DECEMBER 15, 1914 



1003 



stop it? Have the good people at York no 

 objection and no interest in the matter? " 



" I do not know any tiling about that, Mr. 

 Root ; but a saloon is going to be opened, as 

 I told you; and if you do not put a stop to 

 it I do not know who will. In fact, I do 

 not think anybody else will bestir himself 

 unless you do, as I say." 



I tried to shirk the lesponsibility as no 

 affair of mine; but I could not get rid of it. 

 It was on my conscience. I do not know 

 but I felt something as Jonah did when he 

 was told to go to Nineveh. Sunday after- 

 noon it began to rain, and then it turned 

 to snow. The liveryman would not be likely 

 to be willing to let a rig to go out in such 

 a storm. I put on some hea\'y shoes, got 

 an umbrella, and started off on a four-mile 

 trip up the railroad track. I was acquaint- 

 ed with just one man at York, and he was 

 a pronounced skeptic and an avowed infidel, 

 and a loud one. , Notwithstanding tliis we 

 were well acquainted, and I called on him. 

 Of course, he was full of talk, and in his 

 talk he said something like this : 



" Mr. Root, you Christian people make a 

 great ado about intemperance. You have 

 temperance meetings and organizations. 

 You pass resolutions and appoint commit- 

 tees, but you do not do a thing." 



Our good pastor. Rev. A. T. Reed, once 

 said in one of his prayers, " Lord, we 

 thank thee for our enemies, because they 

 tell us the truth when our friends would not 

 dare to." Now, is there not some truth in 

 the words of my skeptical friend? I said 

 to him pleasantly, " Mr. V., this may be 

 true, but how about you infidels? You do 

 not talk, and pass resolutions, but do you 

 really do any thing? " 



" Yes, sir ; we see what needs to be done, 

 and then we go right to work and do it." 



Of course, the above was pleasantry, and 

 we both laughed ; but my walk in the snow- 

 storm had awakened me. I think I must 

 have prayed about every step on the way, 

 and I was ready for business. I rose up 

 and said : 



" Mr. v., there is going to be some real 

 work done this Sunday night, and a Chris- 

 tian and an infidel are going to do it to- 

 gether. I accept your challenge; and you 

 are going with me to visit this young man 

 who is going to start a saloon to-morrow." 



"Oh, no! no! Mr. Root. You will do 

 very much better alone. You are the man, 

 but I have no gift that way. I am sure I 

 would just hinder matters." 



" No, you wouldn't, Mr. V. ; I have looked 

 out for that; You see you are acquainted 

 with this man, and with his wife and chil- 

 dren. Now, you are going with me, and 



you are going to introduce me and tell why 

 I came, etc." 



As he still protested I told him (of course 

 good-naturedly) that he was going with me, 

 even if I had to pull him over by the coat- 

 collar, and he went. I wanted him to rap at 

 the door. But he protested and hung back, 

 so that I did the rapping. When the door 

 was opened I said, " Mr. V., you are ac- 

 quainted with these people — come up here 

 and introduce me." 



I cannot remember his words of introduc- 

 tion ; but it was laughable, if the circum- 

 stances had not been so grave. We went in 

 and sat down. I reasoned and plead. Among 

 other excuses the father said he would have 

 to educate his children, and he did not know 

 any other way to earn a livelihood. Great 

 heavens, fi'iends ! Just think of it — start- 

 ing a saloon in order to get the means to 

 educate a family of children ! I appealed 

 to the mother, but she would not talk, more 

 than to say briefly that her husband was 

 going to be very careful to sell liquor only 

 to those where it would do no harm, etc. 

 Like the father and mother I have mention- 

 ed first, they deemed my visit an intrusion, 

 dnd were evidently very anxious to get rid 

 of me. My friend V., although he spoke 

 hardly a word, also felt very much out of 

 his beat. The former transaction I have 

 mentioned had given me faith. I felt that 

 God was on my side, and, consequently, 

 "whom should I fear?" With more faith 

 than on the previous occa.sion I knelt and 

 prayed that God would direct the father 

 and mother, and I prayed for the children. 

 What do you think happened then? This 

 mother, like the one I have mentioned be- 

 fore, arose with tears streaming down her 

 cheeks. But something happened more than 

 a woman's crying. She marched across the 

 room with a queenly step, shook her fist in 

 her husband's face, and said, as nearly as I 

 can remember, " Sir, I hereby give you 

 warning that, the minute you open that 

 saloon, you and I part. I have obj-ected 

 from first to last. I have been cajoled and 

 hoodwinked into this business against my 

 better conviction. I submit no longer. For 

 the sake of these children, you and I sepa- 

 rate the minute you unpack those goods." 



I have told you, friends, about the "happy 

 surprises " that a Christian meets in life — 

 3'es, unexpected happy surprises, and the 

 above was one of them; and I did not feel 

 troubled nor worried when the man jumped 

 up and said, " Mr. Root, are you not a 

 pretty specimen of a Christian to push 

 yourself into a man's house uninvited, and 

 make trouble between him and his wife?" 



I cannot recall at this late day what 



