Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1898-03-26
WEARY WAYFARERS.
WELLS OF COMFORT IN UNEXPECTED
PLACES.

DR.. Talmara Draws Some Stirring Lesson
From the Story of Hagnr and Ishmat
In tho Desert-Findlng and Keeping Gu
Proper Stations In Life.
copyright. 1898. by American Press Asso
citation.
WASHINGTON, March 20.-This dis
course of DR.. Talmage draws from al
oriental scene some stirring lessons ant
points to wells of comfort in unexpected
places; text, Genesis xxi. 10, "And Coz
opened her eyes, and she saw we'll o
water, and she went and filled the bot
tic with water and gave the lad drink. ;
Morning breaks upon Beersheba
There is an early stir in the house O.
old Abraham. There has been troubl,
among the domestics. Hagar, an assist
ant in the household, and her son, {
brisk lad Of 10 years, have become i'm
pudent and insolent, and Sarah, tht
mistress Of the household, puts her foo
down very hard and says that they will
have to leave the promises. They arc
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 q
very plain lunch that Abraham pro-
vides, but warrant you there would
have been enough of it had they not lost
their way. "God be with you," said
old Abraham Us he gave the lunch to
Hagar and good many charges as to
how she should conduct the journey.
1shmael, the boy, l suppose, bounded
away in the morning light. Boys al
ways like a change. Poor Ishmaeli 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, eaoh scene associated with the
pride and joy of her heart, young Ish
mael.
The scorching noon comes on. The air
is sitting and moves across the desert
with insuferable suffooation. Ishmael,
the boy, begins to complain and lies
down, but Hngar rouses him up, saying
nothing about her own WEAKNESS or the
sweltering heat. for mothers can endure
anything. Trudge. trudge, trudgo.
Crossing the dead level of the desert,
how YEARLY and slowly the miles slipl
A tamarind that seemed hours ago to
stand only just little ahead. inviting
the travellers to come under its shadow,
now is as far off as ever, or seemingly
SO. Night drops upon the desert, and
the travellers are pillowless. Ishmael,
very weary, 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 sparkle, A wing of wind
lucAs -rrviiI u,io
Hagar sleeps titfully and in her dreams
travels over the weary day and half
awakes her son by crying out in her
sleep: "Ishmaell IsmaelP'
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 in the burning sky. The
sack empty of the -four, the water gone
from the bottle. What shall she do? AS
she puts her fainting Ishmael under
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: 1--WE
shall diel We shall diel" 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 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 a
shrub and let him die. She had thought
that she would sit there and watch IN
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 Stay him
she cannot endure the spectacle. She
puts him under shrub and goes OF q
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 cloud
and looks down upon the appalling
grief and cries, "Hagar, what aileth
thee?' She looks up and she sees the
angel pointing to a we'll of water, where
! she fills the bottle for the lad. Thank
God! Thank Godl
7 learn from this oriental scene, IL
the first place, what a sad thing it il
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. Sht
ridiculed and jeered until her son lsh
mael got the same tricks. She dashed
out her own happiness and threw Saral
into great fret, and if she had stale
much longer in that household sh'
would have upset calm Abraham
equilibrium. My friends, one-half 0
the trouble in the world today come
from the fact that people do not know
their place, or, finding their place. vii
not stay in it. When we come into tn
world, there is always place ready TO
us. A place for Abraham. A place TO
Sarah. A place for Hagar. A place 10
Ishmael. A place for you and plao
for me.
Find Your Sphere.
Our first duty is to find our sphere
our second is to keep it. We may i
born in sphere far off from the on
for which God finally intends us. Sly
tus V was born on the low ground an
was a swineherd; God called him up
wave scepter. Ferguson spent ri
~ Jo-, -, looking after sheen. 30