1891 



GLEANINGS IX BEE CL'LTURE. 



285 



full half-mill' to the church. Before I got a 

 <iuarter of the way, the east wind started my 

 tooth to aching again, and I turned around, a 

 little sadly, and went back lioine. I tried to 

 have faith to believe that (iod had some lesson 

 for me to learn, in a line with this toothache. 

 But I could not see just how any good could 

 conie fi'om being kept from church. I went 

 back home with a rather small amount of faith, 

 I must confess. I took a book and sat close up 

 by the base-burner, and tJiis time the heat of 

 the stove seemed to drive the pain away. When 

 I had sat there for perhaps half an hour, and 

 finished the book I was reading. I looked at the 

 clock and wondered whether I hadn't better go. 

 even if it u'cre late. With my thorough toast- 

 ing by the stove I concluded I could keep pret- 

 ty warm until I reached the church. I felt a 

 little happier after I started. The sermon was 

 more than half over, and I disliked to disturb 

 • the preaching. But there were no seats except 

 away up in front. I started once to go up, but 

 I hesitated and turned back. The usher whis- 

 pered that I might get a seat among the boys 

 at the other door. Now. I had not a glimpse of 

 a thought that there was any providence in my 

 being late, or in the fact that I must ask the 

 boys to squeeze up together a little, and give 

 me a seat in that particular corner. There was 

 a great lot of boys all ai'ound me. some of my 

 own, and one or two among them that I had 

 not got along with veiy well. I remember won- 

 dering what had induced so many to come. 

 From what I knew of them I did not think they 

 ever had very many if any serious thoughts, 

 and they did not look then very serious either. 

 They wei'e not noisy, but there was quite a lit- 

 tle exchanging of glances, and smiling: and in 

 my poor feeble attitude of heart at jus* that 

 time I could not see that there was very much 

 in the sermon to interest them. It seemed away 

 above their heads. To tell the truth. I got 

 drowsy, and I meditated slipping out and going 

 home as soon as they commenced to sing the 

 first hymn atthecloseof the sermon. One reason 

 why I got drowsy was, that the only window 

 that afforded any fresh air had just been closed. 

 An old gentleman with a rather bald head 

 found the breeze rather too much for him, and 

 signified to the janitor to close it. As he shut 

 it clear up. I almost gave a groan, thinking 

 that my spirituality, for the evening at least, 

 was about extinguished with that last bit of 

 fresh air. Now, one of my crosses, as you may 

 remember, is to be obliged to listen to a sermon 

 when the room is full of bad air. It actually 

 makes me stupid and sort o' crazy. I do not 

 mean to find fault, because I am not now in a 

 fault-finding mood. But I made up my mind, 

 that, if I ever sat near a window, and found the 

 •draft was making me take cold, I would surely 

 take a seat somewhere else, instead of asking to 

 have the air all cut off from the rest of the con- 

 gregation. The sermon closed, finally, and the 

 pastors wife gave an excellent talk to'the boys: 

 but the air was so hot and close that I had not 

 much faith that even it could do anybody any 

 good. Perhaps I had better say, that Satan 

 suggested the above thought, and may be the 

 air was not so very bad after all. If others did 

 not notice it. then it was better for me to pray 

 for grace to bear it as best I could. Finally 

 they rose up to sing. The pastor's wife urged 

 them to come forward and bring their friends. 

 To my surprise, quite a young boy— in fact, the 

 youngest printer in the office where I am writ- 

 ing—commenced going to one and then to an- 

 other of his companions, exhorting them to 

 come right along that nujht. and make a start 

 in the Christian life. I was surprised at the 

 ease and self-possession with which he (usually 

 bashful and diffident) undertook a task that 



would have been a hard one for myself. But 

 when anothei' young boy in my employ assent- 

 ed. and started" to go with him up to the altar. I 

 was still more surprised. A lot of young girls 

 started in the same way. I began to wake up. 

 I looked about me and catight fhe eye of one of 

 the boys I have been praying for. and who 

 works near me almost every day. Then I re- 

 membered .something that his auiit had said to 

 me some time before. It was something like 

 this: 



'■ Mr. Root, you do not know what a high 

 opinion E. has of you. He thinks whatever 

 you say is law and gospel, and I do bcilieve that 

 a word from you \\ould have more effect than 

 any thing the minister or even his oivn relatives 

 could say to him."' 



Could it be that this boy was thinking of go- 

 ing forward too? and was it possible that an 

 invitation from /»//.s-c/f was all that was needed? 

 But then I remembered that, only a few days 

 before, somebody had heard him swearing right 

 straight along, and that. too. when he was at 

 play, and not angry with anybody. Something 

 said. •• Why. Mr. Root, it is not of any use; it 

 will not be best, anyhow, to ask a boy to come 

 forward to the anxious-seat who does such 

 things as that. There can't be any real desiz-e 

 about him to be a Christian.'' Just at this 

 point, however, they started up 



" Just as I am. withotit one plea." 



I prayed that God would guide me. Then I 

 moved over to where my young friend sat. T 

 talked with him some, but he was bashful and 

 backward: yet something in his look seemed to 

 tell me that the Holy Spirit was at w'ork in the 

 child's heart. And t'nen I remembered how 

 earnestly / had prayed for the Holy Spirit that 

 morning, when I first got out of bed". 



" E.. will you not come forward and make a 

 start for Christ, if I will go along with you to 

 the anxious-seat?" 



He looked me square in the face as he replied 

 promptly and decidedly, "' Yes, Mr. Root, I will 

 go." 



I went up with him. and whispered to the 

 pastor's wife that I had brought one of my 

 boys. You can not think how her face lighted 

 up as she took him by the hand. She and her 

 husband had been laboring for two weeks, 

 working hard and earnestly, to the end that the 

 result of the union meetings which we have 

 been holding all winter might not be Avithout a 

 general revival. I knelt beside my young 

 friend, and prayed for him. But another" boy's 

 face kept getting before me. It was the face of 

 one with whom I had had much difficulty. 

 That is. he had been reported so many times 

 for bad behavior that I had talked with him 

 again and again, and had even suspended him: 

 and he had been dismissed finally, as I had sup- 

 posed, only a few days before". After every 

 reprimand, however, he had confessed his 

 fault, and begged to be tried again. This had 

 failed so many times, however, that I had lost 

 heart. Just the day before, he said, with tears 

 in his eyes. " Mr. Root. I know that I do not de- 

 serve another chance. I know it is just as you 

 say. and I do not see what is the matter with 

 me. It does not seem to be of any use for me to 

 try to be good." 



His principal trouble seemed to be. he was so 

 full of fun and mischief that he not only wasted 

 his time, but he hindered others more than he 

 earned, and I got to thinking that forbearance 

 had ceased to be a virtue — that he really did 

 not care very much after all. This boy, "how- 

 ever, had come to meeting: but I looked at his 

 face and decided that he had come more out of 

 a spirit of fun than for any thing else, and I 

 gave up thinking it would be best to ask him to 



