The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1898-03-25
WEARY WAYFARERS.
WELLS OF COMFORT IN UNEXPECTED
PLACES.

From the Story of Hagar and Ishmael
In the Desert-Finding and Keeping Our
Proper Stations In Life.
copyright, 1898, by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, March 20.-This dis
course of DR.. Talmage draws from an
oriental scene some stirring lessons and
points to wells of comfort in unexpected
places; text, Genesis xxi, 10, "And God
opened her eyes, and she saw a we'll of
water, and she went and filled the bot
tie with water and gave the lad drink. +"
Morning breaks upon Beersheba
There is an early stir in the house of
old Abraham. There has been trouble
among the domestics. Hagar, an assist
ant in the household, and her son, a
brisk lad of 16 years, have become i'm
pudent 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, knowing
that 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 a
very plain lunch that Abraham pro-
vides, but I warrant you there would
have been enough of it had they not lost
their way. "God be with you," said
old Abraham as he gave the lunch to
Hagar and good many charges as to
how she should conduct the journey.
Ishmael, the boy, l suppose, bounded
away in the morning light. Boys al
ways like a change. Poor Ishmael He
has no idea of the disasters that are
ahead of him. Hagar gives one long,
lingering look on the familiar place
where she had spent SO many happy
days, each scene associated with the
pride and joy of her heart, young Ish-
mael.
The scOrchlng noon comes on. The air
is sitting and moves across the desert
with insufferable sutfocation. Ishmael,
the boy, begins to complain and lies
down, but Hagar rouses him up, saying
nothing about her own WEAKNESS or the
sweltering heat, for mothers can endure
anything. Trudge, trudge, trudge.
Crossing the dead level of the desert,
how YEARLY and slowly the miles slip!
A tamarind that seemed hours ago to
stand only just little ahead, inviting
the travellers to come under it's shadow,
now is as far off as ever, or seemingly
SO. Night drops upon the desert, and
the travellers are pillowless. Ishmael,
very weary, l suppose, instantly falls
asleep. Hagar as the shadows of tho
night begin to lap over each other
Hagar hugs her. weary boy to her bosom
and thinks of the fact that it is her
fault that they are in the desert. A star
looks out, and every falling tear it
kisses with a sparkle. A wing Awind
comes over the hot earth and lieys the
locks from the fevered brow of the boy.
Hagar sleeps fitfully and in her dreams
travels over the weary day and half
awakes her son by crying out in her
sleep: "Ishmaell Ismael -
Lost In the Desert.
And SO they go ON day after day and
night after night, for they have lost
their way. No path in the shifting
sands, NO sign i'll the burning sky. The
sack empty of the flour, the water gone
from the bottle. What shall she do? AS
she puts her fainting Ishmael under a
stunted shrub Of the arid plain she sees
the bloodshot eye and feels the hot
hand and watches the blood bursting
from the cracked tongue, and there is
shrek in the desert of Beersheba: ave
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 a speedy end of the journey
and even smiled upon him when she
felt desperately enough. Now there is
nothing to do but place him under
shrub and let him die She had thought
that she would sit there and watch I'M
til the spirit of her boy would go away
forever, and then she would breathe out
her own life on his silent heart. But as
the boy begins to claw his tongue in
agony of thirst and struggle in distor-
ton and begs his mother to slay him
she cannot endure the spectacle. She
puts him under shrub and goes off
bowshot and begins to weep until all
the desert seems sobbing, and her cry
strikes clear through the heavens, and
an angel of God comes out on a cloud
and looks down upon the appalling
grief and cries, "Hagar, what aileth
thee?" She looks up and she sees the
angel pointing to we'll of water, where
she fills the bottle for the lad. Thank
Godl Thank Cod
l learn from this oriental scene, in
the first place, what a sad thing it is
when people do not know their place
and get too proud for their business.
Hagar was an assistant in that house
hold, but she wanted to rule there. She
ridiculed and jeered until her son Ish-
mael got the same tricks. She dashed
out her own happiness and threw Sarah
into a great fret, and if she had staid
much longer in that household she
would have upset calm Abraham's
equilibrium. My friends one-half of
the trouble in the world today comes
from the fact that people do not know
their place, or, finding their place, will
not stay in it. When we come into the
world, there is always place ready for
us. A place for Abraham. A place for