinks we're seals or something? We're already half frozen. I can hardly move. It's too far in this ice water.

Jones: And the Cousins here can't swim a stroke. What do you think, Captain? That water will get you fast. Oh, maybe another schooner will come along.

Henry Hackett: Boys, there's not going to be another schooner today or tomorrow, or maybe until March. It's evident that swimming is our last and only chance. I'll try. If I live, follow me. If I drown, stay where you are. I hope to see you there by the fire.

Aunt Carole: And with these words, Captain Henry Hackett descended from the rigging. Pausing briefly, he bowed his head, commending his soul to God the Father. Then he took off his heavy overcoat, white with snow and stiff with ice, removed his cap and boots, waited a few moments for a brief lull between waves, and jumped. Captain Hackett did surprisingly well until he reached the point where the powerful undertow began rushing back to the lake. By then, the strength was totally drained from his severely chilled body. Abigail was watching breathlessly.

Abigail Becker: There he is, boys! He's almost here! Oh, but he's just floating there. I've got to go get him!

Eddie: All your clothes! You'll freeze too!

Abigail Becker: That man will drown unless I pull him out! What if he was your father? I'm the only one who can save him. Thank the Good Lord, you made it. So cold you can't even talk. Just a few more feet and we'll be on the beach.

Eddie: I'll help you get him out. He looks like he's unconscious.

Abigail Becker: Edward, what do you think you're doing in this water and with crutches?

Eddie: Well, we've got to save him, just like you said.

Abigail Becker: Now you're all wet too. Go back to the fire. Oliver can help when I get him to shore.

Aunt Carole: By the warmth of the fire, Captain Hackett soon regained consciousness. Then first mate John Jones appeared struggling in the water not far away. Against Abigail's protests, Captain Hackett went into the water to help his friend, but both men sank below the surface, and Abigail had to pull them out, clinging to each other.

Each time a swimmer neared shore, she went far out, sometimes up to her chin in water, even though she couldn't swim. Once on shore, she did all she could. To one man she gave her shawl, another the shoes off her feet, and she remained barefoot in the thickening snow. Because one man couldn't swim and remained in the rigging, Abigail maintained her vigil by the fire all night. Back at the draughty Becker cabin, the other men were finishing a meager supper, thankful to be alive.

Jones: I feel, I feel like I'll never get warm.

Macaulay: Same here. I spent some time at a trading post on the Yukon a few years back and thought I was cold then, but this...

Jones: Poor Cousins, still out there in the rigging.

Henry Hackett: Yeah, and I knew better than to hire a man who couldn't swim. We're going to go get him in the morning, Captain.

Jones: Absolutely. We'll be dried out by then and the storm will have passed.

Aunt Carole: The next morning, the men were able to construct a raft and rescue James Cousins, who was barely alive by then and had to recuperate in the Becker cabin for almost a month under Abigail's care. The other crew members left after a week, going back to the mainland in Becker's boat. Captain Hackett was among the last to leave.

Henry Hackett: Well, Mrs. Becker, it's high time I got out of your way. You don't have room here for a bunch of sailors.

Abigail Becker: Oh, for heaven's sake, Captain, that's nothing. Now where'd you say you're headed? Amherstburg?

Henry Hackett: Yeah. My father is keeper of the lighthouse there, and that wreck out on the sandbar was Mr. McLeod's schooner. He lives there too.

Abigail Becker: I hope you're up to the trip.

Henry Hackett: Mrs. Becker, ma'am, I was up to it several days ago. But not all of us were. Especially Jim there. Looks like he'll need a while longer. He'll do just fine here. Mrs. Becker, you're like no woman I've ever seen. The way you came down and got us all to jump in, except for Cousins there, and then pulled every last one of us out during the storm. I never dreamed I'd say it, but I'd give anything for a whole crew of women if they were like you.

Abigail Becker: Captain Hackett, don't talk like that. I'm just a wife and mother, you know.

Henry Hackett: Well, my Annie's back in Amherstburg. I've been courting her a while. She's a God-fearing lady, and she's always praying about things like our voyage down this way.

Abigail Becker: That's good.

Henry Hackett: Now I've got something to really thank her for, and she'll tell me to thank God, not her. Guess I should tell the Almighty myself.

Abigail Becker: Think I would, if I were you. Other years there's been wrecks along here, and if you hadn't had trouble where you did, well, we'd never seen you. Likely no one was praying for those other ships.

Henry Hackett: That must be so. There's no doubt God's hand has been in all this, putting us here with you and your kids. Now I'll get to spend Christmas with my family and Annie. Maybe she'll teach me how to pray. Well, your husband Jeremiah's waiting for me at the dock. Thanks for everything.

Abigail Becker: You're so welcome.

Uncle Dan: Jesus wants His followers to know how to pray. What's prayer? It's simply talking to God. Here's a prayer Jesus used as an example of how we should talk to God. Matthew 6, verses 9 through 13.

Guest (Male): Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Steve Green: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.

Uncle Dan: Our thanks to Steve Green, his friends, and Sparrow Records for allowing us to share their recording of The Lord's Prayer from their Hide Them in Your Heart CD. It's time for us to go, but remember, God loves you, and He's only a prayer away.

Aunt Carole: So talk to your Heavenly Father today, won't you? Goodbye now and God bless you all.

Uncle Dan: Goodbye everyone. See you again next time.