28 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan, 



of employment, I would rather earn 60 cents 

 a (lay by walking 20 miles, than to do noth- 

 ing. ' The world might regard a man crazy 

 who would walk 20 miles to save HO cents ; 

 but I think we would better have crazy men 

 than so many tramps and paupers. The 

 cable cars in Clncago will cary you ten miles 

 for a nickel— that is, half a cent a mile ; but 

 I believe the livery men, in most of our 

 cities at least, want about 25 cents for every 

 mile they carry anybody ; and my experi- 

 ence is, that they will seldom hitch up a 

 horse to go anywhere, short of a dollar and a 

 half. Isn't there a chMuce for those who 

 are out of employment to make something 

 by carrying people V I suppose that livery 

 men, of course, have to have good prices to 

 make up for time when tliey are idle, and 

 don't have any thing to do. They must also 

 have prices to cover the ecpense of tele- 

 phones and other modern c mveniences in 

 their line ; but I do believe they would have 

 fewer idle days if they were more moderate 

 in their charges, or base their prices accord- 

 ing to circumstances. This train of thought 

 was interrupted all at once by a recollection 

 that made me start. While at the telephone 

 office, why didn't I telephone to have Meg 

 and the buggy meet me at Grafton V Meg 

 is spoiling for exercise, and here am I going 

 on foot. Had I had my wit s ;r )out me, and tel- 

 ephoned home before I stiuLed on foot, she 

 could easily have made the 16 miles to Grafton 

 while I am"making <S miles to the same place, 

 and save what I shall have to pay a livery 

 man there. Not very long ago I scolded the 

 women-folks in the kitchen because they 

 were putting hot fruit into fruit-jars with a 

 tablespoon, while beautiful little funnels, 

 made expressly for the purpose, hung up at 

 the top of the stairs in the counter store. 

 We had sold hundreds of them for that very 

 purpose, and yet the women were working 

 slowly and laboriously by the old-fashioned 

 methods. While I stood there by that tele- 

 phone that saved me a walk of two miles to 

 the livery-stable, I was not bright enough to 

 recognize that these very clicking instruments 

 that were making such a noisy clatter would 

 instantly summon the friends at the factory 

 to meet me at Grafton, with a big hurrah to 

 think that I was even so near home. The 

 little text about getting the beam out of 

 your awn eye before scolding the women- 

 folks, occurred to me just here. Well, to tell 

 the truth, friends, I am not much used to 

 traveling ; in fact, I am a sort of country 

 greenhorn, in some respects, when I am out 

 in the great world and mixed up in the 

 machinery of modern travel. Should I go 

 back? If I did, I should have to face the 

 crowd that laughed at me. I never like to 

 go backward when I am started in any en- 

 terprise. May be I am a little foolish in 

 this respect, but 1 pushed ahead. When 

 the mile-posts showed that I had made just 

 four miles, I was not a bit tired ; in fact, I 

 felt more like walking than whenl started ; 

 neither did I care a cent about the breakfast 

 I had missed. Perhaps the bountiful tables 

 at the Commercial Hotel in Chicago, which 

 I had enjoyed for so many days, had given 

 me a little surplus strength. Ur. Tanner, 

 you know, laid by enough food to last him 

 foi'ty days. 



I knew by former experience that a walk 

 of two or three miles would produce a 

 pleasant exhilaration of spirits, and it did 

 come. I was happy. When I started off I 

 felt a little bitterly toward the officers of our 

 road because they would not make ??ie an 

 exception to other" people, and take me home 

 on a coal-train. This feeling had all gone. 

 I felt glad they had made me " toe the 

 mark" as well as other people who don't 

 give them as much trade as I do. Instead 

 of grumbling and finding fault with our 

 great railroads, I felt like praying for them, 

 not as enemies, but as friends and neighbors. 

 I felt like praying for the neighbors, too, at 

 the depot, who laughed at me because I was 

 going to have such a hard time {?) in facing 

 the storm for eight miles, and I prayed that 

 God miglit give them a glimpse of the happi- 

 ness I then enjoyed, contrasted with that 

 fearful habit of standing around with their 

 hands in their pockets on stormy days. I 

 wonder, dear reader, if you ever knew what 

 an excellent opportunity walking on a rail- 

 way track through the open country gives 

 one to talk with God. You can talk out 

 loud, without any possibility of being over- 

 heard. Yes, you can pray for your enemies, 

 if you have any. I talked right out in plain 

 words. In some way it seems to me to give 

 me very much more strength in praying for 

 any thing or for anybody, where 1 am off 

 alone, if I can say it out" loud. There had 

 been several things on my mind for some 

 time that I didn't feel equal to the task of 

 praying for— things that stirred up bad feel- 

 ings whenever I let my mind dwell on them. 

 The exhilaration of the walk had banished 

 all uncharitableness, and, I hope, all narrow- 

 mindedness. My heart was full of the sen- 

 timent of our text, although I hadn't thought 

 of the text at that time. " Great peace have 

 they which love thy law." I made the other 

 four miles easily ; for while I was praying, 

 as I have told you above, the sun came out 

 from between the clouds, and then how I 

 did enjoy thanking God for the sun ! This 

 great glorious sun and I are old friends, as 

 you may rememl)er, and we two have lots of 

 plans in store for the year 1S88— plans that 

 you, dear readers, are to share in. As I 

 came up the steps of the hotel, I felt just a 

 little like breaking my fast. I met my old 



friend Frank M , and soon bargained 



with him to take me to Medina for $2.50 ; 

 so you see I had saved the difference between 

 $2.50 and $6.00 already thus early in the 

 morning. 1 told them I was ready for a 

 good breakfast, while Frank got up his 

 young horses. I overheard Frank tell the 

 cook, — 



" That's A. I. Root ; you want to give him 

 a slashing good breakfast." 



And the cook did it to a dot. I have had a 

 great many nice breakfasts, but it seemed 

 to me that none excelled this one. Why, it 

 was worth at least a dollar to get such an 

 appetite as I had after my walk of eight 

 miles. So you see I was (mother dollar 

 ahead, and the price of the breakfast wasonly 

 25 cents. I felt sorry to have them make all 

 that fuss during the middle of the forenoon, 

 for such a trifling sum. 1 told you that 

 Frank is an old friend of mine. Now, per- 



