698 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



mine ; and on getting down he found the 

 same kind of quicksjind, and water in 

 abundance. Investigation on different 

 poihts along our creek showed no less than 

 a dozen similar springs, but none that gave 

 the quantity of the one I have mentioned. 

 This subterranean vein of quicksand varies 

 in thickness at different points, ftnd doubt- 

 less extends oft' under the hills in many di- 

 rections if not in all directions ; and after 

 much study and investigation I am inclined 

 to think that this water is held in the sand 

 and gravel only by a sort of capillary attrac- 

 tion. Here is the reservoir that we could 

 not afford to make, made already by the 

 finger of the great Father himself; and in- 

 stead of holding tltou^^andfi of barrels of wa- 

 ter, it no doubt contains millions. All that 

 is necessary to get the water is to create a 

 cavity or vacuum, and the water rushes in. 

 When the stream of pure water came out of 

 the sand and rock, and flowed down toward 

 the tube connected with the pump, I ran up 

 to the house and summoned mother and all 



the children, ('onstance (the one we call- 

 ed '• Blue Eyes "' for so many years) is now 

 a big strong girl of fourteen, and she is just 

 begiiming to take quite all interest in these 

 things that have made me happy for so 

 many years. When I explained that this 

 bed of sand and gravel probably went away 

 up under the hill, and may be under our 

 house and factory, she made a remark some- 

 thing like this : '• O pa! I do so want to see 

 what is inside of tlie hills! I want to see the 

 springs and the rocks." 



" Well, my girls, I am very glad indeed to 

 see you anxious to know more about this 

 beautiful earth that God has given us. I 

 have been long thinking of taking you on a 

 trip to see the home of my boyhood, amid 

 the springs and hills of Summit County. If 

 mother approves, we will take Meg and the 

 buggy and go off for a holiday, starting aft- 

 er dinner.'' 



At this, Caddie joined in with Constance, 

 and they could hardly keep still until the 

 time arrived to start. 



CHAPTER XL. 



He looketli on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hilld, and they smoke.— P.SAT.m 104:33. 



The memory of that three days' visit with 

 the children will always be a pleasant re- 

 membrance. How th(uoughly I got ac- 

 quainted witli them during these few days, 

 when we three were so much alone togeth- 

 er ! For several days afterward I caught 

 myself feeling lonesome without them. 



Now, then, in regard to the hills. We 

 passed the first night at the old homestead 

 where my mother's father first located in 

 the woods, years ago. A part of his first 

 purchase included the highest hill in the 

 vicinity round about there ; and I told the 

 children the night before, that, if they 

 would get up early enough, we would go up 

 and see the sunrise from the summit of 

 grandpa's hill. Now, grandfather Hart 

 had a great taste for natural science, al- 

 though he had no modern advantages in 

 the way of education, and this great hill had 

 been for years a hobby of his. While we 

 stood on the summit of that hill the next 

 morning, taking in the beautiful scenery 

 spread out before us as it was lighted up by 

 the morning sun, I told Caddie and Connie 

 that it was nothing strange that they, in 



common with myself, should want to know 

 what is inside of these great hills ; for the 

 very blood in our veins was that which stirred 

 grandpa, perhaps fifty years ago, to want to 

 know what was inside of this great hill. In 

 fact, foitune-tellers got hold of the idea that 

 this hill was his hobby, and one after anoth- 

 er offered to tell, for a certain sum of mon- 

 ey, what was hidden beneath its lofty sum- 

 mit. I remember an advertisement that 

 appeared in one of the papers somewhat 

 later, of an instrument called a "• goldome- 

 ter " that would tell whether gold or other 

 valuable metals, or even coal, was hidden in 

 the earth beneath. Grandfather sent two 

 dollars, but that was the last of it. When I 

 told the girls that he became so curious that 

 he made investigations into the hillside, 

 they were impatient to be led to the spot. 

 Then I took them to a little mound, or 

 grassy knoll, off a little to one side, where 

 for years there had been a single little grave. 

 Years befoie I was born, a little child 

 named Amos, in climbing up to get some- 

 thing from the mantlepiece, fell with his 

 face into a kettle of boiling maple syrup. 



