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GLEANINGS iU likE CUL'J^UIIE. 



,trME 



tliese things so well as his papuV Papa had 

 explained things to him in the fields ; he had 

 told him ahont tlnngs when we were ont 

 lidii:;' in the liiggy. lie knew liis papa told 

 llie until, becanse liis papa liad never tooled 

 liim 1101' disa])pointe(l hini. When he told 

 lum that, in a few days, there wonld he luee 

 berries on the strawberry -plants, lie knew it 

 wonld come to pass. Ves. on that very Sim- 

 (hiy morning he and his papa had had a jol- 

 lilieation over tinding some great ripe straw- 

 l)enits. right where papa said tiiey wonld 

 grow. A great many things papa eonld 

 manage and control. lie coukt make old 

 Jack behave, and he eoidd make the ma- 

 chinery minil at the factory ; but this 

 thunder- and -lightning business evidently 

 was something that i)apa did not start, or 

 had not much lo do wiih. How did it come, 

 and what was it forV That was what he 

 wanted to know ; hut the best way he could 

 manage to frame the thought, from the 

 stock of words contained in his infantile 

 vocabulary, was as he put it, simply 

 •Where •gettie"':"' Papa's explanation was 

 sufficient. The thunder and lightning were 

 (iod's, and God was the one wlio maue the 

 •■ great Itig sun."' and the stars '' away up 

 high ;"' who made even papa and mamma 

 and Iluber. These were great truths, but 

 they were hardly satisfying. An elephant 

 is great; but if we were alone with him 

 in tlie woods, a more important (piestion 

 would crowd itself upon us— Is he friendly":' 

 A horse is not only great and powerful, but 

 lie is handsome, lie is nice to look at. 

 These (pialitications are good so far as they 

 go; but the more important question is. '' Is 

 he kind and gentleV especially if we are to 

 be placed in his power. It helps us to know 

 that (iod is great; hut it satisHes us inlinite- 

 ]y more to know that he loves us. He 

 created the heaven and the earth, it is true; 

 but, how about poor weak helpless human 

 beings, such as we are':* Does God love us"::' 

 When he fashioned us from the dust of the 

 earth, he also framed tiie iieavens. and gave 

 the thunder and lightning a place in the 

 universe. Had he any plan in regard to 

 tiiese things, or was it all framed without 

 plan or purpose anywhere':' Did we enter 

 into his plans any more than the thunder 

 and lightning':' and are we of any more ac- 

 count how than they are':' Does he care if they 

 crush and devour" us':' O my friends, to l)'e 

 sure, he cares; "for God so loved the 

 world." AVhat a beautiful, lieautiful text is 

 this, and some way it satisfies me, and 

 makes me happy, to turn from this lirst 

 verse in the iJible over to the third chapter 

 of John, and to that sixteenth verse. I am 

 told that others have found c<miforl in that 

 sixteenth verse as well as myself. The 

 stenographer who is taking down "iliese notes 

 says lie has a copy of that verse in -:4(i differ- 

 ent languages. U'hy was that verse singled 

 out above all others,' to b>' translated so that 

 all nations of the earth can read it, even if 

 they can not read the rest of the holy word":' 

 Why, because that verse is of such wonder- 

 ful import and importance to the children of 

 men. While I think of it I rather expect 

 that Iluber will love that verse above all 

 others. What a wonderfully pleasant task 



it is to teach these little ones these great 

 truthsl When I talked to him there in the 

 darkness of the night, and assured him oi 

 (iod's love, while 1 allaved his fears with mv 

 hand on his little cohliding self, what a 

 glimpse 1 had of (Jod's love /;(//.sr//.' It 

 seemed to me as if (iod were pleased to have 

 me .state so positively that there was no 

 mistake aboui it. He loves us; and even 

 though he should see (it at times to let the 

 lightning strike us. and even though we may 

 be called upon to endure death by the de- 

 vouring elements, .still that greai" love is 

 there, and his presence and his Spirit shall 

 be with us in the hour of trial, bridging over 

 the dark stream— the only conditions being 

 that we trust and obey him. 



Iluber is sleeping again. lie is resting on 

 that great trutli that his papa unfolded to 

 him. How do I know it':' liecause in his 

 sleep several times I heard the simple little 

 words, •• (iod loves Huber."' He had taken 

 the statement from me as a fact, you see, 

 and the fact satished him. He dui not un- 

 derstand it (pnte all ; and before he had got 

 (luite sounuly to sleej) he sometimes got 

 tilings mixed up a little ; and as I listehed 

 once to hear what it was he was saying in a 

 dreamy sort of way. after the words "' »;od— 

 loves-^Huber "" then came still more slowly, 

 •'• thun'er "—loves— Iluber."" Vou see, the 

 fear of the thunder had been allayed by the 

 thought that it was one of (Jod"s creatures- 

 one of his servants, entirely subject to him : 

 and if (^od loved Iluber, is it any thing 

 strange that, in his infantile mind, he in his 

 sleep cut the matter short by the expression 

 1 have quoted, and resting on that thought 

 went to sleep and slept soundly till morning':' 

 Would it hurt any of us if we rested on just 

 such a childlike faith as that— a faith in 

 tJod':* " Except ye become as little ciill- 

 dren,"" etc. 



Now, friends, such thoughts as the above 

 were often in my mind when passing 

 through Mammoth" Cave; aiul when some- 

 body suggested that those great rocks might 

 fall and bury us up, a sortOf feeling came 

 up at once, if they do, (iod is near; '"fear 

 not. little Hock."" ' 



To take iij) the thread of our story where I 

 left off last month, we will linish our trip. 



'■ Danger on the right I "" sings the guide 

 once more. ••The hat .Mans .Misery, " an- 

 nounced the guide. Now, 1 expected to see 

 something unpleasant ; but. imagine my sur- 

 prise when we entered the most beautiful 

 portion, to me, of .Mammoth ("ave. Of 

 course, we had to stoop and be scpieezed to 

 some extent, luit we went down a beautiful 

 winding way, with a nice level path under 

 our feel, with carvings and formations ris- 

 ing at our sides, perliaps waist high, that 

 seemed as if they must have been carved out 

 for ornamental I'lurposes. Some of it looks 

 like a pretty garden fence. Again, there 

 were bedsspreail out at each side, something 

 as you see them in a greenhouse, and the 

 carvings in stone would answer the purpose 

 of Mowers. One instin(ti\ely passes his hand 

 over the flutings and moldings as he turns 

 this way and that in this narrow, rocky cav- 

 ern. There has been an attempt made to 

 change the name to the Winding Way, but 



