"There are men who do not have even this blessing,and to make things worse,O Lord,they get mad as fire and hit their horses,and look like all possessed.The words of my text this morning apply especially to a man who has all the blessings Thou hast showered and flowered upon men who work,or whose people worked and left them so much money they don't need to,and yet a sadder face I never saw,or a crosser one.He looks like he was going to hit people,and he does hit his horse an awful crack.
It's no way to hit a horse,not even if it balks,because it can't hit back,and it's a cowardly thing to do.If you rub their ears and talk to them,they come quicker,O our Heavenly Father,and if you hit them just because you are mad,it's a bigger sin yet.
"No man is nearly so blessed as he might be who goes around looking killed with grief when he should cheer up,no matter what ails him;and who shuts up his door and says his wife is sick when she isn't,and who scowls at every one,when he can be real pleasant if he likes,as some in Divine Presence can testify.So we are going to beseech Thee,O Lord,to lay Thy mighty hand upon the man who got mad this beautiful morning and make him feel Thy might,until he will know for himself and not another,that You are not a myth.Teach him to have a pleasant countenance,an open door,and to hold his temper.Help him to come over to our house and be friendly with all his neighbours,and get all the blessings You have provided for every one;but please don't make him have any more trouble than he has now,for if You do,You'll surely kill him.Have patience with him,and have mercy on him,O Lord!Let us pray."That time I prayed myself.I looked into the sky just as straight and as far as I could see,and if I had any influence at all,I used it then.Right out loud,I just begged the Lord to get after Mr.Pryor and make him behave like other people,and let the Princess come to our house,and for him to come too;because I liked him heaps when he was lion hunting,and I wanted to go with him again the worst way.I had seen him sail right over the fences on his big black horse,and when he did it in England,wearing a red coat,and the dogs flew over thick around him,it must have looked grand,but it was mighty hard on the fox.I do hope it got away.Anyway,I prayed as hard as I could,and every time I said the strongest thing I knew,I punched Bobby to crow,and he never came out stronger.Then I was Sister Dover and started:"Oh come let us gather at the fountain,the fountain that never goes dry."Just as I was going to pronounce the benediction like father,I heard something,so I looked around,and there went he and Dr.
Fenner.They were going toward the house,and yet,they hadn't passed me.I was not scared,because I knew no one was sick.
Dr.Fenner always stopped when he passed,if he had a minute,and if he hadn't,mother sent some one to the gate with buttermilk and slices of bread and butter,and jelly an inch thick.When a meal was almost cooked she heaped some on a plate and he ate as he drove and left the plate next time he passed.Often he was so dead tired,he was asleep in his buggy,and his old gray horse always stopped at our gate.
I ended with "Amen,"because I wanted to know if they had been listening;so I climbed the fence,ran down the lane behind the bushes,and hid a minute.Sure enough they had!I suppose I had been so in earnest I hadn't heard a sound,but it's a wonder Hezekiah hadn't told me.He was always seeing something to make danger signals about.He never let me run on a snake,or a hawk get one of the chickens,or Paddy Ryan come too close.I only wanted to know if they had gone and listened,and then I intended to run straight back to Bobby and Hezekiah;but they stopped under the greening apple tree,and what they said was so interesting I waited longer than I should,because it's about the worst thing you can do to listen when older people don't know.
They were talking about me.
"I can't account for her,"said father.
"I can!"said Dr.Fenner."She is the only child I ever have had in my practice who managed to reach earth as all children should.
During the impressionable stage,no one expected her,so there was no time spent in worrying,fretting,and discontent.I don't mean that these things were customary with Ruth.No woman ever accepted motherhood in a more beautiful spirit;but if she would have protested at any time,it would have been then.Instead,she lived happily,naturally,and enjoyed herself as she never had before.She was in the fields,the woods,and the garden constantly,which accounts for this child's outdoor tendencies.
