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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



cal. The fact that every thing is swim- 

 miDg here is no evidence at all that it will 

 not be dry in Toledo, and even dusty." 



But she was so sure that it must be slop- 

 py everywhere, I gave way and got her 

 rubbers. I told her, however, that after 

 we had gone ten miles we might find dusty 

 roads, and then forgot about it. In half an 

 hour we came into Lansing, where the 

 clouds had disappeared. The sun was 

 shining, and she smilingly called my at- 

 tention to the fact that the roads were actu- 

 ally dusty. I had not studied the working 

 of the Weather Bureau, and displayed their 

 signals all these years, for nothing. Mrs. 

 Root was reasoning somewhat like the al- 

 manac-makers who still insist there are 

 men living who can tell what the weather 

 will be all over the United States a year 

 ahead. 



Now, I give this illustration to show that, 

 had I insisted on my view of things, which 

 was right, a little unpleasantness might 

 have arisen. Next morning, in Toledo, be- 

 fore leaving our sleeping-room she wanted 

 to slick things up and put them to rights; 

 but I said that we would miss the eight- 

 o'clock car if she waited to do that. But 

 she replied it would take only a minute to 

 make things look tidy in the pretty little 

 room they had given us. I replied, "Why, 

 my dear wife, who ever thinks of slicking 

 up a sleeping- room in a hotel ? They have 

 women employed for that very purpose, and 

 the bill we pay covers the cost of setting 

 things to rights. We shall miss our car, 

 and then have to wait another hour." 



I think she said that, if nobody else ap- 

 preciated it, the chambermaid would when 

 she came to make up the btd, etc. But I 

 let her have her own way about leaving 

 ihings neat and tidy wherever she went, 

 even in a hotel in a great city. 



When we arrived at the suburban depot 

 the car had just gone, so we had to wait 

 an hour. This second car did not make 

 ■connection at Norwalk, so we had to take 

 another wait of an hour and a half, just be- 

 cause she would have her own way in 

 slicking things up a little in our sleeping- 

 room. I am not finding fault here with 

 her in print, more than I did to her face, 

 because, in finding this great happiness I 

 have told you about, I have discovered that 

 one of the first conditions is not to find 

 fault with and criticise your companion's 

 conduct. After we had been forced to wait 

 twice for our car in consequence of that de- 

 lay I did not once remind her of it, and did 

 not say, "I told you so." But I gained 

 something worth a thousand times more.* 



* Some may urge that it takes too much time to go 

 through life doing work that other people are hired to 

 do. But, after all, what are we livit g for? "What 

 shall it profit a man ?" etc. Possibly there are readers 

 ■of Gleanings whose work is to look after sleeping- 

 roams when guests have departed. Suppose all of us, 

 men and women, should follow Mrs. Root's example, 

 and endeavor to make the work easy and pleasant, 

 even for the hired girl whose task it is to make beds, 

 and sweep up and restore to order where every thing 

 1 as teen left in disorder. Let's see. Who was it that 



Now, do not rush to the conclusion that 

 Mrs. Root is "bossing" me. When she 

 found out there at the cabin in the woods 

 that I was devoting my life to her happi- 

 ness and comfort, she set about seeing what 

 she could do in the way of self-sacrifice and 

 giving way to me. It has seemed as if God 

 in his great providence led us two off alone 

 into the woods to discover and unfold the 

 great unexplored region of happiness that 

 he has in store for every married couple 

 after they have brought up a family of chil- 

 dren. Dear reader, contrast such a life 

 with one of jangling, discord, and fault- 

 finding. Contrast it with the conditions 

 outlined in the following: 



A gray- headed old farmer had the good 

 fortune to get for a second wife a middle- 

 aged schoolteacher, a Christian woman of 

 culture and amiable disposition. This man 

 came to our store to get some ools he need- 

 ed for farming. His wife came along, and 

 was very much pleased with S( me of the 

 kitchen utensils on our five and ten cent 

 counter. This was years ago. Some of 

 them were sadly needed in that ill-furnished 

 kitchen in that farm home. She pleasantly 

 asked for a little change to get these useful 

 household appliarces. Shall I tell jou what 

 his reply was to her request for a little 

 money? "No, I haven't a cent for any 

 such traps. Come on home.'' 



She had given her comparatively sweet 

 pure life into his care and keeping; and 

 the above foal language (for there were 

 foul oaths where I have put the blanks) was 

 her reward for her self sacrifice; and that 

 was his return to the great God above who 

 permitted him to have this comparatively 

 beautiful young wife for his helpmeet. I 

 presume she was tired of teaching, and 

 wanted a home, a place to rest, and his 

 proposal was the only place that seemed to 

 offer her a home of her own. 



Another point: Most married couples, if 

 they have been prudent and frugal, have 

 laid up some property by the time the chil- 

 dren are married and gone away. They 

 have the means to take life easy, but dis- 

 cover to their sadness that money does not 

 make them happy. If they are not very 

 careful it will be just the contrary. When 

 their lives are not so busy they have time 

 to find fault, and " Satan finds some mis- 

 chief still for idle hands," you know. A 

 man of considerable means was recently 

 riding by my side. We passed a little un- 

 pretentious country home. The house was 

 not even painted. There were no shade- 

 trees, and almost no garden. He stopped 

 his horse and pointed at the house. 



" Mr. Root, the happiest days of my life 

 were passed in that little house. When we 



said, "And whosoever will be chief among you, let 

 him be your servant " ? 



To be exact, it is not certain that this slicking-up 

 was what caused us to lose the car. We were delaj;ed 

 at the breakfast-table and by other causes. The point 

 I wish to mske is that, if I had been disposed to scold, 

 grumble, and find fault, I might have kept throwing 

 It up to her, just as I used to to do sometimes, before I 

 was redeemed out of ihe darkness and brought into 

 the light. 



