Or'l'k)|u:K I'j-Jd 



I- !•; A N I N S IX M K H C U \. T V H K 



The slraii^er liiuilly iciiKiikod, "Mr. Ronl. 

 tluit thiiiii' yoii iiic wliistliiii; i> rnthcr 

 pretty; ilon't you tliiiik so i*" 



1 stoi)ped and looked ai-oiind and then 

 renieiid)ered that 1 was whistling tlie very 

 thing i!iy teacher, had been trying to teach 

 me just a few hours before. I replied, 

 "^'es, ] do think it is very pretty indeed. 

 It is what my music teaclier gave me for 

 a lesson this moiiiing." To my astonisli- 

 ineiit he replied : 



"Well, Mr. Root, it gives me gieat })leas- 

 ure to hear you say so, for the reason that 

 that little exei'cise is one T composed." 



1 do not think I made any reply ; but I 

 stopped and looked him over from head to 

 foot. I did not say anything- by words, but 

 niv mental comment was something like 

 this : 



"Did you ever! And tluit nice-looking 

 chap has the 'cheek' to claim that lie com- 

 posed that melody." 



T droi>i>ed the subject for the* time and 

 jierhaps I was not very sociable on the trip 

 home. By the way, I should state that we 

 I'o md a bee-tree which was cut at the 

 pi'oper season later on. When we got back 

 to my place 1 put out my hand and was 

 about to ask the stranger once more to ex- 

 cuse me: but it seems he was not quite 

 ready to be dismissed. Tn just a few words 

 he said something like this: 



*'^Ir. Root, I really beg pardon for 

 hindering you further; but I have a special 

 reason for wanting to see that little in- 

 struction-book that you are using." 



I replied, "certainly." But I left him 

 standing at the gate while I went in and 

 picked up the book from the melodeon. 

 He turned over to the exercise and said 

 .something as follows: 



"Mr. Root, do you see that star at the 

 end of the title of the little exercise in 

 <|uestion ?" 



"To be surt, I see it. It refeis to some- 

 thing at the l)ottom of the page." 



"Will you be kind enough to read the 

 line in fine print at the bottom of the 

 page?" 



This is what I read : "Composed bv Di-. 

 C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111." 



Tiien I looked up and said, "Well, what 

 of it ?" 



"Why." jiointing his thumb toward him- 

 self. "I am Dr. Miller, and this exercise 

 was lumished for Root & Cady, jiublishers. 

 ("iiicago." 



.Fust then, as the slang .i)hrase has it, 1 

 ".sat ui> and took notice." Then be added 

 something like this: 



"}klr. Root, from the way your uuinncr 

 cliamied out in the woods vou tlio\ight 1 



was uiiliiilhrui; but I decitled to say noth- 

 ing iiiorc about it luitil I could see your 

 book." 



"Di-. Milh'r, 1 lunnbly beg your pardon. 

 1 ^//r/ think it was a little ciieeky for you 

 to claim that exercise as your own compo- 

 sition, and it just now occurs to me that 

 you can probably play the exercise for us." 

 It was dinner time, and I think Mrs. 

 Root and some guests were waiting a lit- 

 tle imjiatiently for me to dismiss the 

 stranger and come to dinner; but as our 

 instrument was close by I invited him to 

 come in and play the exercise for me; 

 and then and there connnenced my lifelong 

 acquaintance with Dr. C. C. Miller. I think 

 I asked him to give us a little more, and 

 pretty soon Mrs. Root, her guests, and 

 everybody else wei-e listening to Dr. Miller's 

 singing. Among other things he gave us 

 such wonderfully inspii-ing old hymms as 

 only Dr. Miller can give and did give. 

 Among others was the old hymn, "Lead 

 Me to the Rock, that is higher than I." 



After entertaining us as he did, Mrs. 

 Root, of course, insisted that he should stay 

 to dinner; and we spent a busy afternoon: 

 and he not only stayed to supper but late 

 into the night. A young college professor, 

 a relative of Mrs. Root, was with us; and as 

 we were short of beds Mrs. Root su.qigested 

 that we should be exceedingly glad to have 

 Dr. Miller stay with us over "night, if he 

 and the professor could agree to sleep in 

 one bed. This was done. Notwithstanding 

 the pleasant visit that we had had, I could 

 not quite get over the suspicion that the 

 stranger had planned all this in order that 

 he might sell us a piano, or something in 

 that line; and when it came time for part- 

 ing, before leaving he said, something as 

 follows : 



"Mr. Root, much as I love bee cultuie 

 and outdoor pursuits under the great blue 

 skies above, there is one other thing that \ 

 love more, than even the bees and flowei's." 



At this juncture I said to myself, "There, 

 old chap, I knew it was coming sooner or 

 later." But of course I waited until he ex- 

 plained further. Now, Dr. Miller has said 

 several times that he has no recollection of 

 what T declare followed ; but this only illus- 

 trates the meaning of the beautiful passage 

 where it says, "Lord, when saw we thee a 

 hungered or thirsty, or a stranger, oi- naked. 

 or sick, or in pri.son, and came unto thee?" 

 Dr. Miller was so much in the habit (and 

 I hope he is yet) of "fishing for men," as 

 we have it in our first text, that he has 

 quite forgotten all -about it; but this, as 

 nearly as 1 can recall, is what followed : 

 and T am sui-e I am not mistaken, foi- it is 

 one of the most ini])ortant factoi's in the 



