754 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



line after their survey. You see, timber is 

 getting to be so valuable now that the neigh- 

 bors are all cutting logs and firewood pretty 

 close to the lines; and I felt as if I wanted 

 to know just which trees were mine and 

 which belonged to somebody else. The train 

 whistled, and I knew it was time for me to 

 be on hand to meet the surveyors and set 

 them at work. I started off along that beau- 

 tiful path through the woods which Mrs. 

 Root and I made. The wild flowers were so 

 abundant that the whole forty acres was 

 one great "posy-bed." It was a beautiful 

 warm morning, and the birds were doing 

 their best, and I ought to have been happy, 

 but I was not. I ached all over, and it was 

 hard work to drag one foot after another, 

 even on level ground; but when it came to 

 climbing the steep hills through the woods I 

 felt as if I could not go another step. I got 

 to thinking I was too far along in years for 

 such active work ; that my joints were get- 

 ting old and stiff, and my enthusiasm began 

 to wane. I did not care much for the beau- 

 tiful flowers nor for the woods, nor even for 

 the surveying. I had studied surveying for- 

 ty years before, and practiced it a little 

 when I was a young man. As I came to a 

 steep place where I had to reach ahead and 

 grasp the maple saplings to hold myself up, 

 almost involuntarily I repeated a line of that 

 beautiful hymn, "Lord, lift me up," and 

 then I began to pray. My prayer was 

 something like this: 



"O Lord, thou who hast been my ever 

 present comfort and helper during the years 

 that are past, help me now. If I have been 

 overtasking my strength and am really worn 

 out, help me to accept the condition of 

 things and to try to say. Thy will be done. 

 If, however, it is consistent with thy holy 

 will that I may once more have strength 

 and energy and ambition and enthusiasm, 

 then help me to use this strength in a way 

 that will be pleasing in thy sight. Thou 

 knowest, Lord, it is not altogether from 

 a selfish motive that I ask, but it is because 

 I want wisdom and understanding to teach 

 others, especially in this matter of hotu to 

 get well and hotu to keep well. Help me, O 

 Lord, to get through the duties and tasks of 

 this day that seem to me now so great a 

 burden." 



I managed to get to the top of the hill and 

 over to my neighbor Wilson's. He had prom- 

 ised to go along and help cut a path through 

 the thick brush and underwood for the sur- 

 vey. While he sat down to sharpen his ax 

 I started off in the direction the men were 

 to come. When I told them there was only 

 one man available they said it really needed 

 two men. I explained that I had been 

 about sick with a sore throat, and hardly 

 felt able to do any thing; but as everybody 

 was busy in that locality, and no one near 

 by at that, we decided we would try to get 

 along with what assistance I could give. 



I soon began to be greatly interested in 

 the new and up-to-date apparatus for meas- 

 uring land. Instead of the old iron chain we 

 formerly used, these men had a steel tape; 



and the new theodolite with its vernier 

 scales, micrometer, etc., was intensely in- 

 teresting. 



It was hard work for some time to climb 

 up and down those steep hills, get over logs, 

 through tree- tops, and crawl through the 

 underbrush; but when I began to feel a lit- 

 tle better I took courage. Pretty soon I 

 noticed something dropping on the leaves, 

 and I was wondering if it was really going 

 to rain. Then I discovered it was the sweat 

 dripping from the end of my nose, and a lit- 

 tle later the perspiration seemed oozing from 

 every pore m my body. My fur cap and 

 coat were burdensome, but I did not dare to 

 take them off; for when we reached the 

 summit of the hills there was a dehcious 

 cooling breeze. The surveyors said my 

 sweating would be the best thing for my 

 malady if I did not catch cold afterward. 



Now I want to say a word about my good 

 friend Mr. Wilson. I had known for some 

 time past that he was an expert with an ax. 

 We have men who are expert with all kinds 

 of tools; some who are expert with a gun or 

 revolver; others who are expert in different 

 sorts of games; but how many do you know 

 nowadays who are expert with an ax? 

 Friend Wilson said, when he was a boy he 

 used to feel bad because he could not keep 

 up and hold his own with the men who han- 

 dled axes. Finally one day he got hold of an 

 ax that suited him better than any he had 

 ever found before. With that ax kept keen 

 and sharp he could hold his own with the 

 men; and I noticed on this trip that, when 

 the engineers stopped to make computations, 

 he sat down on a log and took from his pock- 

 et a beautiful little oilstone incased in a 

 mahogany box. Very likely this stone was 

 corundum. I am sorry I did not ask more 

 particularly about it. With this nice little 

 stone he kept on his ax a razor- like edge; 

 and he had learned by long practice just 

 how to take every little tree that stood in 

 the way with a sloping cut that took it off 

 with one clip. One of the surveyors said: 



"Why, that man with that keen ax of his 

 is worth two ordinary men. Then another 

 thing, he has a remarkable faculty for strik- 

 ing off at a clip the very trees that are in 

 our way, without marring the others." 



The surveyors came in on the nine-o'clock 

 train, and said they must positively get back 

 on the four o'clock, going the other way; 

 and it was of the utmost importance to 

 economize time in order to get the work 

 done. Just before dinner we had finished 

 half our job. The beautiful new instruments 

 with their wonderful accuracy helped us to 

 locate the exact corner in an instant; and 

 as we stopped a little at the corner, all of a 

 sudden it occurred to me I had not an ache 

 or pain, and was feeling about as well as I - 

 ever did in my life. My prayer had been 

 answered, and I had actually forgotten to 

 give thanks. "0 thou of little faith! 

 wherefore didst thou doubt?" How many 

 times this has happened in the past! I 

 thought I would have to give up my after- 

 noon nap for once, for the work was so ur- 



