1888 



GLEANINGS TN BEE CULTURE. 



27 



Great peace have they which Invo thy law, and 

 nothing shall offend them.— Psai.m 119: 165. 



T HAVE before mentioned, that, when 

 M called to leave home, I did not want to 

 M go. I preferred to stay at home and look 

 ■^ after our affairs in a way, as it seemed 

 to me, every prudent man should do. 

 But another voice seemed to say that I had 

 duties besides home matters ; that my fel- 

 low-men wanted me, and had a right to what 

 assistance I could give them. Therefore I 

 went away, even though it were somewhat 

 under protest. I do believe, as I have often 

 told you, the thought conveyed in our text, 

 that they have great peace who love the law 

 of God. Somewhat contrary to my expec- 

 tations, however, I did not "feel bfessed in 

 doing my duty so much as I have at other 

 times when Imake sacrifices for the sake of 

 others, and when 1 take up disagreeable 

 tasks that 1 know I ought to do. I have 

 learned by experience to expect, sooner or 

 later, a sort of reward. This reward is a 

 kind of peace and quiet happiness that 

 comes into my heart now and then while I 

 am busy trying to obey God's commands. 

 Well, I longed for the time to come to start 

 homeward ; and the nearer I got to home, 

 the more anxious I felt to get there quickly. 

 Our branch road that strikes off at Elyria 

 does not always connect with the Lake 

 Shore. I tried to get tlie conductor to tele- 

 graph ahead to have them wait a little for 

 me ; but he either did not know any thing 

 about our branch road or did not care any 

 thing about it. In the morning no one was 

 around but the porter, and he assured me 

 very positively that they always found the 

 train waitiugfor them at the crossing. He 

 was a good deal more positive after I gave 

 him 25 cents for blacking my boots and 

 brushing me off. He placed his stool at the 

 side of the steps for me to get down, and 

 bade me good-by with much style and cere- 

 mony, but forgot to mention the fact that 

 my train had been gone about Hfteen min- 

 utes. I told the depot agent that I must get 

 to Medina. He said I would have to wait 

 until night. I told him J thought I would 

 not. He directed me to the telegraph ope- 

 rator, to see if I could get a permit to go on 

 any of the coal or freight trains; but he 

 added that they had shut down on every- 

 body, and did not make any exceptions. 

 The operator wired them at headquarters, 

 but they replied they could not do any thing 

 for me. The nearest livery -stable was 

 about a mile away, and I started to go there 

 on foot ; but the operator suggested that he 

 could telephone them. A great many times 

 I have scolded people because they don't 

 take advantage of tlie facilities afforded 

 them ; but there 1 was, ready to walk two 

 miles, when the telephone was right in plain 

 sight. The livery man answered that it 

 would cost $2.00 to take me to Grafton, or 

 $6.G0 to get me to Medina. The operator 

 answered back, " You are mistaken ; Mr. 

 Root does not want to buy your horses and 

 buggy — he simply wants to be carried to 

 Medina." 



It did not take me long to decide that 1 

 would not pay S2.00 for being carried eight 

 miles, nor $6.00 for being carried twenty- 

 four miles. The bystanders suggested that 

 I would then have to wait till night. 



''No, my friends, I shall not have to wait 

 till night.'" 



"Well, you can not ride on the coal or 

 freight trains, and you say you won't pay 

 the livery man his price. How are you go- 

 ing to help yourself ? '' 



" How am I going to help myself V Why, 

 thisivuy.^' And without wasting anymore 

 words "I started off along the track on foot. 

 A blinding snowstorm had just set in, and 

 the crowd had a big laugh at my expense. I 

 presume that some of them decided in their 

 own minds, stronger than they ever did be- 

 foTe, that A. I. Root was a sort of crazy 

 fanatic. What do you think about it, dear 

 friends ? I had not had any breakfast yet ; 

 but I was so impatient to get home that I 

 did not want any breakfast. I felt well and 

 strong. I had been shut up in the crowded 

 city so long that I felt almost wild to get out 

 into the country and breathe the country 

 air, and use my feet. Do you love to walk'V 

 I pity you if you don't. 1 felt, as I started 

 out that morning, the same inspiration I 

 used to feel in walking down to Abbyville 

 to that Sunday-school. I presume the 

 neighbors (perhaps loafers would be a better 

 name, but I prefer to regard them as neigh- 

 bors all the same) who saw me start off in 

 the snowstorm concluded that my strengtli 

 would give out long before 1 reached Graf- 

 ton, eight miles away ; but I didn't think it 

 would. In fact, I hadn't any very definite 

 plan as to how I should get home ; but I en- 

 joyed moving in the direction of home, even 

 if nothing but the trusty feet that God gave 

 me were available for the time. The storm 

 blew right in my face, but that was ever so 

 much better than sitting in the depot, or 

 trying to kill time in waiting for a train. I 

 don't believe I would have consented to 

 stay all day in Elyria, even if I could have 

 earned ten dollars by so doing. Why, I was 

 earning a dollar an horir 'a^ it was, and en- 

 joying myself at the same time. The livery 

 man wanted $2.00 to take me to Grafton, 

 and I knew I could easily walk the eight 

 miles in two hours. In fact, I felt tlien as 

 if it would be a privilege to walk the whole 

 twenty-four miles ; but that would take 

 valuable time, and I had no right to over- 

 task the strengtli that God had given me of 

 late, in any such foolishness. Half a mile 

 further, and I met a lot of railroad hands 

 going to the depot because of the storm. 

 \Vhen they found I was going to foot it to 

 Grafton they too laughed, and regarded me 

 as partly crazy, I suppose. You see, I was 

 dressed up pretty well for a country chap 

 who is in the habit of being in the mud and 

 dirt most of the time, and that is why they 

 thought it singular. Who would not enjoy 

 walking, if lie knew lie was earning a dollar 

 an hour fordoing it V And yet I am com- 

 pelled to believe that a great many people 

 waste money that has been earned by hard 

 toil, that they might save by going oh foot. 

 It is true, railroads carry us for three cents 

 a mile ; but if I were a poor man, and out 



