MAY 15. 1916 



417 



A. I. Root 



OUR HOMES 



Editor 



She hath done what she could. — Mark 14:8. 

 Their works do follow them. — Rev. 14:13. 

 This woman was full of good works and alms 

 deeds which she did. — Acts 9:36. 



In Our Homes for August 15, 1915, I 

 gave an obituary notice in regard to the life 

 of my brother-in-law, Mr. James G. Gray; 

 and in that article I had considerable to say 

 about his wife, my sister, Mrs. Eliza J. 

 Gray. Little did I think when dictating 

 that article that this sister, too, should so 

 soon follow her husband. But as she lived 

 to be 82 years old, we can thank God for 

 the long life, and especially for the good 

 life, she lived. I mentioned in that article 

 that my sister began teaching school when 

 she was only sixteen years old, and wearing 

 short dresses; and she taught the school 

 very successfully, walking out to it a couple 

 of miles in the country, and back again at 

 night. You may readily infer that she had 

 considerable of what the world calls "gi'it" 

 or she would not have thought of undertak- 

 ing such a responsibility at such an early 

 age. It was characteristic of her, not only 

 in childhood, but all thru more than four- 

 score years of life, to push ahead, especially 

 when things in this world of ours did not 

 seem to be what she thought they ought to 

 be. Tn her lifelong disposition to do her 

 duty, whether it hit friends and i-elatives or 

 not, she sometimes made a mistake (like the 

 rest of us), and therefore had some enemies 

 as well as a host of friends. 



When I was about twelve years old, a 

 younger sister and I " Avent to school " to 

 sister Eliza. I well recollect one afternoon 

 when she had reproved me once or twice 

 without doing much seeming good. I had a 

 sort of idea that, as she was my sister, she 

 would be a little lenient on that account. 

 Finally, fixing her eyes on me she said, 

 " Amos, you may take your books and go 

 home and stay there until you can come 

 back and obey the rules of the school." 



I think I attempted some objection, 

 knowing that my father and mother would 

 insist on knowing the full facts in the 

 matter. But she shook her head decidedly, 

 and I obeyed orders. As I think of it just 

 now, I feel ashamed to admit that I was 

 not always a diligent pupil; but in that 

 particular country school district there were 

 some bad boys, and, I fear, some bad girls 

 too, who needed a good wise teacher, and T 

 began to catch the general infection some- 

 what. My impression is lliat my sistei' 

 united with tlie church at quite an early 

 age; but, like many other professing Chris- 

 tians, in time she became what might be 



called more or less " worldly." But when 

 the Woman's Crusade broke out she was one 

 of the first to enlist, and she went into it 

 with vehemence. At that time I myself was 

 in the habit of taking a glass of beer occa- 

 sionally, as I have heretofore explained. 

 Mrs. Gray took me in hand so effectually 

 that I do not think I have ever tasted beer 

 since the crusade started in the spring of 

 1874. 



By the way, Mrs. Gray has all her life 

 been not only a kind sister, but has, at 

 times, especially since my mother has gone, 

 exercised a maternal influence over me. 

 NoAv, please do not smile, any of you, when 

 I give you just one illustration, as the moral 

 may have a good influence over some of the 

 newly married men and women of today. 

 When Mrs. Root and I began life together 

 we made our plans, which is the wise and 

 proper thing to do. And among other 

 things we thought it would not be best to be 

 burdened with " little prattlers " right at 

 the start. But we soon discovered, like 

 many other young couples (at least I hope 

 so) that often, altho " man proposes, God 

 (in his loving kindness) disposes." Mrs. 

 Gray came into our home one morning when 

 we two, young husband and wife, were 

 wearing long and despondent faces. When 

 she inquired what the matter was, and had 

 been told, she replied something like this: 



" Why, you poor foolish young couple ! a 

 baby in the household will be the very best 

 thing that cotdd happen. If it should be a 

 boy, that boy Avill be, in just a few months, 

 the sunshine of your home and the delight 

 of your lives, perhaps clear down to old 

 age. Instead of looking sad and sorrowful, 

 go down on your knees and thank God for 

 this new revelation of his loving kindness 

 and wisdom." 



It proved to be a boy, and we called him 

 Ernest; and he was in very truth a delight 

 and joy to us and the life of our household. 

 I have told you how I used to show him the 

 pictures in the Scientific American, and ex- 

 plain them to him, before he could talk. 

 His antics and boyish jokes kept us laugh- 

 ing until we had no time nor inclination to 

 worry about finances or anything else. In 

 fact, he used to get off jokes on both father' 

 and mother before he could talk. And, 

 come to think of it, I do not believe he has 

 got over that trick yet. Tliose of you who 

 know him have probably seen him avert 

 trouble by some droll remark that set every- 

 body laughing, and made them forget their 

 differences. 



