1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



453 



way thing's were going. He said he had 

 paid out all this money, and had not re- 

 ceived a word of thanks from anybody. No 

 one had volunteered even a part of the ex- 

 pense — that is, if Mr. Martin's friends in 

 York State should not approve of the course 

 he had taken. I hastened to apologize for 

 my neglect in the matter, and told him I 

 had been ready to stand by him ever since 

 Mr. Martin's death, but had been backward 

 in saj'ing that our company would see that 

 he did not lose by what he had done. Then 

 I attempted to excuse my j'oung friend Gil- 

 son. Said I, "Mr. de Beche, when he 

 comes to think it over I am sure his con- 

 science will trouble him so that he will 

 come back and apologize, or write you a 

 letter." 



" Mr. Root, I do not want to see him. I 

 zco?i't see him. If I see him coming on the 

 street I will lock the door. If he writes me 

 a letter I will burn it up without reading 

 it. I shall go at once and get a lawyer. I 

 will put the matter all in his hands. I will 

 be placed fairlj' before the world, even if it 

 costs S500 more, and I w'on't care either. I 

 have wasted money before in that way, just 

 because I was foolish and trusted to other 

 folks to stand by me." 



Of course, the above are not Mr. de 

 Beche's exact words, but it was something 

 in that line. I give it as nearly as I can 

 remember. I said, " Mr. de Beche, you are 

 excited now. I know you have just grounds 

 for complaint, but I beg of you to wait a 

 little. Wait till next Monday." 



" No, I can not wait an hour." 



Then he got up to go out. I put my hand 

 on his shoulder, and, laughing at him, told 

 him he must wait till I had told him a little 

 story. And by the way, good friends, I 

 think you may hear the story too, if you 

 will listen. It has a moral to it. 

 A. I. root's story. 



" Some time ago there lived in Matanzas 

 a millionaire who had invested very largely 

 in the sugar business. You may remember 

 a time when sugar was very low. It went 

 so far down that everybody thought it could 

 not possibly go lower. This millionaire 

 kept buying with the expectation that it 

 would soon go up. He invested every thing 

 he could get hold of. He borrowed money 

 of his friends, and persuaded other friends 

 to go into it. But sugar still kept drop- 

 ping. Finally it got to a point where it 

 would make him a financial wreck. In just 

 a few hours his speculations (or gambling, 

 I suppose it was, to call things by their 

 right name) would come out before the 

 world. The means which he had used to 

 get others in with him in this matter were 

 soon to be brought to light. Ignominy and 

 disgrace stared him in the face. He took 

 a revolver and blew out his brains. Satan 

 had got hold of him — had got into his heart, 

 and persuaded him that he had better die 

 than face the disgrace. But in just eighteen 

 hours after his death sugar made a big 

 bound upward; and had he been patient — 

 had he restrained himself from that wicked 



act, and said, Get thee behind me, Satan, 

 he would have been able to meet all liabili- 

 ties, to restore every copper he had taken 

 that did not justly belong to him — yes, and 

 he would have been a millionaire still, with 

 opportunities for doing a vast amount of 

 good with- his great wealth." 



I paused in my story, and looked smiling- 

 ly into the face of my friend. His counte- 

 nance had been gradually softening, and 

 there was a quizzical expression on his face 

 as he said, " Why, Mr. Root, you do not 

 suppose that I am going to commit suicide, 

 do you? " 



"No, I did not think you were going to 

 do that — God forbid; but I did fear you 

 were going to do something that you would 

 afterward much regret." 



" W^ell, Mr. Root, you know just how this 

 matter stands. You know how I have wait- 

 ed weeks and weeks, without getting a word 

 of encouragement from anybody, and you 

 see how it turned out. They are even ac- 

 cusing me of appropriating Rambler's hard 

 earnings." 



" Do you want my opinion as to what you 

 should do? It is this: ' Be not weary in 

 well doing, for in due time you shall reap 

 if you faint not.' And meanwhile you just 

 let this matter rest till next Monday morn- 

 ing. You will promise me that, will you 

 not? " 



He did not give me any promise; but the 

 way he smiled when he took off his coat and 

 sat down to his desk made me feel that I 

 had won my point. I went up to him and 

 said, "Now look here, my friend, don't 

 consult a lawyer, nor do any thing in this 

 matter, until you see me again. I will get 

 back some time next week, just as soon as I 

 can."* 



I went to my room, put on my light Cuban 

 suit, and put my wheel in order for a long 

 ride; but I shall have to tell you the out- 

 come of that ride in our next issue. 



NOTES or TRAVLL 



< BY A.r.ROOT. 



CUBAN BEE-KEKPKRS AND CUBAN APIARIES. 



I did not get any further east of Havana 

 than Cardenas; and I had a very pleasant 

 visit there wuth Mr. J. B. Hamel. Carde- 

 nas is more modern in its make-up than 

 most of the towns in Cuba. It has beauti- 

 ful broad level streets, all running at right 

 angles — no diagonals nor wedge-shaped 

 blocks. Right in the center of the town 

 there is a beautiful square with exotic 

 plants, and in the center a very fine piece 



♦After Mr. de Beche had heard my story he remark- 

 ed that he pres\nned he knew more about the affair 

 tlian I did. for lie was employed at the time to assist 

 in settling up matters after the death of the million- 

 aire. vV'hen I asked if I had got my story correct, he 

 said I had it substantially so. 



