ah; VST I. I'.iir. 



fi-15 



•.villi 111;' iiioiicy 1 ici civ cil I was able lo 

 imrcliasc hcllrr ami iimrc ii|>-l(i-(laU' ap- 

 ;>araliis. A few clays iii;o I he cilitor of our 

 Modiiin Gccet'e sold oul ; and in rcMiioxiuii' 

 some sliifi' fi'oiii llio t)riic(' lie ran on lo an 

 old liniidi)ill piintt'd almost sixty years 

 aiio. On the pra^ediiig' ])asie is a copy. Voii 

 will notice there is a blank before ilie 

 name A. I. Root. Do you want to know 

 \\ hat word occupied that blank? It was 

 " Prof." Mrs. Root was still keepiiiii" track 

 of me. altliouch il was rather at arm's 

 lenvrth. She objected to the word " Prof." 

 and asked me what 1 w'as a })rofessor of. 

 I told her I was a " professor of electricity 

 and chemistry," and that " folks wouldn't 

 come" unless I put on — '^ Professor." -fust 

 think of it, friends — "Prof." of electncity 

 and chemistry at the age of sixteen! Did 

 you everf* 



TJefore I was quite seventeen T decided to 

 CO off into the big" wide world. j\ly father 

 laughingly told me he would have to send 

 rue money to get home Avith before T had 

 been gone a month. I replied: 



'• Possibly you will, father, but just wail 

 and see." 



>ry faliier's liltle prediction did me good. 

 I doggedly determined that, come w'har 

 would. T would not send for money to get 

 home. ]\Iy first trip was out in the western 

 part of the state ir what is called the Dlack 

 Swamp. 1 fell sick and got out of money. 

 and had to lea\e my apparatus at a hotel. 

 P>etween suiulown and sunrise next morn- 

 ing, on one occasion I walked 24 miles to 

 reach a si.ster of mine who lived in Elmore, 



*\Vhi-p I, a few davs aeo, held up that old pro- 

 cram hrfnrr Mrs. Koot, she immediatelv centered her 

 •raze on the " Prof." before the name A. I. Root, 

 and said * I'lease cut that out before anybody sees 

 it." 



' liut.'' said I, " why, Sue, that was put on there 

 sixtt) iirnrs af/o.'' 



'I do iinf cafe hnw many years it was — cut it out 

 before anybody sees it." 



" But i was only sixteen years old when I ordered 

 this bill printed that way." 



" I do not (are wliether you were sixteen or sixty — 

 I would not V, .Tilt anybody to know that you ^\er(' 

 ever so foolish at «;•// asre." 



The lapse of .sixty years' time doesn't seem to have 

 changed her convii-lions very niurh. She "is of the 

 same opinion still." T did as she directed, as you 

 ser : but I did not tell her I was goin^ to have it 

 printed. 



X'lw iust a word in conclusion. There is a irre.it 

 dr.-'l sii'J al«ut " euEeiiics" iusf now. Tlie ai'.'u- 

 lion of young mf>ii is beins called to the fact *li;it 

 the kind of boys and girls they eive the world de 

 peiids bircrely on the f/i'r/ they choose for a wife. Tf 

 you want vour I'hildn-n to lie a blessiiiir tr» the world, 

 instead <>f liplfiiiKr to fill our penitentiaries and 

 a-sylums. con.sider carefully before you choose. If 

 .vou want :> |>artn<'r fr>r life whose price is " fai' 

 .ibnvf rubies," do not lii'ik for her in the dance-hall 

 i.or -it the ci^rd |iar(y. but. rather, sci-k lo find lier 

 in the chr.rch, in the Sunday-school, Fndeavor so- 

 ciejy, etc. Some irirl sin^ine in the choir of some 

 country' church will very likely be the one in after 

 years to show thai " her price is far above rubies." 



Oll.iwa Co., bill 1 linally canu" out ahead, 

 and when 1 ,unl lioiiic abont a year later I 

 liad some money in my jiockel. 



In order to keeji my a])i)aratus in repair 

 I often called on jewelers in towns I passed 

 Ihrough; and at one [ilace I took a little 

 rest and ]iaid a jeweler .+2.") for two weeks' 

 instruction in rcjiairing clocks, watches, and 

 .jewelry. When T was .1!) T was sufliciently 

 exjiert so that one of oui- Merlina jewelers 

 asked me to care for his sho]) while he w'ent 

 east to buy gootls. During the 4 or 5 years 

 that had elapsed since Mrs. Root had dis- 

 missed me I had seen but little of her. I 

 thought it was her bu.siness to send me 

 word saying I inight come back. But she 

 evidently did not propose to do anything 

 of the kind. "While I was taking care of 

 the store mentioned, one day Mrs. Root 

 opened the door and looked in; and when 

 slie saw me instead of the proprietor she 

 hesitated and said: "Why. isn't this Mr. 

 derrick's shop ?" 



1 reiilied, ''•' Yes. this is Mr Herrick's 

 but 1 am taking his place for a few days 

 while he has gone east." 



She was about to close the door and go 

 away, but I ventured to suggest that per- 

 haps I could wait on her. She- finally came 

 back, saying she simply wanted a piece of 

 jeweli-y repaired. After that had been 

 attended to I ventured to ask her if she was 

 staying in town. Without looking up she 

 replied that she would probably stay with 

 her sister (who lived in town) over night. 

 Then I ventured to ask if T might deliver 

 the piece of work in the evening. At this 

 she ventured to look up, and her eyes met 

 mine. She replied faintly, " If you like." 

 I knew then, and she knew, that the "em- 

 bargo" was raised. That was the night of 

 the terrible frost, June 4, 1850. The ne.xt 

 morning the landscape was white with hoar 

 frost. The wheat was killed, the fruit Avas 

 gone, and the gardens were ruined. The 

 l)rice of flour went up to an exti'avagant 

 ligiire until [)eo]>le got over their fright. 

 Xow, when everybody else was sad and 

 sorrowful my heart was lis'ht, and I was as 

 happy as a bird. The " cold empty world" 

 was past and gone. What did it matter 

 whether we had frost or cyclones, or even 

 earthfjuakes"? She whose " ])rice is far be- 

 yond rubies" had linked lier life with mine, 

 until dealli should separate; and may Clod 

 be juaised for having permitted us to 

 tread life's paliiway totzetlier for more than 

 7A years. INfost faithfully has she kept her 

 ]iart of the pledge. 



