CI.IOANINOS IN HKK (.'ri/rUUE. 



383 



MiLU t'L—{)\\ what wcliH-s: li laiiird uiilil 

 tilt' »rioiiiid was soaki'd, ami tlu^i raiiu-il atiaiii; 

 Hiui w litTc the jrardcncr did iiot just stJr him- 

 self and malvt' tiiiiiLTS tly w hcin'vci- till' j^i'oiiiid 

 wa^iii pfopcr condiiiuii. his crops af<> not in. 1 

 lliiiiU 1 tu'vcf t'lijoycd seeing uiidei'diains do 

 their w.rk as mik-Ii as 1 have in tho past lew- 

 days. A new pieee of groinia ha'i neve: hern 

 driiinea; but it was so mar liie niilrohvl Daniv 

 that it seemed to me as if it did not roai'v need 

 it; bi.'. i I -.lally p;;. in dfaiiis over; %' To.., even 

 ihoujrh tlie ground was on a good slope. And 

 now as I go along the hank 1 see a stream of 

 water issuing from every outlet, and the piece 

 of ground dries out heauti fully, and no water 

 ever stands on its surface at all. To keep the 

 outk'ts from washing away I fastened together 

 three pieces of one-foot tile by crowding iheni 

 into a galvanized pipe two feet long, the tiles 

 projecting (l in. at each end of the tube. Where 

 the end sticks otit of the bank it is firmly im- 

 bedded with stones above and below the end. 



OURSELVES AND OUR NEIGHBORS. 



Xo g-oiMl tiling- will he witliliold from them that 

 walk uprightly.— Psalm 84:11. 



For many years there has been more or less 

 discussion in our little household in regard to 

 the propriety of Christian people engaging in 

 card-jilaying and dancing. Kow. please do not 

 imagine that I am going to take up the suljject 

 and discuss it right here. I presume that almost 

 every one of my readers, especially those who 

 are members of churches, have gone over this 

 matter again and again, and very likely they 

 are familiar with the arguments pro and con. 

 I may simply say, however, that card-playing 

 and dancing have never as yet found a place in 

 our home. Neither have the •" Root boys " or 

 the ■■ Root girls" taken part in such amuse- 

 ments in <)th€r homes. Perhaps this might not 

 liave been the case, however, had it not been so 

 well understood by all members of the family 

 that ■■ pa Root ■■ was very decided in his views 

 in regard to such matters. I do not wish here 

 to convey the impression that there was a dis- 

 sension in the family in regard to the matter. 

 In fact, after some little discussion with tlie 

 young people a few days ago I astonished 

 them somewhat by telling them that, after 

 thinking over the matter — yes. and praying 

 over it — I had decidexl that it was my iluty 

 to tell Constance (shi^ that used to b(^ call- 

 ed '" Blue Eyes'") that she was old enough to 

 judge for herself in such matters, and that, 

 from that time forth, she should do as she 

 thought best in regard to taking part in such 

 amusements or ?iof taking part. I even prom- 

 ised that, if she should have cause to regret any 

 thing in such line hereafter. I would be careful 

 not to say even so much as " I told you so." At 

 first there was quite a little excitement over my 

 decision; but when my daughter found that 

 my sentiments had not changed — only that I 

 began to recognize that, as she was nineteen 

 years old. and a member of the church, she cer- 

 lainly ought to be able to take care of herself— 

 at least to tliat extent. 



Now. in our household the children have 

 grown up with such pleasant relations between 

 themselves and their parents that I hardly be- 

 lieve any one of them who has attained a 

 majority has ever thought to note the fact, as 

 children sometimes do. by saying to themselves, 

 if not out loud, " Well, to-day I am eighteen;" 

 or, *' To-day I am twenty-one," as the case may 

 be, •' and therefore I atn my own " boss,' and am 

 not in the future to be ruled over by any one." 

 Well, Constance, after thinking the matter 



(i\('r. concluded that, e ;'ii if she K'ccf eiglit(((:n, 

 or even niuet»MMi, for ihat matter, she did not 

 feel any more likedisa jreeing with her parents, 

 «>v(>n on a small matter, than she did before. 

 So the (luestion ri'maiiis just about where it 

 was. Perhaps I might say that the discussion 

 lirst started because of the fact that, in our 

 town, those who do not dance or play cards, are, 

 at liMst to .so/iic (extent, ostracized from certain 

 gatherings, by certain classes cif society. I do 

 not like that word '■o<traci.ved,'' howeviT. after 

 all: but 1 do not think of any other that will 

 better express the meaning just iiow. .Some- 

 times, as a bit of pleasantry, certain ones have 

 said, in discussing parties "or other gath(!rings, 

 •'Oh! 1 forgot. I'oft do not go, because your 

 folks won't let you dance or play cards." as the 

 case may be. I do not think that any spirit 

 of malice actuates the young people who make 

 remarks like that; but still it cuts and hurts; 

 and sometimes the young people have felt a 

 little restless under the restraint that making a 

 profession of Christianity seemed to im])ose 

 upon them. Then, again, a good many will 

 say. "Oh I but Christians do dance, and play 

 cards too. Why, some of the very best people in 

 our town, and some who are first in prayer- 

 meetings and in the Endeavor society do both." 

 A little quiet questioning, though,' generally 

 reveals the fact that those in question do not 

 dance or i)lay cards very much, or not at all, or 

 else there is some mistake about their being 

 foremost in Christian progress. 



After some talk of this kind I reached for the 

 family Bible and opened it. When I opened it 

 I began to smile; and when they wanted to 

 know what made me look so pleased, I replied, 

 •' Were it possible that I had had time to look 

 at the Bible a little you would be sure that I 

 had selected the very passage that met my eye. 

 But. on the contrary. I did not select it at all. 

 The Bible opened of Itself, and the first words 

 that met my eye were these: ' No good thing 

 will he withhold from tfiem that ivalk up- 

 rightly.''' There was a general smiling all 

 around. By the way, is jt not a little strange 

 that the liible so many times opens to the very 

 thing that it seems you needed? And wheii 

 we consider how many pages there are in the 

 Bible, and how many texts and promises there 

 are on each page, it does seem strange that, 

 out of the thousands, we should get just that- 

 one. I presume it were well for us to remem- 

 ber, before we lean too much toward something 

 that might be called superstition, that there 

 are thousands of texts in the P.ilile that hit a 

 multitude of grand truths, and this is one of 

 them. Now. dear reader, do you believe the 

 statement of our text? Do you believe that 

 those who persistently and contlniuiUy " walk 

 uprightly " to the best of their ability will, in 

 the end. lack or lose nothing that is really good 

 in the best sense of the word? Sometimes it 

 costs us quit(> a little to persist in walking up- 

 rightly: and tli(M-e are not a few who really 

 become '• weai'y in well doing." They say. "It 

 does not make any difference! how loiig or how 

 hard I try to do right. Nobody notices it. and 

 I get no reward for it. I might just as well 

 hav<! a good lime with the rest as to be .so very 

 particular, and have everybody call me puritan- 

 ical." Did you ever feel that way ? But here 

 is the Bible promise, and it says, " A"o good 

 thing." I wish I could tell you how many times 

 I have seen this veritied. Why. it is not only 

 true in the mcjial and" spiritual world, but it is 

 true in business. I meet it at every turn. 

 Among the old and the young there seems to be 

 coming up this idea that it really does ?iot pay 

 to be good or to be Iionest. Sometimes when 

 our spiritual advisers or teachers point out a 

 path that seems to be above that of common 



