July, 191 S 



G I. K A KINGS IN BEE GUI. TURE 



of aiie 1 bejiin to realize the truth of tlie 

 sayiny' more and more, almost every day. 

 1 told Georg'e that about as soon as he got 

 well out of sight something would .get 

 wrong, and there would not be another 

 man, woman, or child short of North Da- 

 kota who would be able to unravel the 

 difficulty. Sure enough, about the day 

 after he left, the cutoff that was to turn the 

 curi-ent on the batteries when the wind blew 

 hard enough would not work. I puzzled 

 over the matter off and on all day, and 

 went to bed feeling blue and discouraged. 

 Yes, I prayed over it; but I bad somehow 

 lost faith in myself, and I am afraid I lost 

 faith also in the dear Savior, who said, 

 " Come unto • me, all ye that are heavy 

 laden, and I will give you rest." I am 

 ashamed to say that I lay awake brooding- 

 over it during the night; but finally toward 

 daylight I went to sleep. When I awoke, 

 Mrs. Root had gone out to prepare break- 

 fast. Let me digress a little once more. 



In that splendid book, " The Christian's 

 Secret of a Happy Life," the author tells 

 of a poor man who was trudging along 

 with a big" bag of grain on his shoulder. 

 A neighbor came up behind him and told 

 him to get in and ride. Of course he did 

 so, but he insisted on carrying the grain 

 on his shoulder in the same way, and gave 

 as a reason that it was too much to ask of 

 the good neighbor to carry both himself 

 and the bag of grain also. He would re- 

 lieve the hoi'se a little by carrying the grain 

 himself. The good neighbor could not put 

 it out of his head that it would be no 

 harder on the horse if he would dump his 

 heavy bag' into the back end of the wagon 

 and enjoy his ride. As I woke up that bright 

 morning and got out of bed it occurred 

 to me that I was about as bad as the 

 idiotic fellow who insisted on bearing his 

 burden when the neighbor invited him to 

 cast it oif. I knelt down again and 

 prayed over the matter of the electric 

 windmill. One of the things that contrib- 

 uted to my worry was that it was near the 

 time set for Mrs. Root and me to go back to 

 our Ohio home. What would be done with 

 the electric windmill during the summer 

 time if I did not feiret out the difficulty 

 and get the machine to work? Another 

 trouble that confronted me was that my 

 good neighbor. ]\Ir. Wheeler, who knew 

 more about (he a])paratus than any other 

 man, perhaps, in Floi-ida, had recentil>'| 

 l)lanned to move liis family down to Moore 

 Haven — see his article in the June issue. 

 Well, after I had gone right down on my 

 knees and told the dear Savior all about my 

 troubles I felt that 1 had the " assurance " 

 as the dear mother used to express it. 



After a good breakfast such as Mrs. Root 

 always has ready for me, I went out ex- 

 l)ecting that I should be able to unravel the 

 trouble. Let me say riglit here that one of 

 the tilings that contribute m.ost to my ha])- 

 l)iness in tliis woi'ld has been to meet with 

 kind and pleasant people. You all know 

 the effect of a kindly smile from a beauti- 

 ful, intelligent woman — at least the men 

 and boys do. Well, as I grow older I am 

 glad to say that there is less and less dif- 

 ference between the smiles of a handsome 

 woman, or, perhaps I should say, a good- 

 looking woman or a woman who looks 

 good — that is, it does not make much dif- 

 ference whether it is a v>oman who looks 

 good or a man who looks good. On that 

 particular morning when I went out and 

 stood before that switchboard I met a 

 young man with a pleasant smile on his 

 face who seemed to me just then to be one 

 of the best-looking- men I ever met in my 

 life. Yes, I had met him before some- 

 where ; but while I was puzzling- my brains 

 to decide when and Avhere, he said he had 

 come to see the electric Avindmill so much 

 talked about. Then I told him how greatly 

 T regretted that it was " out of fix," and 

 I had not sense enough in my old gray head 

 to find out tlie trouble. At this he smiled 

 even moi^e pleasantly, and then, with a still 

 pleasanter smile, said, " Perhaps, Mr. 

 Root. T may be able to help you out of your 

 trouble." 



" Well, my good friend, I am ashamed 

 to say that I can not recall just now whei-e 

 I have met you." 



" Oh !" he replied, " you saw me at the 

 electric-light plant down town." 



Let me explain right here that in years 

 past I had often looked thru the open door 

 to see the massive eng-ines and great dy- 

 namos that send electric light and power 

 all over Bradentown and away out into the 

 country. I think there is a sign across the 

 door, reading " No Admittance," and so 

 I had never ventured inside; but when 

 George came around, one of the first jioints 

 of interest to him was that electric-light 

 plant; and I was agreeably surprised to 

 find the foreman in charge so willing to 

 show us all over and answer all our ques- 

 tions. Well, here was the answer to my 

 ])rayer — not exactly what I had prayed for, 

 but something far better; and how often it 

 has happened just that Avay during this 

 busy life of mine! It seemed to me just 

 then that the good Lord had said to this 

 foreman of that great electric-light works 

 something as follows: "My old friend 

 A. I. Root is in trouble with his electric 

 windmill. While you are off from duty 

 this morning, just go down and help him 



