A railroad train was running at almost lightning speed. A curve was just ahead; and the train was late, very late; still the conductor hoped to pass the curve in safety. Suddenly, a locomotive dashed in sight. In an instant there was a collision. A shriek, a shock, and fifty persons killed; and all because an engineer had been behind time.
The battle of Waterloo was being fought. Column after column had been precipitated upon the enemy; the sun was sinking in the west, reinforcements for the enemy were already in sight; it was necessary to carry the position with one final charge. A powerful corps had been summoned from across the country. The great conqueror, confident of its arrival, formed his reserve into an attacking column and gave the word to advance. The whole world knows the result. Napoleon died in exile, a prisoner at St. Helena, because one of his marshals was behind time.
It is continually so in life. The best-laid plans are daily sacrificed because they are “behind time.” There are others who put off , salvation, year after year, till death seizes them, and they perish unrepentant, because forever “behind time.”