1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



295 



OUR 



HOMES, 



BY A.I. ROOT. 



Thou God seest me.— Gen. 16: 13. 



Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as the 

 servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the 

 heart. — Eph. 6:6. 



For the past two weeks I have been ex- 

 ceedingl3'^ busy; iu fact, I have hardly had 

 time to run over to that little greenhouse to 

 rest up. We have had quite a large run of 

 trade in seeds, and there have been quite a 

 few complications. There have been mis- 

 understandings, and sometimes some good 

 friend who entrusted his money to our care 

 has been wronged, and nobody felt like 

 taking the liberty of righting the wrong, 

 nor even of writing him a pleasant letter of 

 explanation unless I did it mj'self. Oh 

 how much better we all feel when some one 

 takes the time to explain matters, and as- 

 sure us he has not been unmindful of our 

 interests ! Sometimes it costs money to make 

 things pleasant; but in the greater number 

 of cases, so it seems to me, about all it 

 costs is to take time to assure the one who 

 has been wronged (or who has got it into 

 his head that he has been wronged) that 

 there was no intention of selfishness, nor 

 even a want of friendlj- feeling and interest. 



During those busy days a man came to 

 me and said he wished I would go out in 

 the woods and measure that wood. At first 

 I hardly knew what he was talking about. 

 Then I did remember that along in the fore 

 part of the winter I told a man he might 

 cut up some beech-trees that were among 

 my basswoods. First I told him I would 

 go out in the woods and show him the trees 

 I wanted him to cut; btit as I did not get 

 time I told him to go and cut down all the 

 beech-trees he could find. But I told him I 

 wished he would take them big and little, 

 just as they came, and not pick otit the easi- 

 est ones to convert into firewood. Then I 

 forgot all about it. He and his boy had 

 been at work more or less all winter, and 

 had put up 25 or 30 cords. I took my wheel 

 and rode up the railroad track about one 

 mile, and then I left the wheel over in the 

 lots, out of sight, and got over into the 

 woods. I took my tape-line out of my pock- 

 et and measured the height of a pile of 

 wood. It was a little more than four feet. 

 When I took the length I found it a little 

 more than eight feet. The next cord turn- 

 ed out the same way, and pretty soon I be- 

 gan to look smiling and happy. Do you 

 know why? Because I have had so many 

 disappointing experiences in setting people 

 at work away oft" in the woods or fields out of 

 sight I fear I have become a little discour- 

 aged. I have not lost my faith in God be- 

 catise of my disappointments; but I fear I 

 have come pretty near losing my faith in 

 poor infirm humanity. I went along to 

 pile after pile, with the same result — the 

 measure overran just a little. When I 



found two piles that had been tipped over I 

 said to myself, " Well, I am sure there is a 

 good cord there, any way. The man who 

 is doing this work is evidently honest." 



Pretty soon I met him and said, " Why, 

 friend, your cords overrun a little in height 

 and a little in length. Is that the way you 

 do business? " 



"Yes, Mr. Root, I always try to give 

 good measure. I wish to do so because, 

 when your eye comes to look it over, I don t 

 want you to be disappointed. But there is 

 one thing I am still more anxious about. I 

 profess to live believing that there is an ali- 

 seeing eye away up above us all that looks 

 down and watches over us. I want to give 

 such measure as will be pleasing in his 

 sight." 



I need not tell you that this was one of vay 

 happy surprises. Oh how much good it 

 does us — how happy it makes us feel (and 

 I ain sure I may say all of us, and every 

 one who reads these pages), when we come 

 across somebody who recognizes God's 

 watchful eye, and tries to have his work 

 right and honest in God's sight! When a 

 man has this feeling in his heart he does 

 not need watching. All anxiety and solic- 

 itude on your part are at an end. You 

 can, with perfect assurance, entrust him 

 with the care of your property, your money 

 — yes, even your good name. And what a 

 restful feeling it gives one when he finds 

 such a person ! 



Now, what I am saying would seem to 

 imply that I am myself {of course) just one 

 of that sort, but I am afraid I am not. I 

 am afraid that, if I were sawing and split- 

 ting that hard tough beech that grew part- 

 ly in the clearing, I should not have given 

 as good measure as this man of whom I 

 have been speaking. He said he did not 

 make very big wages, and some of his 

 friends laughed at him for going ahead 

 with the job; but he told them he had prom- 

 ised to cut some 25 or 30 cords of wood dur- 

 ing the winter for me, and he was going to 

 do it. The bargain was, he was to have 60 

 cts. a cord. I told him I did not like to be 

 outdone in giving good measure, and so I 

 suggested that we make the price 65 cents. 



If every man were upright, and tried to 

 be honest before God, I presume we should 

 not appreciate these gems among humanity. 

 After I have been obliged to be among a 

 crowd of cursing and swearing men, I ap- 

 preciate clean men as I never did before. 

 After I have had some very trying experi- 

 ences with a helper who is cross and con- 

 trary, I value all the more those who are 

 willing, cheerftil, and obliging. In fact, I 

 am not sure but it does us good to have to 

 get along for a while with disagreeable 

 people, so we can justly and trtily appreci- 

 ate God's tioble men and noble woiiieti. 



Now, I dislike to say so much about the 

 bad side of htimanity; but I do not know 

 how I can give this man of whom I have 

 been talking full credit without telling you 

 of some of my discouraging experiences. I 

 bought this piece of woodland near our 



