1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



863 



and am personally acquainted with all the par- 

 ties. The owner of the farm was well along in 

 years, and there had been indieations that his 

 mind was failing. Notwithstanding, he sold 

 the place in spite of all his childrcMi coukl do to 

 persuade him not to let it go. Almost imme- 

 diately after the sale, however, he became very 

 sorry for his rash act; and, in fact, as he looked 

 over the home where he had been so many 

 years, and where all his children had been born 

 and brought up, he became tcuTibly homesick. 

 or, as the boys sometimes say, "' sick of his bar- 

 gain," and tinally made overtures to this man 

 of wealth to trade back. It was the same man, 

 mind you. who bought the note by false state- 

 ment, and he held off and refused to let the old 

 gentleman have iiis farm back until he actual- 

 ly offered and ixtid h'DnVfteeit InnKlred (Jnlhirs! 

 The whole transaction occuired within a short 

 time. Now, a good many of you may say that 

 this wasperfectly fair and all right. Very like- 

 ly there was nothing illegal about it. But. can 

 a man have a good conscience before God and 

 his fellow-men who thus takes from the pocket 

 of a neighbor the sum of ?15t)0 for trading back ? 

 Trades or purchases are usually made with the 

 understanding that the exchange is a /<(/r one 

 on both sides: therefore if one of the parties 

 should change his mind, or repent of his bar- 

 gain, under ordinary circumstances fairness 

 and justice would indicate that the purchaser 

 should receive enough to pay him for his time 

 and trouble, but no more. What do you sup- 

 pose became of the lich man? If he continued 

 to meet with such chances as I have named, to 

 ■' speculate " every day, he would soon become a 

 "millionaire." Do von think .so? God forbid. 

 I do not know how millionaires usually get 

 their money; but this man, a little later, was 

 involved in a scene of crime and murder. He 

 lost his property, lost his good name (if. indeed, 

 there was any good name to lose), and fled the 

 country. When he started out in his evil ways, 

 as I have said before, he defied God and justice. 

 In the language of our te.xt, the Father above 

 had hidden his eyes from him. He did not dare 

 to even lank toward a just God; and finally he 

 did not dare to look into the face of (iny one in 

 the community who knew him. He commenc- 

 ed by robbing his neighbors until no one had 

 enough confidence in him to permit him to rob 

 them any more. His final act was one involv- 

 ing the ruin of a child, the daughter of a near 

 neighboi' where I used to live; and murder was 

 the final end. 



While speaking of this matter of ti-ading 

 back, I want to mention an incident of my early 

 life in business — an incident that taught me a 

 lesson. It may sound somewhat like boasting: 

 but at the time I did it I had no thought that I 

 was doing any more than any one ought to do. 

 An elderly gentleman came into the store to 

 buy a watch. He had never carried a watch, 

 and was therefore entirely inexperienced in 

 such matters. After spending an hour or more 

 I rigged him out with one that seemed to suit 

 him. He paid the price asked, and went home 

 apparently well pleased. Now, it seems that 

 he had decided on the purchase of a watch 

 without saying a word about it to his grown-up 

 children; and when he exhibited it to them and 

 told them he had patronized a town jeweler 

 without having some one experienced in watches 

 go along with him. they laughingly declared 

 that he had been swindled outright— that the 

 watch was not worth half what he paid for it, 

 etc. However, he insisted that the man he 

 traded with looked honest, and he believed he 

 ivas honest. One of the sons said, banteringly: 



"Now look here, father. You go right back 

 to tin? jeweler to-morrow and ask him how 

 much money you will have to pay him to trade 



back. If he does not admit by his reply that 

 he swindled you to the extent of five or ten dol- 

 lars, we will, with you, conclude he is an honest 

 man." 



They worried the old gentleman so much that 

 he conclud(>d to test his new friend the jeweler. 

 As he came into the store the conversation was 

 something as follows: 



" Mr. Root, suppose I decide that T do not 

 wish to keep the watch just now, after all: how 

 ranch money must I pay you to trade back?" 



•• Why, the watch runs well, does it not?" 



"Oh. yes! at least, I suppose it does. Yes, it 

 is just with your clock to the minute. There is 

 no trouble with it, so far as I know; but I 

 should like to know just how much money I 

 must pay you to take it off my hands." 



It was something of a struggle. I confess. I 

 had worked hard for perhaps two houis to 

 make the sale, and I did not at all relish taking 

 the watch back and giving him his money. 

 However, as I had sold the watch at a small 

 profit I concluded that the most gentlemanly 

 way would be not to make any charge, as it 

 was returned in pei'fect order; therefore I told 

 him that he could have his money back with- 

 out any charge for my time, if he decided he 

 did not really want the watch. vSo I counted 

 out the exact sum, and laid it before him on the 

 counter. Then you should have seen his face 

 as he burst into a laugh, and put the watch back 

 into his pocket. Of course, he explained to me 

 the whole circumstance. But, didn't he crow 

 over the children when he got home! They, of 

 course, had to own up beat; but they declared 

 that it was a most remarkable thing to find a 

 jeweler, or. in fact, a man in any other similar 

 line of business, who would " swap back " with- 

 out a'" bonus." Well, he exhibited that watch 

 with great pride to all his friends and acquain- 

 tances, and told the story, and brought other 

 men to my store to buy watches. Why, dear 

 friends, it was a better advertisement for me 

 than any notice I ever put in the papers, and 

 yet I did not know it! "O ye of little faith! 

 wherefore do ye doubt?" A man who is hohest 

 and fair, and upright and true, not only has the 

 love of God in his heart to cheer him on his 

 pathway through life; he not only has the c(m- 

 fidence and esteem of his fellow-men, but he 

 actually r/ia/ces more money. And finally, when 

 trouble come.s — yes, when sickness and death 

 are near, and he feels constrained to throw 

 himself on the mercy of the great God above, 

 he need not fear the concluding words of our 

 text, " I will not hear: yoiu- hands are full of 

 blood." 



, -OS "Pages 7x10 

 '1°° PER YEARj 



Sin, when It Is finished, bringeth forth death.— James 1 : 15. 



Is your apiary all fed up and in winter quar- 

 ters? Ours is. 



Secretaries of bee-conventions will oblige 

 us by sending us prompt notices of their local 

 and State conventions. 



The Michigan State Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion will meet at Grand Rapids, Mich., Dec. 31 

 and Jan. 1, next. Reduced rates have been se- 

 cured at the Eagle Hotel; and as this will be 

 during the holidays there will be generally re- 

 duced railroad rates. This is another of the 



