962 



GLEANINGS I^ BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



this long trip will be larsrer, doubtless, rather 

 than less than you had calculated ; better 

 hurry up, or you will lose the train." lean 

 not tell even' now, dear friends, why such 

 thoughts should have come into my mind. 

 It seems, as I think of it, that it was a rem- 

 nant of that old life before I belonged to 

 Christ Jesus. Then I used to have such 

 temptations, and I used to yield to them, too, 

 thinking, poor silly fellow ! that 1 was add- 

 ing to my stock of this world's goods. Why, 

 it made me fairly tremble as I reflected of a 

 professor of religion, and one who even pre- 

 sumes to point out the way for others, lis- 

 tening to such suggestions "as the above. I 

 do not know how long it 1 ook for me to re- 

 coil with my whole nature, and bid these evil 

 thoughts be down and away, as I would 

 speak to some ill-mannerel cur that, with 

 muddy feet, might try to sp; :ng up and soil 

 my clothes. I said, mentally, " Get thee be- 

 hind me, Satan ; do you suppose I am so 

 silly as to think I could be happy with a 

 dollar that is not really my own— a dollar for 

 which I have rendered no sort of equivalent ? 

 For shame ! " 



I believe it was Moody who once said that 

 no man could be a Christian, with a single 

 dollar in his pocket that belonged to some- 

 body else ; and I believe we should have 

 better Christians if therr were more who 

 felt convinced of this. If this be so, you 

 had better miss a hundred trains ; nay, you 

 had better lose even your life. Ih.in to go off 

 coolly and deliberately with only a single 

 dollar in your pocket that is not justly your 

 own. " What shall it profit a man, if he 

 gain the whole world and lose his own soulV" 



" My friend, I gave you only four dollars," 

 said I. 



He looked at me, somewhat embai'rassed ; 

 and as I showed him the change which he 

 had given me back, he took the dollar and 

 colored a little to think I had caught him, 

 a ticket-agent, in such a blunder. I thought 

 if he could forgive me, 1 could forgive him ; 

 and I took great pleasure in remarking to 

 him that I did not want a dollar belonging 

 to anybody else ; and with a good-natured 

 smile "I suggested that " mistakes will hap- 

 pen," etc. He caught my eye, and his face 

 brightened. The happy look that shone 

 forth from my face seemed to have touched 

 his spirit just right; and who knows but 

 that the glimpse of sunlight went along with 

 him as well as along with me ? As I 

 thought it over, it occurred to me that pos- 

 sibly God was trying me as he tried Abra- 

 ham of old. Is "it not possible that he is 

 waiting and watching for men whom he can 

 trust y Who knows but that he has been 

 saying, " I have a great deal of work for Mr. 

 Root to do for me, and I want to be sure 

 that he can resist temptation " ? You know 

 he said to Abraham, " For now I know that 

 thou fearest God." 



This trial, however, was but a preface to 

 another. May be you will come to the con- 

 clusion that your old friend A. I. Root is 

 but a poor weak sinner after all ; and if you 

 do, dear friends, you will think just as I do 

 about it. I will now explain to you, that 

 the object of my journey to the great city of 

 Grand Rapids was to see the immense let- 



tuce-houses, which I had learned at the hor- 

 ticultural convention were there. I had 

 also learned they had a new variety of let- 

 tuce, superior to any thing else in the world. 

 It was not only specially adapted to green- 

 houses, but it grew very large— nearly a foot 

 high ; and by careful selection it had been 

 made to grow so white and crisp that it al- 

 most rivaled the " White Plume" celery. I 

 knew I had but a limited time to hunt up 

 the greenhouses, if I reached home Satur- 

 day night ; and I felt as if I must do that 

 in any case. Let me digress a little. The 

 night before. I had been obliged to travel 

 till eleven o'clock. The ride was a long and 

 lonely one ; and as I changed trains for the 

 last hour, I stepped into a car where a 

 few men were assembled together near its 

 center. One young man stood up address- 

 ing the crowd as I came in. At my entrance 

 he stopped and said, by way of apology to 

 the new comers, " Friends, 1 have just been 

 telling a little story ; and with your per- 

 mission I will continue it." 



The attitude of the man, and his appear- 

 ance, suggested at once that he was a com- 

 mercial traveler, or drummer ; and former 

 experience made me feel that, perhaps, now 

 was the time to show my colors, and that 

 perhaps I had better show them quickly. I 

 replied, " My friend, we have no objections 

 to your continuing your story, providing it 

 be such a story as fathers of families ought 

 to hear ; or, if you choose, such as Christian 

 men ought to listen to." He gave me a 

 smile that was not very assuring— at least I 

 thought so — and continued. The story Avas 

 one calculated to attract the attention of 

 his audience, but it seemed to have no par- 

 ticular point either way. He told another 

 one that pretty unmistakably pointed toward 

 the cross of Christ, although I inferred that 

 his audience did not see it. Then he gave 

 them a short talk— such a talk as you might 

 imagine a converted drummer might use, if 

 he were using all his past experience and 

 tactics to plead for the Master. It was evi- 

 dent that the audience was a little undecid- 

 ed. He attempted to sing a hymn ; but for 

 some reason, perhaps for lack of sympathy, 

 it was not very well done, and he was los- 

 ing ground. I thought he needed an en- 

 couraging word, or just the least bit of sym- 

 pathy from some one of these men of the 

 world who were holding him, as it were, at 

 arms' length. I gave him that sympathy and 

 assistance. He sang another hymn, and 

 with such touching pathos that it won al- 

 most every heart. They gathered nearer 

 him and asked him to go on. He was a 

 comparatively new-born soul, and his words 

 were interspersed with such phrases as trav- 

 eling men use ; but his teachings were sound. 

 He asked me if I w^as a minister. I assured 

 him I was not, but that I was, like himself, 

 one who is preaching Christ wherever the 

 Lord led him, in his own humble way. We 

 exchanged experiences and strengthened 

 each other, and 1 did not see him again un- 

 til he unexpectedly came into the car when 

 we were nearing the great greenhouses. I 

 asked him some questions about the city, 

 but he could not answer ; but a brother com- 

 mercial traveler, overhearing our talk, gave 



