1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



787 



intimate friends until they roused me to a fren- 

 zy, and then they laughed and jeered to think 

 how well they had succeeded. One of them 

 would tell me that it was mail time, and asked 

 me to read a heap of letters: and with com- 

 mendable patience, sick and weary as I was. 

 I commenced the task. Then I remembered 

 that the doctor had said that I was not to read 

 any letters or any thing else, and turned to 

 reprove the one who brought them, when roars 

 of fiendish laughter met my ears. They vexed 

 me in all sorts of ways until I grew despei'ate 

 and began to chase them away. At this they 

 laughed and yelled, and seemed to enjoy It 

 more than ever. I was getting higlily delirious. 

 My wife insisted on sending for the doctor; but 

 I assured her that doctors could do me no good. 

 They might give me morphine, but I would 

 rather have my senses tlian to be lulled by any 

 such drug. During the night the chills also 

 came at frequent intervals. They seemed es- 

 pecially to affect my right side, and excruciat- 

 ing neuralgic pains were shooting all through 

 it. It has been for many years peculiarly sen- 

 sitive. Finally something put it into my head 

 that this side had received a paralytic stroke, 

 and that I was not only crippled in body but in 

 mind, and should be so for all time to come. At 

 this stage of proceedings, somebody who seemed 

 to have authority reproved my Imaginary tor- 

 mentors, saying that it was a shame to have 

 sport over anybody who was afflicted and suf- 

 fering as I was. 



Some time before, I had noticed among the 

 snakes a very handsome light piece of hempen 

 rope. In our work on the grounds we often 

 have use for a bit of chain or a piece of rope; 

 and as I like good tools I have also a liking for 

 pieces of strong rope or cord, especially such as 

 is at the same time soft and pliable, and can be 

 easily knotted. This piece of rope was of such 

 fine quality, and looked so very handy, that it 

 attracted my attention. I wondered what it 

 could be doing among the snakes, but finally 

 thought no more al)out it. This personage who 

 seemed to have power to banish even the spir- 

 its of darkness tiicn commenced talking with 

 me something in this wise: 



"Mr. Root, you said, not long ago, that you 

 Avere ready to die when your time came. Well. 

 I supi)ose many a man. when he has become 

 worried and worn out with the cares and trials 

 of life, has felt just as you do; but you, per- 

 haps, did not reflect that, instead of dying at 

 once, or perhaps in a few days, you might be 

 called upon to live months or years — yes, to live, 

 even though life has become a burden to your- 

 self and all your friends. You have already 

 received a stroke of paralysis, and may be you 

 think death is at hand. But, my dear sir, have 

 you considered that you may be called upon to 

 live for months and even years, crippled in 

 mind and body the way you are now"? No doc- 

 toi' can help you, for how can he furnish a med- 

 icine for only one side f In your prayers a 

 while ago — oh, yes! I heard them all — you ask- 

 ed if there were any help or any way out of all 

 this trouble. But you will get angry if I sug- 

 gest to you that there is a very quick and 

 speedy way out of it all, and only just one way." 



I did not quite know what he meant just 

 then, so I kept on listening to him, and he re- 

 sumed: 



■' You believe that God answers prayer; but I 

 want to tell you that God never has and never 

 will answer prayer under circumstances like 

 these. Why, you yourself have known of the 

 most devoted Christians who suffered for years 

 just as you are suffering. Did God hear their 

 prayers for relief ? Not at all." 



I do not think that, while he talked with me, 

 he looked in the direction of the rope at all; 



but just then it came to my mind: and on 

 glancing that way I discovered a neat slip-knot 

 at one end, that I had not noticed before. For 

 one brief moment my mind did consider that 

 that bit of rope would cut short all bodily tor- 

 ment at least; and it seemed as if it would not 

 take more than a second to tie just the one 

 knot that was needed. Even in my delirium 

 the fearful poison was beginning to get just a 

 little hold on me. I roused up, however, almost 

 instantly, and said, with all the energy I could, 

 "Get thee behind me, Satan." And he was 

 gone. His imps, however, came back and tried 

 me even more .sorely. One of them suggested 

 that I dare not pray any more, since, in my 

 anger toward them, I had used fearful oaths; 

 and for a time they almost made me believe it 

 was true; but I kept on praying. 



Let me digress a little. For perhaps a year, or 

 may be two years, after my conversion I used to 

 dream of getting into a passion and of going back 

 to the old life, rejecting Chi'ist Jesus, and reject- 

 ing every thing. At such times I would frequent- 

 ly awake in great distress of mind; but when I 

 found it was all a dream and only a dream, how 

 I used to thank God it was only a dream and that 

 those times were past! In a little time longer, 

 however, I began to pray, even in my dreams, 

 when temptation came; and pretty soon dreams 

 of blasphemy toward God vanished for ever. 

 The adversary seemed to say to himself, " Well, 

 there isn't very much use in hanging around a 

 man who begins to pray, even while he is 

 asleep." And let me say to you, my dear 

 Christian friend, that, if you are in the habit of 

 being troubled with similar dreams, it indi- 

 cates, or at least it seems so to me, that your 

 heart is not yet quite right in the sight of God. 

 Dreams are but a shadow or reflection, as it 

 were, of our daily lives. Of course, our physi- 

 cal health has something to do with this, and 

 this part of it I am coming to presently. In my 

 delirum I kept praying. My mind ran over the 

 passages in the Psalms where David urges God 

 tornale Itdstc to deliver him; and I remembered 

 how plaintively David many times plead with 

 God to hide not his face from him, and not to 

 turn away on account of his many iniquities. 

 So far in my experience as a Christian, prayer 

 for deliverance from bodily pain, when it gets 

 to be moi"e than I could beai'. has always been 

 answered; that is, either the pain has been 

 lessened or grace has been given me to bear it: 

 and I remember, during that night of suffering, 

 of praying earnestly something like this: 



" O God, to thee I come. Thou who hast de- 

 livered me in times past from all trials and 

 troubles, be thou my stay. Save me from the 

 snares of the evil one. In thee I trust, and to 

 thee I come." 



After this, grace seemed to be given me; and 

 notwithstanding the evil spirits that still seem- 

 ed to hover around, trying to tempt me. anoth- 

 er presence seemed near; and when I was wor- 

 ried and anxious for fear that I'ebellious 

 thoughts had come into my mind, when I was 

 sorely tempted, a voice full of comfort and as- 

 surance seemed to say to me, " No, child; no 

 blasphemy towai'd God has ever passed your 

 lips since the time you chose Christ Jesus for 

 your Savior." This seemed to satisfy me, and I 

 mentally repeated. " Thank God, thank God 

 for that." About this time, in response to the ur- 

 gent solicitations of my wife, I consented to have 

 the doctor sent for. I think it was just getting 

 daylight when he arrived. Under the clear 

 light of day I felt somewhat ashamed of the 

 fuss I had been making; but still I knew some- 

 thing was wrong, and I told him I thought I 

 had received a paralytic stroke during the 

 night. He asked me where I was paralyzed, 

 and I told him it was my right side. 



