354 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



tian, and I am going to do it. What shall I 

 do, as the matter stands V' 



] did not ponder long before I told him it 

 seemed to me he should go at once and get 

 his wife and stand by her as he had prom- 

 ised before God when he married her. lie 

 said he would go the last of the week, if I 

 thought it best; but I told him I would ad- 

 vise hitn to go and get her the very next 

 morning. 



Our Abbeyville Sabbath-school is now go- 

 ing again nicely, for God opened the way, 

 and removed all opposition to it; and as I), 

 had never been with me, I invited him to 

 go with me in the afternoon. I went up and 

 told our pastor of the advice I had given. 

 and he said he thought it was, under the 

 circumstances, right. D. went with me to 

 church, and it seemed to me the sermon was 

 one that must have moved the heart of a 

 guilty man, if ever a sermon did. At the 

 close, I), said he woiild like to be excused 

 from going, on accoiint of a sick friend that 

 he was going to stay with. My Avife re- 

 marked, as he went out, that D. had a bad 

 look in his face. I reproved her for unchar- 

 itableness. Monday morning, before I was 

 up, a knock at the door wakened me. It 

 was D., who said he had been thinking so 

 much about his wife that he could not rest. 

 and, with many apologies asked the loan of 

 $5.00. It was the first request of the kind 

 he had ever made, and I granted it most 

 willingly, being glad to do him a service. 

 Before the train left, however, I heard a ru- 

 mor that he had been in a drunken brawl 

 the night before, and went to him about it. 

 He denied it so promptly, I again decided 

 him to be innocent, and he left. After he 

 was gone, I found that, instead of staying 

 with a sick friend, as he told me in church, 

 he had hired a livery, taken one of my own 

 reformed boys to a neighboring town, where 

 they could get liquor without stint, and D. 

 had then remained up all Sunday night. I 

 was completely put out, and, although I did 

 not lose faith in God, I lost faith in human- 

 ity, and also in my powers of converting 

 sinners from the errors of their ways. I pre- 

 sume this latter did not hurt me any. D., 

 true to his promise, although contrary to 

 everybody's predictions, came back the next 

 day as he had promised He acknowledged 

 his fault and admitted it all, but declared he 

 was as sorry as anybody could be, and asked 

 just one more chance to show he meant it, 

 and to support his young wife, that he had 

 just brought to her new home. He said he 

 would not ask me to take promises, but if I 

 would let him go to work again, he would 

 show me how much in earnest he was. 

 What should I do? He Avent to work, and, 

 as before, redeemed his sliortcomings by 

 vigorous strokes. 



About this time he was seen smoking, but, 

 after a rebuke, he confessed, and asfeed to 

 be allowed to start again. I was introduced 

 to his wife, and he took her to prayer-meet- 

 ing and introduced her to our minister as 

 his wife. He was very anxious to go to 

 housekeeping at once, to save expenses, and 

 begged me, as I never was begged before, to 

 give him just a little credit, that they might 

 get started. Although I was strongly moved 



to do so, I told him, kindly but firmly, I 

 could not trust him nor could I take his 

 word more, until he had, by weeks of steady, 

 faithful work, shown himself worthy of trust 

 and credit. About this time, conjectures 

 began to be made that he was not married 

 to the woman he Avas living with. I asked 

 liim for proper .proof, and he promised to 

 get it ; but at the same time he spoke bitter- 

 ly about " folks not minding their own busi- 

 ness." The proof did not come; and Avhen 

 I insisted that he must bring it or confess 

 he was doing an unlawful thing, he declared 

 he would send her away and go himself, as 

 soon as he had earned the money, to some 

 town where people had " sense enough to 

 , mind their own business, and let those alone 

 who were doing them no harm in any sort 

 [ of way." I explained and plead with him, 

 i as I used to do in jail ; but the D. I knew in 

 I jail, I began to be painfully aware, was not 

 i the D. 1 had with me now. He sent her 

 j away, thinking that would make it all 

 ! square; but I explained to him, at length, 

 i that Ave could not have a man among us on 

 I Avhom such suspicion rested, and that the 

 i proof must still be given, or he must con- 

 j fess. Another thing: I felt the more troub- 

 led that the Avomen of our establishment 

 ! seemed disposed to treat him with a kind- 

 j ness and courtesy that he did not deserve, 

 1 doubtless because I had, on his first coming, 

 I begged them to be kind to one Avho, coming 

 from a bad and Avicked life, Avas disposed to 

 j struggle for a better one. They doubtless 

 (at least the most of them) considered him a 

 pure man, or he Avould not be in our midst. 

 Finally he admitted he was not married, al- 

 j though they had lived together as man and 

 I Avife for more than a year and a half, and 

 • had one child ! 



' The confession had come ; and noAV, could 



; he go to work quietly? 



i " D., you know that I am disposed to over- 



I look ahnost arty offense, and to forgiA'e as I 



hope to be forgiven ; but the good of our ea- 



! tablishment, especially the girls Avho seem 



to feel a friendly interest in your Avelfare, 



I demands that I should at least ask for some 



j evidence of real sorroAv for your sin and 



crime. Why did you object to marrying the 



woman you were living Avith?" 



No ansvA'er. When I plead with him he 

 tried to turn it off Avith a laugh one moment, 

 and Avhen he saw I AA^ould not smile, again 

 turned bitterly on the Avorld, and intimated 

 it Avas a trifling thing, and did nobody any 

 harm. A few Aveeks ago, Ave knelt together 

 side by side; yes. side by side, but «o(o A\'e 

 AA'ere thousands of miles apart. 



" D., you and I once thought alike. You 

 said you AA^ould like to work under just the 

 strict regulations we have here. You thought 

 so then, but I am sure you do not now ; noir 

 it is a bondage to you. You prefer to use 

 tobacco, to go to the saloons and drink. 

 Avhen you choose, and, to go further, to liA'^e 

 Avith one woman awhile, and then take up 

 another. Am I not right? Now, in vieAV 

 of this difference of opinion, as we will call 

 it for convenience just now, had Ave not best 

 part? Let us put it like a couple of boys 

 Avho are trading jack-knives. We can't 



