680 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



do is to ask and you shall receive all within my 

 power. I will meet you at Muscoda; bring you 

 home to breakfast, dinner, supper, or even your 

 noonday sleep: show you the beautiful valley of 

 the Wisconsin Kiver for miles and miles, by taking 

 a small walk up on the bluff. I would make you as 

 happy as I could while you are here. I would take 

 you back to the station, bid you good-by; and then 

 if my dear wife were alive and could have enjoyed 

 your visit I should have been the happiest man liv- 

 ing, having seen A. I. Root, of Medina, Ohio. My 

 prayer is, and shall be, that it is the Lord's will that 

 1 may see you. F. L. Snyder. 



Orion, Wis., June 15, 1889. 



You may be sure I read the above letter 

 several times, and it was with much regret 

 that I made up my mind to forego such a 

 kind invitation. For one thing, I felt curi- 

 ous to know why an entire stranger should 

 so greatly desire to see me. I felt a little 

 surprised, too, at the devout tone of the let- 

 ter, expressed as it is in humble phrases. I 

 decided 1 had never met exactly such a man 

 as the writer. Well, while I was on that 

 freight train waiting for them to unload and 

 load at each station, I happened to listen to 

 the conversation of a couple of men sitting 

 on a pile of lumber near the track. One of 

 them happened to speak the word " Orion." 

 I at onced stepped from the car, and, ap- 

 proaching him, said : 



"Will you excuse me, sir? but you just 

 now mentioned the name of the town of 

 ( )rion. Will you please tell me how far dis- 

 tant it is from this point ? " 



" Why, it is only the matter of a mile and 

 a half or so, just over the river ; " and he 

 pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, 

 and went on with his talk. 



Only a mile and a half from the man who 

 wrote that kind letter ! It was already 

 near sundown, and I had bought my ticket 

 to Richland Center ; but as I looked along 

 the sidewalk in the direction he pointed, the 

 temptation to exchange the dusty freight 

 car for a walk on foot was too strong to be 

 resisted. Perhaps I am a little dull, but I 

 did not remember at the time that the name 

 of the town where we were stopping was 

 Muscoda, the very place that friend Snyder 

 mentions in his letter. Never mind the 

 name of the town. I was within a mile and 

 a half of the good friend who wrote that let- 

 ter, and that was enough. 



" All aboard ! " shouted the conductor ; 

 but as I did not respond to his call, he spoke 

 again. 



" Here, you man, get on board quick." 



I replied that I had decided to stop where 

 I was. 



" But you have paid your fare to Richland 

 Center. If you want to go there, get on 

 quick, for we haven't any time to lose." 



I thanked him, but started off along that 

 sidewalk that seemed so enticing, with its 

 pretty shade-trees illumined by the rays of 

 the declining sun. Before leaving home, 

 my wife gave, as one plea to be permitted t<> 

 stay, that I would always be pushing off in- 

 to the country, or going off crosslots on 

 foot ; and then a woman— -even such a one 

 as her dear self (she did not say just that in 

 bo many words, but she knows very well 



that no companion on earth is so pleasant to 

 me as her own clear self) would only be a 

 hindrance. Well, this was just one of those 

 places where I enjoyed the liberty of going 

 where I pleased and doing just as I pleased. 

 There were livery stables, doubtless, in Mus- 

 coda, but I would not have exchanged the 

 prospect of the walk in the evening, along 

 that street, for the best livery rig that could 

 have been furnished just then. Before I 

 had gone many rods, however, it occurred 

 to me that, if my good wife were present, 

 she would have spoken something as fol- 

 lows : 



" Now, look here, dear husband, you cer- 

 tainly should go to the hotel and get your 

 supper before you go into that household 

 and surprise them, and possibly upset them, 

 by coming unexpectedly. Your good friend 

 spoke of his motherless home. You can 

 forego the livery if you choose, but get your 

 supper first, so as not to make trouble." 



I took my wife's advice — I mean the ad- 

 vice she would nave given if she had been 

 present. And by the way, friends, I have 

 got much into the habit of late years of ask- 

 ing myself what my wife would "do or advise 

 under certain circumstances. So, very like- 

 ly a great part of the credit you have given 

 meat different times justly belongs to her. 

 I had a very nice supper ; and I enjoyed it 

 the more because a nice pleasant gentleman 

 sat at the table with me. Now, a good 

 many people go through the world, especial- 

 ly while traveling, without talking. Y T ou 

 can do as you please, of course ; but I think 

 we ought to get acquainted. Perhaps you 

 have heard me say something of the kind 

 before. Of course, I asked my companion 

 at the table about the town of Orion, and 

 whether he knew Mr. F. L. Snyder. After 

 a little explanation he said he knew him. 

 Then we talked about bees and other things. 

 Several times I felt a little surprised that 

 my companion seemed to get the hang of 

 things as he did ; and at the close of the 

 meal he put out his hand and said some- 

 thing like this : 



" Mr. Root, I am exceedingly glad to have 

 had the pleasure of even twentv minutes 1 

 chat with the author of the ABC of Bee 

 Culture." 



He smiled a little as 1 replied : 



" Why, my good sir, 1 have not even told 

 you my name; and as you are not a bee- 

 keeper vourself. what should you know of 

 the ABCbook?- 1 



" Well, it is true I am not a bee-keeper, 

 and never have been ; but notwithstanding, 

 I have read the ABC book, and enjoyed it. 

 I wish vou much pleasure in your visit 

 among the bee-men of our State of Wiscon- 

 sin." 



It was now so late that I walked off 

 hurriedly. The town of Boscobel seemsato 

 have been drawn out toward the river. We 

 found pleasant residences and churches, 

 and other tine buildings, for almost a mile ; 

 then we came to a toll-gate and a great long 

 bridge. It was not a railroad bridge, but 

 just a bridge for pedestrians and vehicles. 

 And now burst on my gaze for the first 

 time the Wisconsin River. Just as the sun 



