1901 



GLKANINGS IN BKJi CULTUKK. 



305 



of the most beautiful tropical forest I ever saw 

 in my life anywhere. Bath cabbage and saw 

 palmetto were thriving in most wonderful lux- 

 uriance. The ground was so rich that e\ery 

 thing grew with surprising tropical luxuriance. 

 The driver informed me that that was Mr. 

 Brown's property. He said it extended near- 

 ly a mile. 



At length we came out of the woods and 

 drove up before what I should call a fine old 

 castle. It was made of Florida wood, how- 

 ever, instead of stone. My friend rapped at 

 the door, but no one answered. He said he 

 thought Mr. Brown was out after ducks, but 

 would be in soon. The postoffice was a mile 

 further on, and no one lived anywhere near. 

 I decided to stay and await my friend's return. 

 As I knew him quite well I made myself at 

 home, and built a big fire in the open fireplace, 

 and after blowing a big shell to announce my 

 presence I began to look around a little. The 

 more I explored the great building, the more 

 I was astonished. Mr. Brown is not a mar- 

 ried man — in fact, he lives all alone. What 

 was he doing in such a great house, with its 

 furnishing of books, paintings, heavy expen- 

 sive curtains, and all the paraphernalia of a 

 rich man's castle ? A beautiful porch with ex- 

 pensive ornamental carvings graced the front 

 of the house. A pair of broad doors opened 

 up at the foot of a broad stairway. Half way 

 up there was a landing, and the stairs curved 

 gracefully to the right and to the left. On 

 this landing was a pair of storks that startled 

 one by their lifelike appearance, with heads 

 about level with your own. Between them 

 was an expensive antique vase, and costly or- 

 naments met one at every turn. There were 

 out buildings without number, and for every 

 purpose imaginable. There were acres of 

 grapes to furnish wine to fill the spacious 

 wine cellars. There had been acres of orange- 

 groves, but they had gone into a decline. 



It was getting dark, and still no one came 

 near. It looked as if I might be called on to 

 pass the night alone in the wilderness in that 

 great castle. Something said to me the se- 

 cret of these things in this place was that the 

 house, for some reason or other, had the rep- 

 utation of being " haunted." Mr. Brown was 

 just the chap for such a place. The more 

 spirits and hobgoblins the house contained, 

 the better it would suit him, especially if he 

 got a very low rent. 



After reading various books in the choice 

 library, just as I began to think I should have 

 to investigate the larder and get along for the 

 night as best I could, I heard voices ; and, 

 wasn't there a hand-shaking ? Mr. Brown had 

 a friend with him, and they had some of the 

 handsomest ducks, fat and plump, that ever 

 delighted any hunter's heart ; and my friend 

 soon convinced us that he had learned how to 

 cook during all his days of bachelorhood. 

 Four or five years before, the doctors told Mr. 

 Brown he had but a few weeks to live. One 

 of his lungs was gone with consumption, and 

 the other was badly diseased. In fact, the 

 sunken lung has now caved in, as it were, and 

 the other one has developed so as to do double 

 duty. When the doctors gave him up he went 



where he could get the salt breezes fiom the 

 ocean, and live mostly in the open air. When 

 he goes to bed he has the windows wide open, 

 winter and summer, virtually sleeping out- 

 doois. 



During the night I had evidence that pcison 

 that has been forced down into the bowels is- 

 not in a very much better place than having it 

 in the stomach. 1 had a great deal of distress; 

 but I felt sure that, by a strictly lean-meat 

 diet (my old remedy, you know), I should be 

 all right in a day or so. The second night, I 

 had an attack of dysentery so, severe that I 

 feared I should never live through it. Mr. 

 Brown and I were alone, a mile from anybody 

 else, and many miles from a doctor. I man- 

 aged to get out by the fire, and scraped up 

 strength enough to pick up a stick of wood 

 and strike on a door and wake Mr. Brown up. 

 He recommended my old water-cure treat- 

 ment. He said he got it from Gleanings, 

 and it had done very much in helping him 

 back to life after the doctors said he had got 

 to die. I told him I had tried it very thorough- 

 ly just before going to bed, but it did not seem 

 to reach the spot. He got me some water, 

 just as hot as I could bear my hand in, and 

 necessity became the mother of invention. I 

 discovered then, for the first time in my life, 

 how to get water further through the intes- 

 tines than I had been able to get it before. 

 Let me beg your pardon, dear friends, for 

 speaking plainly, for I am sure it is a matter 

 that may save life in an emergency. In order 

 to get the hot water clear along the intestines 

 to the seat of the pain, or poison, if aou 

 choose, while using the hot-water enema in 

 the way we are familiar with, I first stood on 

 my feet, then bent my body so as to bring my 

 head as near my feet as I could. This brought 

 the intestines below where the water is intro- 

 duced, and I felt it slowly working down un- 

 til it reached the foreign matter that Nature 

 was trying to get rid of. By changing my po- 

 sition the water all came away. I did this re- 

 peatedly, and the pain gradually subsided so 

 I could go to sleep. You may be sure I did 

 some earnest praying for help when suffering 

 that night. My prayer was heard and answer- 

 ed in the way indicated above. But I declared 

 then and there, that, if God would spare me 

 till morning, and I was able to travel, I would 

 take a bee-line for home. However, in the 

 morning friend Brown persuaded me to go and 

 see a doctor first and ask him if he thought I 

 was able to go on my trip. So we two started 

 for the nearest physician. At first I felt as if 

 I could hardly sit in my seat ; but the sun 

 came up, the mockingbirds were singing, the 

 salt breezes were coming from off across the 

 ocean, the tropical scenery was all around me, 

 and little by little I began to straighten up. 

 When we got near the doctor's, toward noon, 

 I said : 



" Why, friend Brown, I do not believe I 

 want any doctor after all. If I have the right 

 kind of food, and take care of myself, I think 

 I can go on with my trip." 



Again and again when in distress have my 

 prayers been answered in the same or some 

 similar way as outlined above. 



