653 



GLEANING8 IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



wise man. Not so. God has promised to bring 

 good out of evil ; and where a soul truly re- 

 pents, God does finally bring good from that 

 which was started as evil. David's first trans- 

 gression was in breaking the command, "'Thou 

 Shalt not covet;" and if the commandments had 

 been written after David's time, 1 should have 

 thought the clause, " Thou shalt not covet thy 

 neighbor's wife," possibly came in because of 

 David's transgression. The command against 

 adultery was broken very speedily; then the 

 one against stealing, and the one in regard to 

 bearing false witness; next, murder ; and then 

 the poor guilty wretch was ready, it would 

 seem, to trample almost the whole decalog un- 

 der foot; but God's faithful prophet stood by 

 and fearlessly charged David with the sin. 



Dear friend, God's faithful servants are near 

 you at this moment — nearer than you think. 

 Are you ready to bow your head in acknowl- 

 edgment of the sin when the needed rebuke 

 comes at the hand of a courageous and faithful 

 friend? May God help you to repent as David 

 did! 



In my hands is a little book entitled " Hand- 

 book of the League of American Wheelmen, 

 Ohio Division." It is sent free to every mem- 

 ber of the L. A. W., which means League of 

 American Wheelmen. Now, the book has a 

 little map of the whole State of Ohio, and then 

 on each page is a map of each county, purport- 

 ing to give every traveled road in said county, 

 and telling the wheelman which roads he had 

 better take to reach a certain point, warning 

 him which roads to avoid on account of hills, 

 sand, or mud in muddy weather. This book is 

 compiled from contributions of wheelmen in 

 the separate counties, and it has been a source 

 of much pleasure and profit to me to study our 

 State of Ohio while I study the pages of the 

 book. Some of the wheelmen, where they hap- 

 pen to have a natural love for scenery, have 

 given important objects of interest in their 

 separate counties. For instance. Mr. H. R. 

 Bovlng, of Lancaster. Fairfield Co., tells us of 

 some wonderful pieces of Nature's work in his 

 county. I reached Lancaster, as I have told 

 you, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon (see page 

 613 last Issue). I made inquiries of people on 

 the train, and found that Mount Pleasant was 

 just in the edge of the city: in fact, it almost 

 reaches over a part of the fairground. As soon 

 as I stepped from the train I mounted my 

 wheel and made for this rocky structure. It is 

 a mass of rocks 2.50 feet high at the highest 

 point; and on the side toward the fairground, 

 and, in fact, almost all around it, the walls are 

 nearly perpendicular, sometimes overreaching. 

 The top is covered with grass and trees, and in 

 the cavities of the rock, on its summit, one can 

 almost always find rain water enough to get a 

 refreshing drink, even if it is not always cool. 

 There are wild flowers, grass, trees, mosses, 

 and laurels, in great profusion. When I was 

 a boy in my teens I got hold of a book of Indian 

 romance. It was entitled, I believe, "The 

 Forest Rose." The hero of the tale was Lewis 

 Wetzel, and his wonderful deeds of daring took 

 place on this great bluff. I have not learned 

 how much of the story is fact and how much 

 is fancy; but there was doubtless some fact 

 about it, and it made me enjoy all the more my 



visit to Mount Pleasant. If any of our readers 

 can get hold of the book, " Forest Rose," so as 

 to mall it to me, I will gladly pay them for 

 their trouble. As it is more than forty years 

 since I saw ii. It may be out of print. I learn ■ 

 ed, also, from ray handbook, about '• Riven 

 Rock," within four or five miles of the city. 

 The book simply says, " A large hill full of 

 fissures, from fifty to one hundred feet deep, 

 wide enough for a single-tile procession." The 

 only chance I had for the visit, on account of 

 the many committee meetings of the Anti- 

 saloon League, was between adjournment at 

 noon and the opening of the afternoon session, 

 which began at 2:30. Counting out 20 minutes 

 for dinner I had a little over two hours to ex- 

 plore Riven Rock, and go and return. The lat- 

 ter was quickly done, for there are beautiful 

 macadamized graveled or limestone roads in all 

 the principal directions out of the city. 



As my time was so limited I made some in- 

 quiries to be sure I was right. Two or three 

 people said it was from four to six miles; an- 

 other one said nine miles; and after I had got 

 about 3 miles in the right direction, a black- 

 smith declared most positively that it was 14 

 miles. I went a little further and consulted a 

 woman, and she told me there was no such 

 rock or mountain in that neighborhood; but she 

 finally Informed me, however, that there was 

 something over beyond the State Farm— in 

 other words, the Ohio Industrial School for 

 boys. I longed to visit that school, but lack of 

 time forbade. A little further on I met a man 

 in the road, who straightened me out. He said 

 there were two wonderful rocky hills. One of 

 them is four miles from Lancaster, and the 

 other seventeen. The blacksmith had started 

 me on the wrong road. It was one of the hot- 

 test days of the present summer, and I just 

 made the summit of one of the tallest hills in 

 Fairfield Co. Lost again. There was no help 

 for it; I had started out to visit Riven Rock, 

 and to Riven Rock I was going. I went down 

 the hill like the wind, struck the graveled pike 

 once more where the blacksmith started me 

 wrong, and went up hill and down (like the 

 wind again) until I was sure I ought to be near 

 Riven Rock. A boy said it was just ahead of 

 me, on the right-hand side. He had been there 

 "many a time." Half a mile further, some 

 men working on a bridge told me I had come 

 past the place to turn off; that I would have to 

 go back half a mile, and go through a gate 

 ' where it read " No trespass." 



Now, I do not like to do such things; but I 

 concluded to " trespass" notwithstanding, and 

 pay damages if I got arrested. After many 

 turnings over the hard road I was at the foot 

 of Riven Rock. The man on whose land I was 

 " trespassing " was so much taken up with my 

 19 pound Remington wheel that he easily for- 

 gave my breaking the rules. I was in so much 

 of a hurry, however, I asked him to take my 

 wheel in charge while I ascended the path he 

 pointed out up the wonderful mountain. There 

 was such a growth of trees, shrubbery, and 

 vines, one could not see anything except the 

 brush and trees. Toward the summit of the 

 hill it seemed to be all rock, and said rock was 

 shattered by some mighty convulsion so there 

 were fissures in every direction. It reminded 

 me of Mammoth Cave, only there was a thin 

 streak of daylight over most of the pathways. 

 I plunged in, thinking. I should have time for 

 only a brief survey. Many feet had made quite 

 a smooth pathway, except where leaves and 

 brush had dropped down from above. Pretty 

 soon it occurred to me that I was losing the 

 points of the compass by so many windings and 

 turnings; but I thoueht I would push through 



