Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-03-31


lessons from an oriental story, and
points to wells OF comfort In unexpect.
Cd places. The text Is:
And God opened her eyes, and she saw well
Of water: and she went and iilcd the bottle
with water and gave the lad TO drink. Genesis
xxi, 10.
Morning breaks upon Beershcba.
There is an early stir IN the house OF
old Abraham. There has been trouble
among the domestcs Hagar, an as
sistant in the household, and her son,
brisk lad of 10 years, have become
impudent and insolent, and Sarah, the
mistress of the household, puts her foot
down very hard and says that they
will have to leave the premises. They
are packing up now Abraham, know
ing thut the journey before his servant
and her son will be very long
and across desolate places, in the
Kindness OF his heart sets about putting
up some bread and bottle with water
In it, 1t Is II very plain lunch
that Abraham provides, but warrant
you there would have been enough of
II had they not lost their way. God
DO with you'll" said old Abraham, as he
gave the lunch to llagar and good
many charges rs to how she should
conduct the journey. lshmael, the
boy, / suppose, bounded away In the
morning light. Boys always like II
change. Poor lshmaoll He has no
Idea of the disasters that are ahead of
him. llagar gives one long, lingering
look ut the familiar place where she
had spent so many happy days, each
scene associated with the pride and
JOY OF her heart, young lshmacl.
The scorching noon comes on. The
air Is sitting and moves across the
desert with insutIcrable sulfocation,
Ishmael, the boy, begins to complain
and lies down, but IIagar rouses him
up, saying nothing about her own
WEAKNESS or the swcltcring heat; for
mothers can endure anything. Trudge,
trudge, trudgc. Crossing the dead
level of the desert, how YEARLY and
slowly the miles slip! A tamarind that
seemed hours ago to stand only just u
little ahead, inviting the travellers to
come under it's shadow, now IL as fur
oil ns ever, or seemingly 30. Night
drops upon the desert, and the trav.
elcrs arc pillowless. lshmael, very
weary, suppose, instantly falls asleep.
llagar, us tho shadows OF the night be.
gin to lap over each other llagar hugs
her weary boy TO her bosom aud thinks
aro In the desert A star looks out,
and every fnlling tear II kisses with a
sparkle. A wing of wind comes over
the hot earth and lifts the locks from
the fevcrcd brow of the boy. llugar
sleeps iitfully, and in her dreams trnv-
els over the weary day, and half
awalSes hcr son by crying out in her
sleep, "Ishmael! lshmacl"
And 50 they go on day after day and
night after night, for they have lost
their way. No path In the shifting
sands; no sign In the burning sky.
The sack empty of the Hour; the water
gone from the bottle. Whit shall she
dop As she puts her fainting lshmael
under II stunted shrub of the arid plain,
sho sees the bloodshot eyc, and fecls
the hot hand, and watches the blood
bursting from the cracked tongue, and
there Is u shrek In the desert of Beer
shoba: 1--WE shall diet We shall die"
Now, no mother was ever made strong
enough TO hear her son cry in vain for
drink, Heretofore she had cheered
her boy by promising II speedy end of
tho journey, and even smiled upon
him when she felt desperately
enough. Now there is nothing to
do but place him under SHRUB
and lot him die. She had thought
that she would sit there and watch un-
til the spirit of her boy would go away
forever, and then she would breathe
out her own lifo on his silent heart;
but us the boy begins to claw his
tongue In the agony Of thirst aud strug.
gle in distortion, and begs his mother
to Stay him, she can not endure the
spectacle. She puts him under shrub
and goes of u bow-shot, and begins to
weep until NIL tho desert seems sob
bing, and her cry strikes clear through
the heavens; and AN angel of God
comes out on cloud, and looks down
upon the appalling grief and cries:
"llagar, what aileth theer" She looks
up, and She secs the angel pointing to
well Of water, where she fills tho bot.
VIC III VIM Nibu4 L nhuN
Godl
learn from this oriental scene, in
the first place, what sad thing 1t is
whom people do not know their place,
and get too proud for their businessl
Hagur was an assistant in that house.
hold, but she wanted To rule
there. She ridiculed and jeercd until
her son, lshmaol, got the same tricks.
She dashed out her happiness aud
threw Sarah into great fret, and II
she had stayed much longer in that
household she would have upset calm
Abraham's equilibrium. My friends
one-half of the trouble In the world to-
day comes from the fact that people do
not know their place, or, finding their
place, will not stay in it, Whom we
come into the world there is always a
place ready for us, A place for Abra.
ham. A place for Sarah. A place for
Hagar. A place for lshmael. A place
for you and u place for me.
Our first duty Is to find our sphere.