1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE Cb'LTURE. 



69 



left unsettled the day before, and that I 

 should like to take it up again. He said, 

 "All rig-ht." 



"Mr. Brown, when you decided to plant 

 the beans and potatoes on my ground, with- 

 out my knowledge or permission, you must 

 admit that you 'took your chances ' — at least 

 to some extent — as to whether I would be 

 pleased or displeased with what j'ou did." 

 "Yes, Mr. Root, I did, as j'ou say, 'take 

 my chances.' " 



"Well, I am sorry to feel obliged to say 

 that I am not pleased, especially as I had 

 planned putting in clover, and now j-our 

 crop is in the way." 



He replied I was right, and that he had 

 not been told any thing about my plans for 

 clover. Of course, he would have to stand 

 to whatever arrangements I made. I then 

 told him that, if he would give his bill for 

 the work of helping the man plow the 

 ground, as rent, we would call it all set- 

 tled. He said that was all right, and he 

 worked for me quite a little during the sum- 

 mer, and our dealing was all quite satis- 

 factory, for he was a very skillful man, and 

 in many things a very efficient helper. 

 The neighbors got hold of the matter, how- 

 ever, and several times I was questioned 

 about it. Two or three times I spoke well 

 of Mr. Brown, and said the whole transac- 

 tion was fixed up satisfactorily to both of 

 us. Now, I should have sfuck right io t/iis, 

 and should not have listened to anybody 

 who wanted to take my side in the miitter, 

 and to prejudice me against Mr. Brown. 

 That is one of my weak points, and I am 

 afraid it is a weakness of all the world. 

 When you have had trouble with a neigh- 

 bor, and it has been fixed up, even if only 

 fairly satisfactory to both sides, for good- 

 ness sake, let it drop. Do not rake it up 

 again. Do not let anybody, by expressions 

 of sympathy, induce you to go over the 

 ground any more and tell you how you did 

 and how he did." 



Let me add that, when the subject was 

 dropped, I remarked, on leaving, "Now, 

 Mr. Brown, as I shall give up putting in 

 clover, I think I will try to get in some rj'e 

 after you get of¥ your potatoes and beans, 

 and I hope you will get them out of my way 

 just as soon as the crop is ready to harvest, 

 or as soon as it is injured by frost." 



If I mistake not he said he would do so, 

 of course. During the last of October I 

 plowed up the land adjoining, sowed my 

 rye, and when a killing frost came I urged 

 him to get off his stuff so I could finish my 

 fall work and go back to Ohio. Just at 

 this time a vessel came up to the dock for a 



* Our pastor recently gave us a sermon on the text, 

 " I-,ove ye your enemies. " etc. At the close he alluded 

 to the "17th verse of the ISth chapter of Matthew. 

 where we are told that, if one will not listen to the 

 church (or to arbitration), we are to give him up as a 

 heathen He said whenever we do meet a case as bad 

 as that we should be very careful to drop the matter 

 then and there for ever. Do not go around telling it 

 to the neighbors ; do not mention it any more, even be- 

 fore the family, and I think this advice is very much 

 needed everywhere. " I,east said soonest mended" 

 is a grand maxim. 



load of lumber. He is an expert in this 

 line of work, and g-ets 40 cts. an hour for 

 it, while I paid him only 15 cts. an hour 

 for farm work. But I had engaged a man 

 to plow up the two acres and put in rye 

 when the ground was ready. I did not ex- 

 pect him to drop his 40-cents-per-hour job, 

 but I went down to the dock and asked him 

 if he would permit my men to dig his pota- 

 toes and pull his beans if we would do it at 

 a very low price. He objected, for the rea- 

 son that, when he was through loading the 

 boat, he would have comparativel3^ nothing 

 to do. Meanwhile his good wife, however, 

 with the help of the children, pulled the 

 greater part of the beans, so my man got 

 in with his plow on his $8.00 job. When he 

 was ready, however, to get on the potato 

 ground, Mr. Brown was thrashing the 

 beans, and did not want to stop. My plow- 

 man lived several miles away; and if he 

 did the job for $8.00 he wanted to finish it 

 right up while he was there with his tools. 

 I went down to see Mr. Brown while he was 

 thrashing- the beans, and explained the cir- 

 cumstances. Said I, "Mr. Brown, if you 

 would let your beans go for the present, and 

 get those potatoes out of the way at once, it 

 would save your neighbor, who is plowing, 

 quite a little annoyance, and also quite a 

 little money, unless I pay him for going 

 home and coming back." 



He replied that the neighbor in question 

 had not been in the habit of doing him a 

 kind act when he could as well as not, and 

 therefore he would not trouble himself. ] 



"Mr. Brown, do you not believe in the 

 good book which says, 'Love ye your ene- 

 mies, and do good to those that hate you?' 

 Don't you think it pays to return good for 

 evil among your neighbors?" 



"Why, Mr. Root, I used to believe in that 

 sort of doctrine, and I have followed it up 

 all my life so far; but it has just made me 

 a poor man, as you see, and I think now I 

 will give it up and try the other way." 



I had to laugh at this, because I could 

 not believe he was in earnest. Said I, "Mr. 

 Brown, I too have tried both ways; but ren- 

 dering good for evil has not made w<? poor 

 by any means, and I am sure it will not 

 make you poor if it is followed out consis- 

 tently." 



I had to give it up. I waited his pleasure 

 in digging the potatoes. Some of the neigh- 

 bors advised me to go on with the plowing. 

 and turn the potatoes under, when they 

 were worth 75 cts. a bushel. Of course, I 

 could not consider such a plan for an in- 

 stant. Wasting his potatoes, or making it 

 ever so much more work to g^et them, would 

 have wronged his wife and children; be- 

 sides, it would have made troubles and 

 jangles in the neighborhood for a long time. 

 Our families had been on very friendly 

 terms. Mrs. Brown, only a few days be- 

 fore, sent us a large basket of the nicest 

 tomatoes I think I ever saw. The children 

 to and from school pass very near our house, 

 and often brought our mail. What a fool- 

 ish thing it would be to make bad feelings 



