Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1906-11-03


gle the deeper we will sink and the
more helpless we will become"
My friend, what right have you to
say that the evil habit which is work
ing such dangerous havoc in your life
now will be more easy to eradicate to-
morrow? If 1t Is difficult to chain a
little cub as he snarls In your hand
and bites and scratches and tears your
bleeding flesh to get away, will 1t be
easier to tame and cage the Bengal
tiger after he has gained his strength
and his claws have grown as sharp as
rapiers and his jaws have the vigor of
steel trap? If the Alpine climber is
30 benumbed by the cold that his eyes
become heavy with sleep, will that
cold cease to continue its deadly work
when he lies down to slumber and the
whIstling winds cover his shlvering
flesh with a soft quilt of snow! l see
now three travellers lost upon the
western prairie. A biting blizzard IS
cutting through their clothing like
knife. One Of these travellers, phys
ically weaker than his companions, be-
comes exhausted. Drowsily he falls TO
the ground and goes to sleep. His two
friends jerk him up and begin TO
pound him and to rub the cold snow
upon the frozen flesh. "Oh." he says,
"let me sleep, Let me sleep just III
tie while. and then | will go with you.
NO" they say; 'you must not sleep
If YOU do 1t will be the sleep of death.
Every minute this cold will benumb
Won more and more. You must walk.
| You must throw off this lethargy or
YOU will die" Thus these two friends
drag him round and round all night
until morning breaks and safety Is
theirs. In this benumbing way our
evil habits affect US. We say: 10
morrow we will change. Now, just one
more glass, one more carousaL' But
each Intoxicating cup. each debauch'
each yielding to sin, renders us more
and more helpless to fight sin. My
brother II you do not conquer your
them tomorrow. If you cannot put OUT
shark today you cannot quench the
great confiagration. If you do not step
ON the smoldering fuse you cannon
epuff ont a gunpowder magazine after
the explosive has reached it. NOW IL
the time for you to get your emancipa'
tiop from that destroying, deDasing
evil habit-now, now, now! On, tne
importance Of that infinite word now
But this gospel motto gives scatn
! ing rebuke TO the visionary seeker aftei
bonniness as we'll as TO those VINO
drowsily mutter to their sins ana eVi
habits. "Oh, let me rest upon my Dec
Of sin a little while longer, and then
shall bestIr myself and do what ough'
70 do" 1t bitterly denounces those
fault finders who always repine at th'
present and have their eyes focusee
nnon the dubious blessings of the III
ture Yet some people never see
beautiful sailboat unless 1t Is shining
on the edge of a distant horizon, nor
happy home unless it belongs 10
neighbor. nor smell sweet perfume un
loss II ia waited to them from tn
visionary gardens which shall pIoon
five or ten years hence.
The Journey Of life might be compar
ed to a summer camping trip. 1ner'
: ia an old proverb which says, "fo'
never know people Alright unless yo'
eat with them at the morning Dreak
fast table" But l tell you that tn
breakfast table may prove deceptive Il
reference to your acquaintance's tru
characteristics, but a camping trip
never. There the true nature or ma
or q woman can be read by all as a
open book. Now, on an average camp
ing trip some people are like bees
thev can find honey wherever the
may fly. They are like song plruS-
they can sing, no matter where 70
place them. They are like sunbeams-
they will sparkle and dance, no ma
fer whether they are up In the moui
I tains or down in the valleys. Ever!
= thing they eat is the most appetiAn
Of all foods. Every person they NEE
d is q kind person. No travellers pas
: them upon the road but they stop
chat and joke with them. Their pee
OF pine needles are the softest. III
' wafer that leaps out Of the brooks
) the purest. The sunsets and the SUI
S rises are the most glorious. They laug
d and play and make merry every day
S their lives. And during all OF the
|, next winters work they never tire
l. telling the pleasant incidents of Il
{ past summers trip.
S The Chronic Grumbler.
e But. though all the members OF yo'
s camping party pass over the san
K roads and meet the same dlmcui',e
there is nearly always one memp'
It who does nothing but grumble. LII
an owl who never sees well unless Il
y darkness envelops him, this fault m
l. er sees nothing but midnight. He Is
r vays dronlng a dirge. He grumbles
II the heat and grumbles at the cold. L
le grumbles about the ants that get ID
ls his food box. and grumbles about q
flies. and grumbes about the people
meets. and grumbles about the lol
D tourney. aud grumbles about ever
81 thing. Il be Is up in the mountain
l then ho wants to be down In the VI
ls leys. If be is down by the seashol
er then he cannot sleep because the wav
is keep up such an everlasting moanir
90 If you go to him and say, Now, :
n and-so, do you ever expect to be hap
lie in lfeY he will answer: "Oh, yes.
5n expect to be happy when 1 get rid
l. i my present troubles. But you sure
would not expect me to be happy am
ss all my present annoyances." No
ne mark you, my friend, these people oi
Il. camping party breathe exactly t