Apr. 1. 1912 



follower of Christ is like the little spring I 

 have been telling you about — the little 

 stream of pure clear water that runs on day 

 and night, week in and week out, for ever 

 and for ever. This stream given by any 

 Christian or follower of Christ is to be a life 

 devoted to the benefit of its fellow-men in 

 lending a helping hand, e\ oimg ( Iirist Jesus 

 himself lends a helping hand tn bless and 

 help and alleviate the ills of humanity. 



l*ure water is life and health, not only to 

 humanity but to every liv-ng thing. I have 

 sjK)ken before of the duck. Perhaps no oth- 

 er animal cares for water, or wants it so con- 

 stantly, as the little ducks. Water seems 

 almost to them like air. They must have 

 it always before them. They want it pure 

 and fresh and sweet. They can not take 

 their food without having constant access 

 to water. .lust to-day we have been moving 

 the pen of little ducks so that they can go 

 into the canal I have already spoken of, and 

 enjoy them.selves in the running water. 

 They are sei)arated by a fence from the ma- 

 tured ducks, because it would not do to let 

 them get together. 'J'he feedpan is arrang- 

 ed close to the water so that, when they 

 come to drink, they can take a bite at their 

 feed. In order to do their best, I manage to 

 have their feed close to them so they can 

 help themselves whenever they feel prompt- 

 ed by hunger. 



Now, this spring of living water that is 

 promised to Christians is always constantly 

 by you. It is not only an unceasing stream, 

 but the amount is without limit. There is 

 no limit to the work one may do to help his 

 fellow-nnan if he is prompted by the love of 

 Christ Jesus in his heart. And to such, and 

 such only, is promised everlasting life. This 

 spring of living water is to humanity what 

 the running water is to the little ducks. It 

 is, in fact, life itself. 



Let me illustrate what I have been telling 

 you by a little sketch of the last few days. 

 I have mentioned the wicked boys who have 

 been taking my ducks one after another on 

 God's holy sabbath day, until I almost felt 

 compelled to give u\) my plan of growing 

 ducks in the water. However, after the 

 boys were arrested, and one of them put in 

 jail, J thought my troubles were over; but 

 one morning, after a beautiful moonlight 

 night, one of the older ones, fully half grown, 

 was missing. Besides that, three more were 

 gone out of the next size that came out of 

 the incubator. Perhaps no one but those 

 who have lost poultry in this way can un- 

 derstand the feeling of sadness that comes 

 when, day after day, more poultry is miss- 

 ing. Of course, it is not the loss of the fowls 

 altogether, but the knowledge that vicious 

 and wicked peoi)le are becoming encourag- 

 ed. It is probably boys or young men who 

 are engaged in this kind of pilfering; and if 

 the matter is allowed to go on un rebuked or 

 unjjunished it is encouraging a school of 

 crime. Well, each time I lost any ducks I 

 had a feeling of sadness or discouragement 

 that took several days to wear off. This 

 last time, when four were taken in one 



217 



single night, I felt not only that I must give 

 it up, but that I was losing faith in the char- 

 acter of the good people in our neighbor- 

 hood, and (I fear) to some extent losing 

 faith in humanity. Of course, I prayed 

 over the matter; in fact, I prayed more 

 earnestly than 1 had for some time in regard 

 to it. Finally I went off by myself and 

 asked the dear Savior to give m^ jieace of 

 mind, and hapjnness and enjoyment, not- 

 withstanding these discouragements, and 

 begged for wisdom and understanding in 

 taking care of the matter. Then I went on 

 about my work, and finally succeeded in 

 forgetting for the time being all about my 

 troubles. All at once, when 1 was not think- 

 ing about it at all, and the matter had pass- 

 ed from ray mind, a still small voice seem- 

 ed to speak to me, almost as plain as words, 

 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on 

 earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, 

 and where thieves break through and steal." 

 Then it dawned on me that I had been giv- 

 ing too much thought, and making my hap- 

 piness too much dependent upon the things 

 of thi world. I thank the Lord for this re- 

 cent answer to my prayer; and, a little after, 

 in talking with my neighbor, our good friend 

 Mr. Rood, about it, he said he felt certain 

 that no boys nor anybody else disturbed my 

 ducks. After asking several questions about 

 it he decided that some of the Florida owls 

 that are out, especially during bright moon- 

 light nights, were to blame. He was all the 

 more sure of this when I told him that it 

 was the first time I had let the smaller flock 

 of ducks stay outdoors over night during 

 the very warm weather we had. The older 

 ones, that are fully half grown, had been 

 outside some time. I asked him if it was 

 possible an owM could take a duck as large 

 as a good-sized chicken. He said there was 

 no question about it. After shutting up all 

 the young ducks we have had no more losses 

 of this kind. My good friend Mr. Abbott 

 also told me that whenever they had very 

 bright moonlight nights (and I believe that 

 here in P'lorida we have a brightci- moon- 

 light than anywhere else I have ever been) 

 they were almost sure to hear a commotion 

 among his poultry. Mrs. Root reminds me 

 that there was a loud cackling among our 

 chickens that same night. I didn't hear 

 them as she did, on account of my deafness. 

 Of cour.se, the answer to my prayer did not 

 bring back my ducks nor the pay for them, 

 but it brought a feeling of relief to find it 

 was pretty certain that it was owls and not 

 the dear boys who "are of more value than 

 many sparrows." 



The Sinidaiy School Timen, in a recent edi- 

 torial, said that we as Christians may thank 

 Cod for difficulties, especially the tlilficul- 

 ties that send us to the Lord in i)rayer. I 

 must confess that much of my praying and 

 most of my most earnest i)rayers are gen- 

 erally at the time when I get into trouble. 



Now, this living water that Jesus furnishes 

 to his followers is always on hand. It is al- 

 ways running, and it is always ready for 

 our wants. He is always ready to hear our 



