230 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



the effect that there is no enjoyment nor 

 happiness in this world to be compared 

 with it. Such seasons as these, however, 

 are usually of brief duration ; and while we 

 are yet human, perhaps it will always be so. 

 There is quite a temptation to skip the re- 

 mainder of the events of that Sabbath day ; 

 but perhaps it migbt be profitable to consid- 

 er how I came down from the mountain, as 

 well as to relate how I unconsciously got up. 

 As the service closed, 1 felt sorry to know 

 there were no more meetings till evening. 

 At dinner I compared notes with the boys 

 who had been seeking pleasure in the ways 

 I have already mentioned. What should 

 be done during the afternoon V I read 

 awhile ; and then feeling the need of exer- 

 cise (or at least I thought I did) I decided to 

 walk out a little by myself. The suggestion 

 came into my mind, that I not 

 only needed some 

 mountain air, for 

 the place is widely 

 ebrated, but that, il 

 could find one o 

 those springs at 

 some quiet place 

 there would be 

 no harm to 

 take a drink 

 of the famed 

 medicinal 

 waters. O f 

 course, I 

 could wait 

 until the 

 morrow ; but 

 if I expected 

 to get any 

 marked ben- 

 efit from the 

 c e 1 e b ra t e d 

 waters, it be- 

 hooved me to 

 get a drink 

 as soon as 

 possible, that I 

 might be able to 

 take many drinks 

 before I was called 

 upon to leave. Even 

 in my boyhood I had al- 

 ways a great fondness for 

 ginger pop, and mineral 

 waters that owed their pun- 

 gency to imprisoned carbonic 

 acid. The pop of the cork and 

 the foaming in the glass always had a 

 certain fascination, and I must confess 

 that the taste of these foaming drinks 

 has always been more or less agreea- 

 ble. I had been told that the water of 

 Manitou Springs had a fashion of foam- 

 ing and sparkling as it conies out of the 

 ground— a foaming, sparkling draught from 

 nature's own laboratory. I did not know 

 exactly where the springs were located, but 

 I thought there could be no harm in walk- 

 ing out along the railroad, all by myself, 

 and so I started. The walk was very pleas- 

 ant indeed— or, rather, it would have been 

 pleasant had it been some other day than 

 Sunday, for my conscience was making me 

 feel a little uneasy. When perhaps a quar- 

 ter of a mile from my boarding-place the 



THE UTE SPRING, MANITOU 

 COLORADO. 



track ran into a tunnel. Conscience said it 

 was time to go back ; but curiosity pointed 

 to the strange rocks which had been cut and 

 chiseled in making an opening. After I 

 got in a little piece I saw daylight from the 

 other side, and 1 thought I would just look 

 through. When I did so, I saw another 

 tunnel, more wonderful still. Of course, 

 I went through the last tunnel, and, sure, 

 enough, right before me was one of those 

 wonderful effervescing springs. Some be- 

 nevolent (V) individual had built a pretty 

 little summer-house over it. 



Below is a picture of the spring as it met 

 my view. In the distance is the white sum- 

 mit of Pike's Peak, where I had seen the 

 snow blowing in the morning. The picture, 

 however, is not from a photograph, and 

 does not at all do justice to the mountains. 

 The summer-house built over 

 the spring is very lifelike. 

 Some steps ran down to 

 the sparkling spring, and 

 l cup hung invit- 

 ?ly by a chain. Just 

 hen I noticed that 

 not only young 

 men but women 



also were pass- 

 ing to and 

 fro, evident- 

 ly out that 

 Sunday aft- 

 ernoon seek- 

 ing h a p p i- 

 ness and rec- 

 reation, or 

 some sort of 

 excitement. 

 I thought I 

 would take 

 just one 

 drink, and 

 then go back 

 quickly to 

 m y lodging- 

 place. When al- 

 most to the brink 

 the spring I dis- 

 covered in a room, 

 ose by, a gathering 

 ungodly people ; and 

 the looks of the bot- 

 tles and decanters, I judged 

 the place was for the traffic 

 in intoxicating liquors. Should 

 I turn back, or go ahead and 

 taste the waters V Since I had got so far, I 

 decided to take just a taste ; but I began to 

 feel very bad and uncomfortable. It seem- 

 ed as if they were all looking at me, and 

 saying, " There is that man out here this 

 Sunday afternoon, who talked so well in 

 the Sabbath-school. After all his talk, he 

 has as much curiosity to see things, and 

 just as much of a desire for a little ex- 

 citement and stir, even if it is Sunday, as 

 the rest of us." 



I tasted the water, and dropped the cup 

 hurriedly. Somebody has said, that " stol- 

 en waters are sweet." My young friends, 

 don't you believe it. It has never been 

 true in my experience. I noticed the spark- 

 le of the gas as it came bubbling up from 

 the water from the bottom of the spring, 



