L02 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



•■ No, I didn't ; I wind it mornings." 



He replied with great gravity, " Do you 

 feel sure it is right to do so much work (?) on 

 Sunday? " 



He gives a tenth of all his earnings to the 

 Lord : but a while ago he was tempted to 

 use some of ,- the Lord's money " to specu- 

 late in real estate, at the time of the " boom," 

 but the real estate went down and the money 

 was lost, and a good deal more with it : 

 so he mortgaged some property to get the 

 monev to pay up i that is. the Lord's tenth) 

 by giving the money thus obtained to 

 benevolent and missionary work. Dare any 

 of us say he went to too great extremes in 

 this ? 



In the afternoon my friend suggested that 

 we sit on the seats on the bluff, and read the 

 Sundav-sehool papers we had received at 

 school! As I looked a little demur, he 

 suggested that it was no worse than to sit 

 in the parlor of our boarding-place. 1 as- 

 sented. On the way it occurred to me I 

 should like to write a word or two to my 

 wife, as we sat viewing the ocean ; and as I 

 looked up I saw paper and envelopes in a 

 little booth on the sidewalk. Without a 

 thought 1 extended a dime for the tablet in 

 which I am now writing. Almost before 

 the transaction was done, however, he step- 

 ped up and promptly and faithfully rebuked 

 both of us. " Mr. Root, you are encouraging 

 these people in Sunday traffic, and at the 

 same time patronizing a tobacco-stand." 



A pretty predicament for the editor of 

 Gleanings, especiallv after all he has 

 written about doing business on Sunday, 

 and the use of tobacco— yes. and a spiritual 

 adviser besides, whom God had sent. 



I thanked him. and told him he was right. 

 We sat on the bench on the cliff, but we did 

 not look at the ocean much, and 1 didn't 

 write my letter. We both began to feel we 

 were not exactly where Christians ought to 

 be, for many others were along the cliff and 

 down on the roads. I had suggested visit- 

 ing the jail, but they don't have any, for 

 they never have had a saloon, and never ex- 

 pect to have one. May the good Lord di- 

 rect two of his children this Sabbath after- 

 noon. The prayer was answered very soon. 

 A man came up rather out of breath, and 

 inquired for A. I. Root. I at once jumped 

 to the conclusion that he was the operator, 

 and had a telegram for me, because some- 

 thing had happened at home. I started up. 



•• I am A. I. Root ; what is wrong ? " 



■■ Nothing, only I have had a long hunt 

 for you. I think I have been after you since 

 about the time you saw those turkey buz- 

 zards w nailed ' up on the trees to dry."' 



At this there was a big laugh all around, 

 and then he explained that their little girl 

 came home from Sunday-school, declaring 

 " A. I. Boot " had been there. He assured 

 her she must be mistaken ; but she stoutly 

 declared that the minister said, "Brother 

 A.I. Root, of Medina. O.," would make the 

 opening prayer, whereupon he set out to 

 hunt him. He traced him to dinner, then to 

 the Congregational Sunday-school, then off 

 toward the ocean, and he thought probably 

 he had gone off " hunting greenhouses " or 

 something of the sort. How did he know 



any thing about me ? Why, he had taken 

 Gleanings, even away back in Louisiana, 

 and A. I. Root was a household word, even 

 among the children. Would I not make his 

 house my home while I stayed V How about 

 visiting on Sunday V This new friend was 

 a Baptist, the other brother a Methodist, 

 and myself a Congregationalist. Surely we 

 three ought to be able to decide how best to 

 keep the Sabbath day holy under the cir- 

 cumstances. We accepted the Baptist broth- 

 er's invitation, and. what do you think ? 

 It was close by the barn where we had stay- 

 ed the night before. These two brothers 

 were side by side in a far-off land, and yet 

 both took and prized Gleanings, but might 

 not have known it for weeks had I not made 

 them acquainted. And it seems that almost 

 every Sunday since I have been in Califor- 

 nia some child has spread the news of my 

 whereabouts. I tell you. friends, it pays, in 

 more ways than one. to be promptly onhand 

 at both p'rayer-meeting and Sunday-school, 

 no matter how old you are. Sabbath even- 

 ing they had a wonderful temperance meet- 

 ing, with all the pastois of Long Beach on 

 the platform, and all the people (as a matter 

 of course) filling the seats of a pretty good- 

 sized tabernacle. I did not suppose so 

 large an audience could be found, if every 

 man. woman, and child attended ; and I did 

 not suppose the three pastors (although 1 

 had formed a very high opinion of them) 

 could give us three such mighty temperance 

 sermons. 



I have praised California so much, perhaps 

 I should touch lightly on its evils. Well, 

 the Methodist pastor, in speaking on social 

 purity, said that in Los Angeles alone there 

 were four hundred — not men. but blots on 

 creation— who made a business of enticing 

 boys, and girls too, into houses of ill-fame. 

 I hope this may be a mistake. 1 have been 

 a good deal in the city of Los Angeles, and 

 they seem to be a busy, God-fearing people. 



Friend Morrison's good wife welcomed us 

 to their home as warmly as did her kind 

 husband ; and even if we did visit some on 

 Sunday, I believe the Savior looked down 

 on us lovingly. 



" O Mr. Root '. " commenced our hostess, 

 with her charming Southern accent ; "there 

 is one woman in this town I do wish you 

 could know. She is rich, but she has so 

 much of the grace of God that riches can 

 not harm her. She has not only builded the 

 Congregational church, but pays the minis- 

 ter almost herself." The speaker is a Meth- 

 odist, and her husband a Baptist ; but I be- 

 lieve this spirit is characteristic of Long 

 Beach. 



•• Who is the beautiful lady that superin- 

 tends the Congregational Sunday-school V " 

 said I. 



" Why. Mr. Root, you have seen her al- 

 ready."" 



I wondered, when I saw r her giving direc- 

 tions, toward the close of the school, to see 

 one with such a sweet, pure, childlike face, 

 in a place of so much responsibility. She is 

 the child of a Congregational minister ; but 

 her husband has been prospered, and has 

 now immense wealth ; but he evidently has 

 as much faith in her as the rest of the peo- 



