Steve's painful bike experience and Elias's knowing what to do.

 While we were living in Fairspire Court our boys, Paul and Steve, befriended another young fellow, about Paul's age. This boy offered to give a bike ride to Steve. On the back of our bikes there was often a carrier on which one could fasten his school satchel or case. It made quite a nice carrier for a passenger too. Well, suddenly we heard a real horrified scream from Steve. I and Elias ran to the window and we saw Steve sitting in the pavement with a lot of blood streaming from his foot. Without a second's hesitation Elias said, "Call the Master (Mel), " as he tore downstairs and picked Steve up holding the deep cut on Steve's foot closed. He rushed upstairs and went directly to the bathroom where he filled  the handbasin  with water, all the time holding the wound closed. Mel rushed home and we tore up to the hospital where they cleansed his foot and sewed it up with several stitches (I think it was seven) and the doctor said that it had missed the tendon by a hair's breadth, which would have meant the loss to movement to his foot. What had happened was that Steve's foot was caught in the spokes of the boy's bike.  When we left Bulawayo to go to Southern Africa Bible School we had to tell Elias that we couldn't take him with us, but I gave him a wonderful reference and he, very soon, was hired to a responsible job with the Municipality. I tell you all this to illustrate what a treasure we found when we hired Elias. When we got home from the hospital Elias was still there, even though it was long passed his knock-off time!! What a Gentleman!!