FEBRUARY 15, 1914 



155 



Our Homes 



A. I. Root 



Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and 

 shout for joy, all ye that be upright in heart. 

 For of such is the kingdom of heaven. 

 And a little child shall lead them. — Isaiah 11:6. 



A year ago I told you about being happy 

 over a Christmas present— a little bag of 

 dasheen tubers that came in the mail on 

 Christmas eve from the Department of Ag- 

 riculture of our nation — God's gift— and I 

 believe it will prove to be a precious gift to 

 hungering multitudes. Well, I have just re- 

 ceived another new and most precious gift; 

 but it is more along in the line of spiritual 

 blessings than either food or raiment. When 

 some kind soul sends me " a book to read," 

 of late years, I almost always feel a bit 

 sori*y; for how can I read hooks when the 

 news of the world's progress lies untouched 

 before me, week after week, and often 

 month after month, because I can not get 

 time and still take the exercise in the open 

 air I must have. I have tried several times 

 to read current fiction; but almost every 

 time, after wasting precious moments, I 

 have said invariably, " Why do ye spend 

 money for that wliich is not bread, and 

 labor for that which satisfieth notf" Christ- 

 mas eve came, and several books. Among 

 them was one entitled " Pollyanna, the Glad 

 Book," by Eleanor H. Porter. (L. C. Page 

 & Co., Boston.) I believe it first came out 

 in the Christian Herald in 1912. Since then 

 it has, during the first half of 1913, under- 

 gone " eight impressions." I read the first 

 chapter and said to Mrs. Root, " This book 

 is diiferent." Although it is of late hard 

 for me to read any thing more than about 

 half an hour at a time, the book was finished 

 next day. Then I turned back to the begin- 

 ning and proceeded to read it all over again, 

 for the latter part threw a new and unex- 

 pected radiance (yes, that is the word) over 

 the whole book. In one sense it is not a 

 " religious " book. I don't think a text is 

 quoted, nor is there any mention of the 

 Bible, until near the last part. It is a unique 

 creation. May God be praised for the woman 

 whom he has commissioned to deliver this 

 message to an unhappy and hungering 

 world. 



Before I can deliver my " message " I 

 ^hall have to give you a brief sketch of the 

 book. My sketch won't spoil the book when 

 you come to read it. Briefly, the well-to-do 

 parents of a bright young girl planned to 

 have her marry a rich young man; but she 

 preferred a young and perhaps obscure 

 young preacher. They stormed, and threat- 

 ened; but, like Moses of old, "choosing 



rather to suffer affliction with the people of 

 God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for 

 a season," she cast her lot with the young 

 pastor, and, disowned by her family, they 

 two moved out west and he began Avith the 

 customary small salary. In the eyes of the 

 world he didn't seem to be very successful. 

 Oh, dear me! how little does the world 

 know ! Two little girls were born — "Polly" 

 and " Anna;" but both soon died; and after 

 giving birth to another, named Pollyanna, 

 the poor unfortunate mother died also. 

 When the last little girl was eleven years 

 old, the overworked and poorly paid pastor 

 died also, with nothing left for the poor 

 child but a few things that had come in " a 

 barrel " from some " ladies' aid " society. 

 They found the child had only one relative 

 living — her aunt Polly, who was living an 

 idle, unsatisfied life, and who had not, after 

 all these years, forgiven her poor sister's 

 " want of sense " in marrying a preacher 

 without a cent in the world. Now, this poor 

 preacher who lacked fame and renown, and 

 the things of this world, was (especially be- 

 fore he died) rich in God's Holy Spirit, and 

 he spent the last days of his life and his last 

 remaining strength in instilling into the 

 heart and mind of that eleven-year-old child 

 the riches of God's holy kingdom. Happy 

 as a lark, she started out on her mission, the 

 ladies' aid society paying for a ticket to her 

 Aunt Polly. 



Now this wise father, recognizing how 

 difficult it is to teach children spiritual 

 things, had been teaching the motherless girl 

 a little " game," as he called it, and this 

 game was to try to find something to be 

 " glad " about, no matter what comes up. 

 To illustr?te: When the child first came, her 

 aunt, who priJed herself on her fixed rules 

 and promptness, told Pollyanna to be sure 

 to be on hand when the supper-bell rang at 

 six o'clock; but the child was away off in 

 the fields, admiring her new home. As a 

 punishment she was told she could have only 

 " bread and milk " in the kitchen with 

 " Nancy." To her aunt's gx'eat surprise, 

 and almost consternation, she replied, " Oh ! 

 thank you, Aunt Polly. I just love bread 

 and milk, and I love Nancy too; and you 

 needn't feel bad about it, one bit." In fact, 

 her little life was just full -of the beautiful 

 text commencing "Rejoice and be glad;" 

 and that was not all. She commenced at 

 once teaching every one, young and old, rich 

 and poor, the beautiful " game," as she call- 

 ed it, of being " glad " always. By accident 

 she ran across a poor discouraged minister 



