252 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1922 



and finally said tliat if he could not have 

 his money by a certain date he would make 

 me trouble. My property was all mort- 

 gaged, and my good old father's farm was 

 mortgaged all it would bear. Then I said, 

 somewhat in desperation, that I would let 

 tlie building stand without any roof over 

 winter, if peojjle were so afraid of me. Of 

 course I prayed over it, but as yet I had 

 received no wonderful answers to such a 

 praj^er. To make the matter worse, I had 

 been getting other boys out of jail; but they 

 liad not all turned out like poor Fred. Some 

 of them who were addicted to drink made 

 me cjuite a little trouble and worry, and 

 even Mrs. Eoot said, "Dear husband, 

 haven't you been a little reckless in getting 

 those boys out of jail who worry you so 

 much and wear you out?" 



I replied as before, "Sue, we will just 

 kneel down and ask the dear Savior if I 

 liave been wise or otherwise;" and I asked 

 Him to indicate it by opening the way for 

 the money to pay the man for the brick, and 

 which I had told him would be ready by 

 next Thursday. 



Then I went to sleep feeling sure I was 

 right. The next day a stranger came, very 

 anxious to see what I had done to encour- 

 age bee culture. He was particularly anx- 

 ious to see a colony of bees taken from a 

 l)ox hive and transferred to a frame hive. 

 Altlio it was the wrong time of year, and I 

 was exceedingly busy, I had a colony trans- 

 ferred. The new factory was half a mile 

 away from my store in town. On the way 

 back he surprised me by asking me if I 

 was having any financial trouble. I stopped 

 suddenly, and then he apologized by saying, 

 "There, Mr. Eoot, I fear I have taken too 

 much liberty; but I wanted to say that if 

 you were in need of money just now I could, 

 ])erhaps, repay you for all the pains you 

 liave taken to show me around when you 

 are so busy.' ' 



I replied, ' ' My friend, are you a profess- 

 ing Christian?" 



He rejilied that he was not. 



"Then," said I, "you certainly ought to 

 be, for God has sent you here in answer to 

 ]irayer. " 



Til en I told him all the particulars, and 

 in explanation lie said something as fol- 

 lows: 



' ' r subscribed for your little bee journal, 

 and was very much pleased with it. One 

 night I could not sleep because I got to 

 tliiiiking of you, and wondering if you had 

 tlie funds to go on with your experiments. 

 Tlien T thought that nothing else in the 

 world would please me so niucli as to make 

 you a visit. Imagine my surprise wlien I 

 mentioned it to my father next morning, 

 and he replied something as follows: 'Why, 

 George, this is indeed lucky. There is a lot 

 of tanbark down in the city of Cleveland 

 which has been offered to me at a very rea- 

 sonable price. But I dare not close tlie bar- 



gain without seeing it. Now, you know as 

 much about the tanbark we handle as I do. 

 You go right down there and look it over, 

 then go down to Medina and see Mr. Eoot' — 

 and here I am." 



Said I, "Mr. Goodhue, if you are not a 

 Christian you ought to be. ' ' 



I think his reply was just a brief state- 

 ment, "Like enough." 



I am glad to tell you that he shortly after- 

 ward not only became a follower of the Lord 

 Jesus Christ, but a Christian worker. I told 

 him when the brickmaker wanted his mon- 

 ey; and after figuring a little he said, "I 

 think I can be sure to have it here by next 

 Thursday if not before. ' ' 



Of course my good father Avas greatly 

 worried by the state of affairs. When I told 

 him of the above he first said, as everybody 

 else did, ' ' Why, that man is not going to 

 send you a lot of money without security. ' ' 



But I still insisted that there would be no 

 failure; but father replied, "Why, the mails 

 will be delayed. This is a bad time of the 

 year, and trains may be delayed. ' ' 



I replied, "Father, God holdeth the 

 winds and the waves in the hollow of his 

 hand." 



I think tliat father then caught a glimpse 

 of my faith, for he went back home smiling 

 and happy. 



Thursday morning came, but no hint of 

 the money. But 1 did not worry. I told 

 the young lady who started to open the pile 

 of mail, ' ' I am expecting a letter from 

 Quebec in this mail. When you come to it 

 let me have it." 



In a few minutes a letter came sailing 

 over to my desk with tlie remark, "Here is 

 your Quebec letter. ' ' I opened it and read, 

 "Pay to the bearer, A. I. Eoot, the sum of 

 $500 in gold, and charge to the account of 

 George O. Goodhue." 



Just a little later along came the brick- 

 maker with a severe look on his face, say- 

 ing, "How about that money?" I replied 

 smilingly that it was ready for him. His 

 countenance changed in a minute. Said he, 

 "Wliy, Mr. Eoot, have you got it?" I as- 

 sented, and went over to the bank with 

 him. You see his mind had been poisoned 

 by so many telling him he would never get 

 liis money. I think the amount was a little 

 over $400. The bankers were surprised; but 

 I think it was a glad surprise to some of 

 them. The cashier was a particular friend 

 of mine; and I said to him, "Eobert, I 

 suppose it is against your rules, but I 

 siiould like to borrow that check for a little 

 while. ' ' 



He smilingly asked what I wanted to do 

 with it. I told him I had been telling the 

 boys over in the jail the story of my lack 

 of finances, and how money was com- 

 ing, and coining without my giving any se- 

 curity, from a man away off in Quebec. Of 

 course this was soon noised abroad all over 

 the town; and those wlio liad refused me 



