May 15, 1914 



395 



Ao L M®€)tt 



OUE HOME 



Fear not them which kill the body, but are not 

 able to kill the soul ; but rather fear him which is 

 able to destroy both soul and body in hell.- — Matt. 

 10:28. 



MORE ABOUT THE BOY WHO WAS DROWNED 

 AND AFTERWARD RESTORED TO LIFE. 



The matter for Our Homes in our issue 

 for May 1 was prepared hurriedly, so as to 

 be ill time for that issue. Later 1 found out 

 where the boy lived, and visited his home. 

 A little inquiry elicited the fact that the 

 two boys mentioned were truants from 

 school. The teacher imposed some penalty 

 — I think staying after school, or something 

 of that sort ; but, like many another thought- 

 less boy, he sought to outwit his good teach- 

 er by running away from school and going 

 in swimming. I wonder if a guilty con- 

 science did not have something to do with 

 his getting " rattled " while in the water, 

 so that he could not swim. I suggest this 

 because of some experiences of my own 

 when I was about his age. This boy's name 

 is Vaughn Tharpe, and he lives in the out- 

 skirts of Bradentown. Let me digi-ess a 

 little. 



When 1 saw that boy repeatedly going 

 doAvn into the water, and was evidently 

 nearing his death, a terrible load of respon- 

 sibility rested on my shoulders. I recalled 

 vividly a recent story in one of the dailies of 

 a boy about his age who was run over and 

 killed by an electric car. When the poor 

 mother saw his mangled and lifeless body 

 she became a raving maniac. It took several 

 strong men to hold her, and her screams of 

 mental agony were heart-rending. I thought 

 of this boy's mother. Suppose she saw me 

 standing apparently heli^less while her boy 

 was going down to death. If the readers of 

 Gleanings could have seen me run as I 

 rushed to the house to tell Mrs. Root to 

 alarm the neighbors and to get a doctor, 

 they would have scarcely believed I was 

 close to 75 years of age. Luckily I was very 

 lightly attired; for in spite of Mrs. Root's 

 protests I work in the garden with just as 

 little clothing as possible. When we get to 

 be past threescore years and ten, most of us 

 get along with our work better by disposing 

 not only of every pound but of every ounce 

 of useless apparel. I think I can run for 

 a short distance about as fast as I ever 

 could. A sacred responsibility rested on me 

 to spare no effort, physical or otherwise, to 

 restore that boy to animation ; and, by the 

 way, every man, woman, and child should 

 be taught by competent authority what to 

 do in case of drowning. I knew the water 

 must be first gotten out of the boy's lungs, 



for I had an experience of my own of that 

 kind years ago, when I, too, nearly lost my 

 life. I had sense enough to lie down on my 

 face with my head downhill; and it was a 

 feeling of relief I shall not soon forget 

 when 1 found I could breathe again. I 

 supposed the boy would revive in a like 

 manner; but he showed no signs of life 

 until Wesley turned him with his head up 

 hill and began to roll and rub him. I was 

 not present when he revived ; but Wesley 

 tells me the boy finally coughed and sneez- 

 ed, and then expelled another great lot of 

 water from his mouth and nostrils. When I 

 reached the place, just after calling the 

 (own doctor, the boy was able to sit up and 

 talk. Several days afterward, when he and 

 liis mother called at our place to thank 

 Wesley and myself, I questioned him about 

 playing truant, and he replied, " Mr. Root, 

 you may be sure I will never run away from 

 school again as long as I live." 



Let us now consider our text for a mo- 

 ment. Yon may wonder what it has to do 

 with what I have been telling you. Let us 

 look at it this way : 



In answer to my prayers — mental pray- 

 ers, perhaps, although I think I spoke out 

 loud when the boy sank for the last time — 

 God heard me; and when the water threat- 

 ened to be over Wesley's head,* so that he 

 feared he could go no further, I prayed for 

 footing for the next step, a little higher up, 

 tluit prayer was answered; and the third 

 time, when Wesley said all his efforts were 

 unavailing, I prayed again as I hastened off 

 for (he doctor. The prayers were answered, 

 and the boy is now alive and well. 



But, my friend, what does it all amount 

 to, providing this boy should grow up to 

 be a drunkard, or, what is more likely, a 

 cigarette fiend? This "Safety First Soci- 

 ety " that promises to do a mighty work in 

 saving the lives of our children is a grand 

 undertaking. Every man, woman, and child 

 should join it and work for it. The mothers 



* I tell you, friends, that was a serious and criti- 

 cal time when I took the responsibility of telling 

 Wesley, a man who could not swim, to push ahead 

 when he had to raise his chin to keep his mouth out 

 of the water. I came very near indeed having not 

 only a drowned boy on my hands and conscience, 

 but a drowned man also. Some of you may think 

 that one who cannot swim could push ahead a few 

 feet under water. Not so. In a second more the 

 water would have taken him off his feet, and then he 

 would have been as bad off as the boy. There was 

 no one near except the other boy, standing still and 

 shivering on the opposite bank. I could not get him 

 even to run for help ; and there was a tangled thicket 

 along both shores of the stream, and it was quite a 

 distance to any house. If there was ever a time 

 when one needed to pray for God's help with all the 

 faith and energy he possessed, that was the time. 



