482 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



lent all over the world. My dear friend, in 

 the neighborhood around your home is it cus- 

 tomary to have a builder, or, say, a crowd of 

 men stopped in their job because some carrier 

 "forgot" to load on all his stuff? There, 

 there ! if I do not look out I fear I shall be 

 finding fault again. 



In our hurry to get the logs out of the way, 

 we piled them up just back of the house. I 

 did not set fire to them — first, because they 

 were too damp to burn well ; and, secondly, 

 if the wind were to change I knew it would 

 greatly annoy us in our work. As soon as we 

 got the shingles on, several of the older men 

 began shaking their heads, and looking at that 

 lo^-pile almost as high as the house. They 

 said if a fire got into the woods, and the wind 

 were in the right direction, the house that was 

 built in just one day would burn down in a 

 good deal less time. The log-heap would have 

 to be burned up before I went home. I start- 

 ed it going one night just after the men left, 

 and I spread my blanket in the new house, 

 and proceeded to watch. Even though the 

 wind was away from the house, the heat was 

 so great that it almost scorched the boards. 

 There was no water nearer than twenty or 

 thirty rods, and I was alone in the wilderness. 

 If the wind were to change, my house could 

 not stand a minute. A little after midnight 

 it did change, and the sparks fell on that roof 

 for a little while in a way that was fearful. I 

 liad a ladder and one bucket of water. Of 

 course, it was not a very serious matter ; but 

 it was dear to mv heart, even if the whole 

 thing was not worth more than forty or fifty 

 dollars. Just as I began to fear trouble the 

 raindrops began to patter on that roof. What 

 a joyous thing it was just then to thank God 

 for having answered my prayer in this strange 

 and unexpected way ! The contrary wind that 

 came up all of a sudden was probably brought 

 on by the rain that was just behind it. 



Just one more little circumstance. After 

 the boys and I had cleared off the ground 

 where we were to plant our peach-trees, some- 

 body suggested we ought to have a floater to 

 make the ground smooth. I suppose I need 

 not tell you wHat a floater is. There was 

 nothing on the premises that we could draw 

 over that ground, to scrape off the high places 

 and fill up the hollows. Oh ! yes, there was. 

 When the carpenters needed a ladder badly I 

 took two light sticks of timber and nailed 

 boards across, making a rough but strong lad- 

 der. I told Orville to get his team, and an- 

 other boy to get the log-chain ; and then I 

 hitched the chain so the ladder would go for- 

 ward with a slant, enabling it to slip by the 

 stumps and obstructions ; then I loaded the 

 hoys on the ladder, and told Orville to start 

 up. It did beautiful work ; but the ground 

 was so uneven and rough, and there were so 

 many roots, it went by jerks, especially when 

 going down hill. Of course, we might have 

 piled logs on the ladder, but we wanted it 

 weighted down in such a way we could take 

 off the weight in going up hill, and put it on 

 in going down. We wanted it weighted down 

 with something that had sense and intelli- 

 gence. I explained the matter to the boys, 



and distributed them along the ladder, and 

 then — what do you suppose? We not only 

 made that orchard look like an onion-bed, but 

 those four boys hai — well, something I should 

 call better than a circus. Sometimes the whole 

 four went over backward in spite of all they 

 could do to hold on ; and about as soon as they 

 got back, the next tumble was over in front 

 under the horses' heels. I kept telling them 

 they must hold on tighter. The boys laughed 

 and hurrahed till they made the woods ring ; 

 and I finally laughed till the tears ran down 

 my cheeks, making furrows, I suppose, 

 through the dust and grime. Oh, yes ! when 

 I went up to Michigan I had to wear an over- 

 coat and a muffler and my winter flannels. I 

 had the grip across my chest, rheumatism in 

 my leg, and a cold besides. When I got to 

 work with the boys, after three or four days I 

 was bareheaded (barefooted a part of the 

 time), wore neither coat nor vest, and some of 

 the time I had to remove some of my under- 

 clothing. When my feet got sore I bathed 

 them at night in cool running water from that 

 spring, and did not catch cold. I boarded at 

 a farmhouse, and had farmers' fare ; was hap- 

 py and well, without any beefsteak or other 

 things that we get with so little trouble when 

 we live in a town or city. 



On Sunday I found a churchful of people, 

 young and old, in Sunday-school. There was 

 no preaching in the middle of the day at Bing- 

 ham, and not every Sunday in the evening ; 

 therefore they generally have an excellent 

 turnout at the Sunday-school, and it rejoiced 

 my heart to see them come from miles around. 

 Yes, and it rejoiced my heart again when the 

 superintendent asked me if I would talk to 

 the children at the close of the lesson. I told 

 them I wanted to talk about two things — fish- 

 ing and swearing. I asked how many had 

 ever been fishing. In response the boys pret- 

 ty much all raised their hands. Then I asked 

 how many knew how to fish, and the hand of 

 pretty nearly every one in the room went up. 

 Then I told them something about fishing in 

 olden times, and the cast net that Peter was 

 requested to throw on the other side, and 

 which I described on page 355. Then I spoke 

 something as follows : 



" Children, I might now take up the other 

 part of my subject and ask how many of you 

 have ever heard swearing. But I do not want 

 to do this. I do not want to know how much 

 swearing there is in this community, for I am 

 almost a stranger. I might ask all those who 

 have ever been tempted to swear to raise their 

 hands ; but, God forbid. The subject is too 

 serious and sacred a matter to even ask ques- 

 tions about in this way. Peter was an expert 

 fisherman. It was the business of his life be- 

 fore Jesus found him. The Bible tells us that 

 Peter knew how to swear as well as how to 

 fish Can anybody tell me how Peter proba- 

 bly learned these awful bad words? " 



Somebody replied that Peter had most like- 

 ly heard others swear. And, dear friends, this 

 is the way swearing comes about. The little 

 boys hear the bigger ones swear, or the old 

 men, or the "neighbors." If everybody 

 would stop it, the little boys pretty soon would 



