224 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



noon I called at the place where he lodged, 

 and asked to go up into his room. I had be- 

 fore vu'ged him to come to meeting. What 

 do you think I found him doing? He was 

 working slowly and painfully with needle 

 and thread, trying to darn up "his old coat so 

 it would be tit to go to meeting after dark. 

 He looked up at me with a frank, honest 

 look, that I think was truly genuine, re- 

 marking, " Mr. Root, now niay be I a'n't 

 doing just the right thing, to mend my old 

 clothes on Sunday ; but I do it solely tiiat I 

 may be a little more presentable at meeting 

 to-night. If you think I am wrong, I will 

 stop it in a minute." 



I replied at once, " No, no, my good friend, 

 go on with your mending. It is all right, I 

 am sure, in the sight of God ; but while you 

 work I want to talk with you a little." 



I had won liis confidence, and he told me 

 of a wife and two children in England. 

 They did not use him well, and he had come 

 away off across tlie ocean. I suggested that 

 it was on account of drink, and he finally 

 admitted that perhaps it was. He h;ul had 

 good situations as stone-cutter, and had 

 earned good wages ; but he always lost one 

 place after another, sooner or later ; and 

 when 1 found him he had spent one night in 

 the infirmary, and then started out again in 

 the cold wintry weather, to find some place 

 where he might work luitil whisky should cast 

 him out again. I held up l)efore him the 

 cross of Christ, and the Bible promises. 

 When I asked him to kneel with me he re- 

 plied, "Most certainly, Mr. Root," and 

 quickly got down by my side while I prayed 

 for him and others like him. The tears ran 

 down his cheeks; and although he didn't 

 promise much, lie gave as sure evidences to 

 me as I think I have ever seen, that he was 

 truly penitent. lie attended our Murphy 

 temperance meetings, and went about, day 

 and night, with a blue ribbon on his coat. I 

 told the story to some friends, aboiit his 

 darning his old coat that Sunday afternoon, 

 and we soon furnished him quite a respecta- 

 ble drab coat and vest, which were given 

 him without any charge. He seemed very 

 grateful, and was, to all appearance, as hon- 

 est and faithful as a man could be. 



Last Friday morning, jMarch o, one aCter 

 another told me tliat Mr. Lewis liad broken 

 his pledge, and was too drunk to be talked 

 to. In tlie afternoon and evening, four or 

 five of our young Christians — yes, and some 

 old ones too — hunted him up and tried to 

 I'eason with him. Of course, our frank, lion- 

 est, faithful friend was gone. Another light 

 blazed from his eyes, and another spirit had 

 possession of his" faculties. He seemed pos- 

 sessed of a devil, as we read about in the 

 Scriptures, in olden times. Saturday after- 

 noon, after I came home from church, I was 

 told he wanted to see me. I knew what the 

 matter was, for I liad told the time-clerk 

 not to pay him wages while lie was intoxicat- 

 ed. He demanded his pay. As I knew it 

 Avould be used for buying more whisky, I ol)- 

 jected. I finally told him in plain terms why 

 I could not pay him his money. I asked him 

 if he would tell me where he got the where- 

 with to get drink. At this remark it seemed 

 as if Satan himself blazed forth from his 



eyes, as he refused to tell ; and he added 

 something like this : " Mr. Root, if you think 

 you can keep back my pay, just try it on." 

 And then he turned on another strain, and 

 l)egged piteovisly for even two dollars, and 

 prayed for Heaven's blessing to come down 

 upon me if I would grant his request. I 

 told him I would give him all his pay if he 

 would promise me, even while he was intox- 

 icated, not to drink any between then and 

 Monday morning, and then come to me. He 

 objected, and argued ; and I believe now 

 the man is truthful when in his right mind, 

 and, that even while intoxicated, it was a hard 

 matter for him to b renk his word. At length 

 he gave me the promise and got all his mon- 

 ey, except his board-bill, which the landlord 

 where he boarded asked me to keep back. 

 As I gave him the money, I asked one of 

 the girls to bring me a good long piece of 

 blue ribbon, and I tied it in the button-hole 

 of the coat we had given him, hoping it might 

 help him. and help the saloon-keepers to 

 keep temptation out of his way. He went 

 away pleasant and good natured, thanking 

 us all. Had I done all that a Cliristian ought 

 to do, according to Bible precepts, for the 

 stranger that came to our gates ? I had 

 tried my weak hand in coping with Satan 

 and the' powers of darkness; and although 

 it had amoiuited to but little or nothing, I 

 felt that I had done the best I knew how, 

 according to the best of my poor wisdom. 

 For the sequel to this sad little story, see 

 Our Homes, in this issue. 



A S-WAEM BECOMES ENRAGED. AND 

 MAKES A FURIOUS ATTACK. 



DURINC. WHICH HALF THK BEES LOST THEIK 

 STINGS AND THEN LIVED THIiEE WEEKS. 



0N page 70, 188G, Ernest asks: "Docs any juve- 

 nile, or anybody else, know of such a case, as 

 that a bee lived two days or after?" Well, I 

 once had a swarm of bees whose queen 1 

 bought of a man by the name of Good, some- 

 where in the State of New York, in the year 1?68. 

 I bought her lor a pure-blood Italian queen; and 

 though her bees were most beautifully marked, I 

 have often thought they might be mixed with the 

 Egyptian variety, on account of their inveterate 

 hostility when they swarmed. They were not very 

 ill to handle at other times; but when they swarm- 

 ed they would hunt everybody and ever3' thing- 

 dogs, cats, horses, and chickens, and sting them 

 with vengeance. On one occasion I was sitting in 

 the door of mj' residence and saw them commence 

 to swarm. I got up immediately and started to get 

 a hive; but by the time 1 was half a dozen steps 

 from the door they 



ATTACKED ME 1 .V niiEAT NUMlll.RS. 



I then returned to the house and procured a bee- 

 hat, and gloves with long gauntlets; and having 

 donned the aforesaid beeapparel, I again sallied 

 forth and was met by thousands of infuriated bees 

 which stung mo through my shirt, and stung my 

 gloves and left their] stings so thick on my gloves 

 and hat that j-ou could not touch them with 

 the end of your index finger without "putting your 

 finger on a sting. I did not count them, but I am 

 satisfied that two thoustand would not cover the 



