SEPTEMBER 1, 1914 



697 



calUd " Sol llolioinb." lie had liunled bees 

 inoM' 01 li'ss all his life, and liked no better 

 I'liii I hail lo tramp through the woods bce- 

 huiiting'. I went over to his farm and asked 

 if 1 could hire him to teach me bee-hunting. 

 Pie said he would greatly enjoy it, but he 

 was very busy just then on the farm, and 

 he would have to charge me about $1.50 a 

 day — about what he would have to pay a 

 man to take his place in doing the farm- 

 work. Our ABC book will tell you all 

 about it. After my chapter on bee-hunting 

 had gone out, one good friend wrote me, 

 after reading that chapter, that none but an 

 old bee-hunter, a veteran in the business, 

 could have written that account. While I 

 was preparing that chapter a smart-looking 

 chap who was engaged by a music concern 

 in Cincinnati came to Medina to talk about 

 bees. I had a good many visitors about that 

 time, and sometimes they interfered quite a 

 little with my plans and work. After spend- 

 ing a little time with this music man, I ex- 

 plained to Irim that I had an engagement 

 with a man to teach me how to hunt bees, 

 and begged that he would excuse me. 



" But why can't I go along? " asked the 

 stranger. 



I told him I knew of no reason why he 

 could not go along if he wished ; but as he 

 was rather short-legged, like myself, I sug- 

 gested that he might get pretty tired, and I 

 think he did; but I guess he seemed to enjoy 

 it after all. While we were straddling over 

 logs, getting through the bushes, etc., I be- 

 gan whistling. I was just then taking lessons 

 on an instrument, and I began whistling my 

 morning exercise. The stranger finally said, 

 '' Mr. Root, that is a rather pretty little 

 melody you are whistling." 



"Yes," said I, " I think it is quite pretty." 



'' Well, I am glad you like it, for I com- 

 j)osed that little exercise." 



I stopped and stared at him. I do not 

 think I had given him enough attention to 

 remember his name; but I just thought to 

 myself that that was a rather big yarn, but 

 made no reply. I don't know but I treated 

 him rather coolly after that.* When we 

 were getting out of the buggy at my home 

 he asked to see tlie music-book that con- 

 tained the exercise, so I brought it out to 

 the gate. Said he, "Mr. Root, do you see 

 that^star?" 



I nodded. 



" Now look at the line in line print at the 

 bottom of the page. It reads, ' Composed 

 by Dr. C. C. Miller.' Well, that's me! I am 



* I had got it into my head that this slick-looking 

 chap liad sometliing to sell. Yes, he had something 

 to sell, as I afterward discovered; but it was the 

 pearl of great price, and it was to be had without 

 nioney and without price. 



Dr. C. C. Miller. I wanted you to see this 

 because yon tliought 1 was lying when I sa'd 

 / composed it." 



You may be sure i made some aj)ologies. 

 Furthermore, I said, " Doctor, if you are a 

 musical composer you certainly know how 

 to play. Come in and ]»lay it for me." 



Then and there my lifelong acquaintance 

 with Dr. Miller was formed. He i^layed not 

 only the little exercise, but delighted the 

 whole household by singing " The Rock that 

 is Higher than I," and other beautiful 

 hymns. In fact, we were so much taken up 

 with our new friend that I insisted on his 

 staying over night. I suppose I should ex- 

 plain right here that all of this happened 

 before I found the microscopic photograph, 

 and I was not, at the time of his visit, a 

 professing Christian. There was no Homos 

 department in Gleanings. Now I want to 

 mention that, as nearly as I can recall, he 

 has since declared he cannot remember any 

 thing about it. My reply to this is that 

 beautiful text where the people say, " Lord, 

 when saw we thee an hungTed, or athiist, or 

 a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in jjrison, 

 and did not minister unto theef " Now, tliis 

 is what he said, and I am sure I am not 

 mistaken : " Mr. Root, I told you I came in 

 here to learn about bee culture, and that is 

 true. I have learned a lot. I shall not soon 

 forget the kindness both you and Mrs. Root 

 have shown me. But there is another reason 

 besides bee culture which I wish to tell you ; 

 and that little melody you whistled Avhen 

 out in the woods opened the way. In your 

 journal you have a happy faculty of making 

 things plain and of getting hold of people; 

 and I had longed and prayed that you might 

 use that God-given gift to spread the gospel 

 of the Lord Jesus Christ as well as to teach 

 bee culture." 



I laughingly replied that I had not said 

 any thing against spreading the gospel of 

 Christ. This was, of course, before I sent 

 Gleanings to the missionaries. Well, his 

 reply was, " He that is not for me is against 

 me." Then I bade him good-by. This talk 

 of his, with kindly Vv'ords from other pro- 

 fessing Christians, had very doubtless very 

 much to do with what came about when I 

 got a glimpse of that little text on the micro- 

 scopic i^hoto. 



* Before my new-found friend had left he said 

 something like this: " Mr. Root, I am tired of travel- 

 ing and being away from home. Although I have a 

 good salary I would relinquish it in a minute if I 

 could have any reasonable assurance that I could 

 make a bare living hy keeping bees." I gave him 

 what advice and instructions I could ; and from that 

 time to this, toward forty years, he has been engaged 

 in beekeeping. See page 661 for a brief report of 

 what he accomplished last year. Now please do not 

 think, friends, that the doctor has had such yields 

 all along, for he has had his ups and downs (espe- 

 cially the " downs " ) like the rest of us. 



