IS'.IJ 



(W.KANINCS IN I5I0K cri/irUK. 



1 x, 



tlif world. At liisi ^iKllt il sfi'iiicti lo iiic llial 

 some huttiT-womaii must have taken licr 

 paildlt'. ami. by tlcNtroiis strokes, rasliioiied a 

 tliiim of lieaii'ty. Ml. Slia^ta is oii(> of the 

 lii^rliest |M aks in the I'niteii Siati-s. Iiejni: 11.11'.' 

 feet. Tlie railfoads afe veiy aeeoiiimodatiiifi in 

 nimiinfj tlie roail almost tip to ti>e foot of llie 

 monntain. The drifting snow can lie plainly 

 seen with tin- naked eye. ami the elond of snow- 

 that is lieinu eonstantly whirled over the sum- 

 mit mnst he sinni'thinsi like a half or a (iiiaiter 

 of a inih' long. 1 took three koilak views of 

 Shasta: hvit pliotography ean not do a rail 

 innuntaiii jnstiee. One fails to reeogni/.e the 

 distaiu-es and enormons height. A monntain 

 two or three miles high might he estimated at 

 less tlian a quarter as inm-h. 



J(ni.4, ISH'J. — YesttM'day w as an .'venlfnl (hiy 

 to me. The deep snows on the mountain threw 

 the train behind, so that I was eompelled to 

 travel on .Sunday until m-arly noon. While 

 speaking of the deep snow I am reminded that a 

 fellow-traveler explaiiu'd how they clear the 

 traek. Thev have an imnn-nse maehine. pro- 

 pelltHJ by steam, that might t)e likened to a huge 

 earpet-sweeper. It takes up the snow while it 

 is vet light, just after it falls, and throws it 

 over In- the side of the track. When il has lin- 

 islied the job. the snow lies in a beautiful tegu- 

 lar slope, exactly so far from the track, and this 

 .slone is at such an angle that it doo^s not often 

 sliiie or cave in. 



In coming in to San Francisco we crossed two 

 ferries. The first took the whole train, entire, 

 without even dividing it: and I was told this 

 ferryboat is the largest oik^ in the world. The 

 whole lieavy train, locomotive and all. did not 

 sink the great floating monster even one inch, 

 so far as I could see. The second terry that 

 landed us in the city, by a system of gates and 

 portiMs. took all on the train and nobody (>lse. 

 It was a beautiful morning, and the crowds all 

 around me were dressed in their best, but noth- 

 ing seemed to indicate that any one thought 

 that it was GdiI's: holy day. I felt uneasy, and 

 my conscience troubled nie. As it neai-ed church 

 time I began to fear 1 should miss the morning 

 service, and it seemed as if I could hardly stand 

 it. T had selected from th(^ various advertis- 

 ments a temperance hotel, and so I pushed past 

 all the hackmen. telling them I was going to 



stop at the () House. Finally one of them 



said, •' Oh, yesi then I am your man (exactly." 

 As I got into his wretched vehicle I thought it 

 strange a temjierance institution should send 

 out such a rig and man: and when he liegan 

 threading the lowest part of the city I l)ecame 

 uneasy; but he explained it by saying th(! direct 

 route to their place wascut up by laying a cable 

 car-track, and that they were temporarily 

 obliged to go quite a piiM-e around, and tinally 

 he dn)pped me before a low-lived whisky-shop. 

 The office of the hotel was in said shop. 

 "My dear sir. you told me you belonged to the 



O House. How does this come?"' and I 



pointed to the sign oyer the <loor. 



"Ohltliat is all right."" he hastened to ex- 

 plain. "This liouse is owned by llx! satne man 



that owns the O . They are exactly alike." 



I looked atmy watch, and saw I had just time to 

 dress for chui-ch. if I went right at it and wast- 

 ed no more time. So I explained I wa.s in a 

 iiiirry to get to church, and ask'ed for a room. 

 If it hadn't been Sunday I should have Ijeen 

 temptefl to use the Kodak to give (^ur readers a 

 vi<!W- of that room. I was careful to hang my 

 clothes on the hooks, wliile I hastily changed: 

 and if I had dropped any article on the floor, it 

 would hav(! required brisk hrushing to get it 

 clean again, although the dirty woman we met 

 at the door assured us the room was all in " nice 

 order."" When I asked to be directed to the 



nearest ( ongregal iona I church the bloated- 

 faced clerk went for somebody who kni-w about 

 chtM'ches. I'"inally a policeman was found, and 

 he said he knew of a new church, not faraway, 

 that he ■■ tat her ijiicsscd " was Ihesoil I wanted. 

 This policeman. I)y the wa\-. could hariily talk 

 English so as to be understood. My conscience 

 begii\s to tell mi' now-, however, that I havi' found 

 fault enough. After all my fidgeting I wasoneof 

 the lirstin that pretty new church. The jani- 

 tor welcomed me witli a handshake, foinid out 

 where I was from, and introduced m<! to the 

 ditleriMit members as they came in, and linaily 

 to th(> good, kindly-looking pastor. Dear rc^ad- 

 er, if a stranger happt'iis into your church are 

 you mire he will get such a welcome? Why, it 

 made me feel at home, and happy at once. 

 How good their faces looked, contrasted with 

 thos(! of the crowd I had met on th(! ferry 1 We 

 liad an excc^Uent sermon: but the best part of it 

 was near the close, something lik(i this, 



" Dear brothers and sislefs. I am extremely 

 happy to tell you that my appi'al a week ago 

 brought a contribution tliat i)aid tii) every last 

 cent of our debt, so we can start out this new- 

 year with our church and every tiling about it 

 paid for."' 



Many of the members siioke broken English, 

 showing they wore of dilTerent nationalities, 

 and. in fact, the church was in a part of the 

 town where it could not well be otherwise; but 

 notwitlistanding this they w-ere clean and pure 

 men and women. "• washed in the blood of the 

 Ijamb," and made lit for the communion of 

 saints. The contrast between them and the 

 rough, blaspheming, and drinking crowd, was 

 indeed wonderful. I was urged on all sides to 

 stay to Sunday-school, and, in fact, by a perfect 

 drove of children, chattering and prattling 

 around the church (ioor and steps, toward the 

 close of the sermon, until the janitor had to 

 look out several timi's and motion to them to 

 keep still. I was happy and joyous then; but 

 little did I dream of a new happiness just then 

 right before me. Let us go back a little. 



I have l^efore mentioned that Mrs. Root is 

 rather backward and diffident about going out 

 in the world among people. When I started on 

 this trip, our entreaties were all in vain to get 

 her to come. It made her sick to travel, and 

 she could not sleep nights: and, besides, she did 

 not care for new countries and scenery as much 

 as I did. So we reluctantly gave it up. By 

 •• we '" I mean myself and the children. When 

 I had a relapse of the fever, how-ever, she said 

 she must come to mc;; and, in fact, she could 

 hardly wait until I could direct her how to 

 come. Finally she wired me that she had 

 started on Wednesday, the 30th of December. 

 You may be sure that I did not forget her in my 

 prayers "during these four days. During the fe- 

 verish, sleepless nights I had just passed, my 

 mind was almost constantly drawn toward her. 

 I dreamed of her nights, and while on the 

 streets during the day. If any figure in the 

 least resembled her. it set my heart to beating 

 at once. Some of mv yonngi-r readers may 

 smile at this. All right. I am glad to have, 

 you smile, and I liojii' the older ones will smile. 

 Yes; and n^Jiilc you smile, take that dear hand 

 in yours that has worked for you so faithfully, 

 and tell her that brother Root is not theo?i7jy 

 man who has a heart that beats young again as 

 he .sees the dear form or hears her footstep. 

 More than thirty years ago I had a sort of boy- 

 ish notion that I could not be liapiiy without 

 her. Since then I have seen her work untiring- 

 ly in molding and fashioning the mind and soul 

 of each little new comer that (Jod sent into our 

 household. I didn't know lier thirty years ago, 

 but I do know her know. While I was sick, and 

 thousands of miles awav from home, memory 



