1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



651 



about with a conscience heavier and heavier 

 every hour. Of course, I was interested in 

 the wonderful sights of the great locks where 

 boats toward 500 feet long are all the while 

 awaiting their turn to be passed through. 

 The passengers on board the boat were all 

 very nice people. There was not any thing 

 objectionable going on ; but, at the same time, 

 it was evident that none of the passengers 

 were particularly spiritually minded. I found 

 a very nice plain-print Bible on the piano, and 

 I read in it a good part of the day. One 

 young man admitted that he, like myself, was 

 a church member, and that, although he was 

 going to stay over till the next day, he did not 

 propose to go to church while there were so 

 many wonderful things to see and inquire 

 about. 



As we left the Soo, the mate informed us 

 that, in consideration of the fact that we did 

 not have a chance to go over Mackinac Island 

 the day before, they would drop passengers — 

 at least as many as wished — for four hours on 

 the island while they went to unload some 

 freight at Cheboygan. Here was a chance to 

 attend the evening services ; but the passen- 

 gers were discussing the wonderful sights on 

 the island — Arched Rock, Devil's Kitchen, 

 Lover's Leap, beautiful cold-water springs, 

 etc. 



It was not church time when we landed, so 

 I thought I would go with the rest and see 

 some of these wonderful things, and get back 

 in time for church service. Yes, it is true 

 your old friend A. I. Root was not only off on 

 a Sunday excursion, but he was out sight-see- 

 ing when he ought to have been getting ready 

 to be promptly on hand with God's people, at 

 the place of worship. As I passed along the 

 beautiful macadamized roads between the wa- 

 ter and the cliff I was somewhat nervous and 

 excited. I imagined I heard Dr. Miller's 

 voice saying, " Mr. Root, when you tell us of 

 these wonderful sights you saw up here, you 

 will, of course, remember to mention that it 

 was on Sunday you ' took them in.'" Then 

 I thought I heard the children discussing the 

 matter, and it seemed to me I could hear Er- 

 nest laughing in his sly way (for he has al- 

 ways been more or less up to mischief), to 

 think/ai/ter was off sight-seeing on a Sunday 

 excursion. These things troubled me so much 

 that I passed by the Devil's Kitchen, and did 

 not see it. A man I made inquiry of said he 

 thought I certainly would have heard the run- 

 ning water from the springs right where you 

 turn off and climb up among the cliffs. I 

 turned and went back hastily. The evening 

 was quite warm, and I was getting sweaty. I 

 found the spring, and the water of it was cer- 

 tainly most refreshing. I saw the wooden 

 steps that led up to the kitchen ; but at first I 

 said, " No, I am going straight back to church, 

 even if I have come hundreds of miles to visit 

 Mackinac Island, and stand just on the thresh- 

 old of the 'kitchen.' " Then somebody or 

 something suggested that I take just "one 

 look " inside. I think it must have been the 

 same person who suggested to mother Eve 

 that she simply take ' ' one bite ' ' of that beau- 

 tiful apple. 



I climbed up the wooden stairs, but the 

 kitchen was evidently further up. I followed 

 a steep footpath ; but the foliage was so dense, 

 and it was so near night, I could not see very 

 well. The pathway became more intricate 

 and dark. Finally I emerged into an open 

 grassy plot. I thought the kitchen must be 

 down at my right, and I hurriedly pushed on 

 that way, and then decided it must be at the 

 left. Then I gave it up and tried to go back 

 the way I came. But I could not find the 

 opening where I came through the thicket. 

 I tried quite a spell, and then meditated push- 

 ing down over the cliffs, without any path. 

 But I only tore my clothes, got into a tangle, 

 and got more sweaty, and I hadn't found any 

 kitchen at all ; but I mentally decided I was 

 in the Devil's " trap" in good earnest, even 

 if not in his " kitchen." A guilty conscience 

 was making me more and more nervous and 

 excited. Finally I slid down along a water- 

 pipe I had noticed in climbing up. I had 

 come further from the town than I supposed. 

 I thought if I only succeeded in getiing to 

 church just before the services closed, or could 

 get near the church doors among Christian 

 people, I should feel better ; but after visiting 

 two different places of worship I only suc- 

 ceeded in going home with the crowd from 

 one of them. 



Just a week before, at that little Sunday- 

 school over among the hills I gave the young 

 people a talk about holding fast to their spirit- 

 uality, or, if you choose, to the influences of 

 the Holy Spirit. I told them a clear con- 

 science and a sense of God's presence is worth 

 more in life than any thing money can buy. 

 With it they would be happy anywhere under 

 almost all circumstances ; and without it they 

 could not be happy, even with all that wealth 

 could furnish. Then I spoke to them about 

 grieving away the Holy Spirit by doing things 

 that their conscience told them were wrong ; 

 and yet after all this talk, within one week 

 I myse// had driven away all happiness just 

 by chasing after the things of this world. 



The steamer left us a little after five. The 

 four hours would take us till something after 

 nine ; so we went out on the dock and waited 

 for the steamer to show up. It was ten o'clock, 

 and she had not come ; eleven, and she had 

 not come ; midnight, no steamer. A little 

 after one o'clock the electric lights from the 

 upper bow could be seen away off across the 

 waves. About half-past one we were on board. 

 Besides the half-dozen passengers who decided 

 to stop on the island, there were the dining- 

 room girls who waited on the table. There 

 in the night we had quite a chance to become 

 acquainted ; and had the circumstances been 

 any different I might have exhorted those 

 girls to lead Christian lives ; but with what 

 consistency could I then hold up Christ Jesus 

 to them ? Under other circumstances I might 

 have done so ; but I felt, for the present, my- 

 self ruled out. I passed them several times 

 on the island, and they recognized me. T/iey 

 knew that I was of the world and among the 

 worldly crowd and not with the church-goers. 



Years ago I told you about riding twenty 

 miles after dark over sandy roads rather than 



