1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



467 



go-ahead, remarkably intelligeut, and at the 

 same time their lives were consecrated to 

 the Master. They especially won my re- 

 spect and admiration, the more so, perhaps, 

 from the fact that God had just called home 

 the mother of the household. She died in 

 March. In order to save expenses, and at 

 the same tim3 make the home pleasant for 

 the bereaved father, the daughter had, with 

 much zeal and devotion, undertaken to fill 

 the mother's place in the household. The 

 responsibility was a little new to her, and it 

 touched my heart to see how anxious she 

 seemed to have every thing pleasant for her 

 guest, and to do as her mother would have 

 done had she been alive. She did all the 

 cooking and housework. Before the even- 

 ing meeting she came out with a pleasant 

 face, and called us in to supper. I replied, 

 in a vein of pleasantry : 



" Why, my good young friend, I did not 

 know we were to have any supper, and it 

 hardly seems as if we need any after our 

 most excellent late dinner." 



'■'• O Mr. Root ! is it really true that you 

 mean exactly what you say? Did you in- 

 deed consider it an excellent dinner V You 

 do not know how anxious and troubled I 

 felt about it ; and I was so afraid that I 

 should not have every thing just right, or 

 just as mamma would have had it." 



As she spoke the words, a look of tender- 

 ness came into her face as she thought of 

 the dear mother who had so recently gone ; 

 and it gave me, too, a glimpse of that anx- 

 ious spirit which I had before seen beaming 

 from her expressive hazel eyes. Had any- 

 body asked me at the time what her com- 

 plexion was, or what the color of her hair 

 was like, I could not have told, for I rarely 

 notice such things ; but I should have said, 

 notwithstanding, that she was one of the 

 most beautiful characters (perhaps I might 

 as well say most beautiful young women) 

 that I had ever met. Now, please do not 

 think that I am partial ; for her brother was 

 as handsome a young man as one often 

 meets. The attraction in both was, how- 

 ever, in the line of •*• pretty is that pretty 

 does." These two had recently given their 

 hearts to Christ under the teaching and 

 preaching of our dear brother Reed, who 

 once, a few years ago, in God's providence, 

 brought me from darkness into light. 

 Brotlier Reed has grown since then, and 

 God's work is growing rapidly in his hands. 

 Some of you who see this, doubtless know 

 him and have learned to love him. As his 

 chosen field of work is evangelical, he may 

 come into your neighborhood some time. If 

 so, do not, I beg of you. miss seeing him 

 and hearing him talk. Well, my heart was 

 full of the Holy Spirit during this Sunday 

 work. It was an easy matter to love every- 

 body — even the ruddy-faced saloon-keepers 

 that abound in such plenty in the town of 

 Lorain. And is it any wonder that I had 

 several times thanked God for giving me 

 glimpses and even a brief acquaintance 

 with two such nice people as this boy and 

 girl I have been telling you of V 



Of course, I recognized that they were hu- 

 man, like the rest of us— that close acquaint- 

 ance might develop faults in their charac- 



ters that seemed so perfect; but, dear 

 friends, what is the harm of thinking well 

 of everybody V My good old mother sees so 

 much good everywhere in everybody, that it 

 is a standing joke among the children. If 

 she chances to talk with a tramp or a Jew 

 peddler, she bids him good-by, with the 

 firm conviction that he is a good man ; and 

 I know by experience that the tramps and 

 Jew peddlers— it. fact, almost everybody 

 else, leave her with a feeling in their hearts, 

 if not out-spoken, " Well, there is a good old 

 lady, any way." Two or three times 1 have 

 heard her called an old saint. Please ex- 

 cuse this much in regard to my mother, 

 dear friends. It will probably be a long, 

 long while before anybody calls this son of 

 hers, who is writing to you, a saint or any 

 thing approaching it. But is it not our 

 privilege, dear friends, to see saintly quali- 

 ties in our friends and neighbors? 



Let us now go back to the neighbors I 

 was speaking about— a boy and girl of eigh- 

 teen and twenty— the two whom I had 

 learned to consider almost as young saints 

 —at least, during my brief Sunday acquain- 

 tance. Sunday afternoon, it being decora- 

 tion day, I spoke briefly to an audience of 

 several hundred. There were four or five 

 speakers present, so we all spoke briefly. 

 At the close of the talk, some old neighbors 

 who used to liVe in Medina came forward 

 and took me by the hand. As they lived 

 near by, I was constrained to step into their 

 home a few minutes between meetings. A 

 young man— one of Ernest's old playmates 

 — was among the converts, and the Holy 

 Spirit had certainly found a lodging-place 

 in his heart. The poor mother had not been 

 attending the meetings, and she had not 

 yet risen to that point where love, hope, and 

 charity brighten and ennoble '' our neigh- 

 bors." I hope she will excuse me, if she ever 

 sees this, for quoting one single expression 

 from her talk. When they asked me where 

 I was stopping, I gave them the name. 

 They were new comers, however, and not 

 much acquainted. Finally the mother spoke: 



"Oh, yes I I know now. It is where that 

 red-headed girl lives, who keeps house for 

 her father." 



Just then the words '-red-headed girl" 

 jarred particularly on my spiritual state. 

 It is a common expression, and may be that 

 almost any one has at times indulged in 

 j ust such words. Dear friends, is it right to 

 speak in that way of any neighbor? I had 

 not noticed the color of her hair before, any 

 more than to remember that it was light ; 

 and as she spoke feelingly of her love for 

 Christ, her eyes were beautiful, and her 

 face was beautiful, and her hair too. It 

 seemed in keeping with her peculiar com- 

 plexion. I noticed, as she sat down to the 

 table, somewhat fatigued with her labors 

 over the stove, a flush on her cheek. I 

 knew what brought it there, and I admired 

 her all the more. If there is any class of 

 women I respect and admire more than oth- 

 ers, it is those who voluntarily choose to do 

 their own housework ; who know what it is 

 to cook and sweep, to iron and wash. The 

 words "red-headed girl" kept ringing in 

 my ears They called up recollections of 



