Nelly's Dark Days by Hesba Stretton (PDF)

Nelly, an eight year old girl, was locked out of her home and left to freeze in the snow and cold. These were dark days because money was scarce and her father was drunk. Fortunately, Nelly had a friend, Bessie, who took care of her, while she waited for her father to reform. Finally, Rodney came to the end of himself and began to cry out to God to help him. An important verse is 2 Corinthians 12:9—"My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

PDF Download, 72 pages, 6 illustrations.

SARAH SMITH (1832-1911) was born in Wellington, England.  She had the good fortune of being able to read books from her father's bookshop, a printer of evangelical literature. Her mother was a strong evangelical, but died when Sarah was young. In the March 19th, 1859 issue of Household Words, a publication conducted by Charles Dickens, she published her first short story called The Lucky Leg. It is an intriguing story about a man who wanted to marry a woman with a missing leg. It was more secular, but her talent was recognized. Hesba Stretton became her pen name, Stretton coming from the name of a neighboring village, and Hesba coming from the initials of her siblings. H (Hannah or some sources Harriett), E (Elizabeth), S (Sarah), B (Benjamin), and A (Annie).