110 



AFTER the 

 Home pa- 

 p e x f Ir 

 January was in 

 print, in search^ 

 ing thru our 

 back numbers of 

 thirty years ago 

 I ti e c i dentally 

 came across 

 something that 

 i 1 1 u Si tvates so 

 vividly a part of 

 the text of that 

 Home papfer 

 that I reprint 

 that part of it : 



A little explanation may be needed. We 

 had a very interesting convention (30 years 

 ago) at Saginaw, Mich. In my talk on 

 high-pressure gardening I mentioned the 

 growing of leittuce. One of the friends 

 there said I ought to visit Grand Rapids 

 and see what was being donei there with the 

 new kind of lettuce. Therefore I decided 

 to take in Grand Rapids on my home trip. 

 Now comes the little incident that fits in a 

 remarkable way the little text — " Try me, 

 and know my thoughts, and see if there be 

 any wicked way in me." 



I was ready to start home; but for certain reasons 

 I wished to purchase a ticket at first only to a 

 neighboring city, and I asked the agent how much 

 it was. He said $3.35. I gave him four paper 

 dollars. The train was ready to start, and he hur- 

 riedly handed roe a silver dollar, half a dollar, a 

 dime, and a nickel. In my haste I came pretty near 

 not counting it; but when I got the silver dollar in 

 my fingers, and held it up, it occurred to me that I 

 ought not to have a whole dollar back in change. 

 In other words, he had made a blunder. Now, I 

 am aishamed to say it; but I guess I had better 

 acknowledge that self suggested putting all the 

 change in my pocket, without telling him. I beli°ve 

 I have boasted several times that the " almighty 

 dollar " never tempted me from, the path of duty ; 

 but there I was, actually coveting that bright round 

 silver dollar that I knew was not my own. I did 

 not hold it in my fingers, I presume, a whole second ; 

 but in that second, self (or Satan) whispered, 

 ' You must have misunderstood him. He probably 

 said $2.35." Tlien came the thought, " Why did he 

 not give nie back one of the paper dollars I gave 

 him?" But self put in again, "There is not time 

 to bother with it now, anyhow; besides, it is his 

 business — not yours. You gave him the money, and 

 he gave you back what you ought to have." Self 

 seemed to get a little bolder here, and added, " Your 

 expenses on this long trip will be larger, doubtless, 

 rather than less than you had calculated; better 

 hurry up, or you will lose the train." I can not 

 tell even now, dear friends, why such thoughts should 

 have come into my mind. It seems, as I think of 

 it, that it was a remnant of that old lifel before I 

 belonged to Christ Jesus. Then I used to have such 

 temptations, and I used to yield to them, too, 

 thinking, poor silly f ellow 1 that I was adding to my 

 stock of this"world's goods. Why, it made me fairly 

 tremble as I reflected of a professor of religion, 

 and one who even presumes to point out the way 

 for others, listening to such suggestions as the above. 



Gleanings in bee culture 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there 

 be any wicked way in me.^ — Psalm 139:23. 



Now I know that thou fearest God. — Gek. 22:12. 



God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross 

 of our liord -Jesus Christ, by whom the world is 

 crucified unto me, and I unto the world. — Gal. 6:14. 



Febrt'Ary, 1918 



I do not know how 

 long it took for me 

 to recoil with my 

 whole nature, and 

 bid these evil 

 thoughts to be down 

 and away, as I 

 would speak to 

 some ill-natured cur 

 that, with muddy 

 feet, might try to 

 .spring up and soil 

 my clothes. I said, 

 mentally, " Get thee 

 behind me, Satan ; 

 do you suppose I 

 am so silly as to 

 think I could be 

 happy with a dol- 

 lar that is not reaL 

 ly my own — a dol- 

 lar for wliich T have rendered no sort of equivalent? 

 I'lir shame!" 



T believe it was Moody who once said that no man 

 could be a Christian, with a single dollar in his 

 pocket that belonged to somebody else; and I believe 

 we should have better Christians if there were more 

 who felt convinced of this. If this be so, you had 

 better lose even your life, than to go off coolly and 

 deliberately with only a single dollar in your pocket 

 that is not justly your own. " What shall it profit 

 a man, if he gain the whole world) and lose his own 

 soul ?" 



" My friend, T gave you only four dollars," said I. 

 He lool:ed at me, somewhat embarrassed; and as 

 I showed him the change which he had given me 

 back, he took the dollar and colored a little to think 

 I had caught him, a ticket-agent, in such a blunder. 

 I thought if he could forgive me, I could forgive 

 him; and I took great pleasure in remarking to him 

 that I did not want a dollar belonging to anybody 

 else; and with a good-natured smile I suggested that 

 " mistakes will happen," etc. He caught my eye, 

 and his face brightened. The happy look that shone 

 forth from my face seemed to have touched his spirit 

 just right; and who knows but that the glimpse of 

 sunlight went along with him as well as along with 

 me? As I thought it over, it occurred to me that 

 possibly Cod was trying me as he tried Abraham of 

 old. Is it not possible that he is waiting and watch- 

 ing for men whom he can trust? Who knows but 

 that he has been saying, " I have a great deal of 

 work for Mr. Root to do for me, and 1 want to be 

 sure that he can resist temptation"? You know 

 he said to Abraham, " For now I know that thou 

 fearest God." 



This trial, however, was but a preface to another. 

 May be you will come to the conclusion that your old 

 friend A. I. Root is but a poor weak sinner after 

 all; and if you do, dear friends, you will think just 

 as I do about it. I will now explain to you, that 

 the object of my journey to the great city of Grand 

 Rapids was to see the immense lettuce-houses, which 

 I had learned at the horticultural convention were 

 there. I had also learned they had a new variety 

 of lettuce, superior to anything else in the world. 



Skipping the account of my visit to the 

 lettuce-gToenhouse, and pajdng $50.00 for 

 half a pound of seed, and giving the niame 

 " Grand Rapids " to this new lettuce to be 

 grown under glass, we oomie to the point 

 where I was once more starting for home. 



A few minutes more, and I was almost startled 

 when the agent of O'ue of the great union ticket-offices 

 handed mp itvo silver dollars more than I ought to 

 have. T felt glad in my heart, however, to find 

 there was not even the faintest trace of a desire to 



