Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1909-06-17
A Lesson of Trust.

q
the dilirium took on strange form. The
patient had rational hours, but decisions
were persistent, and they mingled
strangely with entirely normal processes
of the mind A Astrong, middle-aged bus
mess man, and head Of large concern,
the sufferer found helplesness hard TO
reckon with, and he chafed under the linn
itations OF his confinement. The business
itself did not greatly worry; he had placed
that in the hands of his secretary, and had
so ordered his affairs that he was meas
urably content TO LET them 60 till he
should be well again.
II was not so with the conditions
created by his delirium. These phantoms
of the night troubled his mind by day,
and the physician began TO fear greatly
retarded recovery, and perhaps perma-
nent affection of his mind. II was then
that he learned a lesson Of trust.
One of the sick mans delusionS was
that he was in distant places. One day
he woke in California, another at Old
Point Comfort, and still again he was in
the hills of North Carolina, where he had
once spent some weeks in the woods.
His wife and the nurse and the doctor
all reasoned him into silence in this mat
ter. They said, "This is your own room.
Do you not see the familiar furniture2
And look, this is your daughters room
across from yours, and this is your own
house." He was Silenced, but uncon-
vinced.
Each day there called TO see him his
next-door neighbor, business man, a
rival in trade, but man OF unboudted
Christian character and business probity.
To him the patient confided his suspicious.
ats good of you to come so far to see
me-" said the sick man.
"Oh, that is nothing" said his neighbor.
81 had occasion to come not far from
here to-day on business for myself, and !
called"
m'm troubled about being here" said
the sick man. 81 know they think they
are doing ii for my good, but think of the
expensel They take me all over the
country, and take all this furniture with
them; and wherever they go, they fit
things up just as they are at home, and
know my business won't stand this ex-
pense.
"They all lie TO me. They think they
must, suppose. They tell me I'm at
home, when | know better. And just
think of the bills that are running upl I've
made some estimates; know what things
cost. I've made up my mind that this
has to be an expensive experience, but,
man, | shall be bankrupt at this rate"
"Would you like TO have me look into
the matter2" asked his friend.
al wish you would. Don't tell my wife
that suspect her; it would break her
heart. But look the matter up and report
to me-"
"Tn seeto ii. I'll be back home in
day or two, and will look the whole mat
ter up and let you know"
That night the sick man slept; and
when he woke, in still another place, as
he believed, he still felt assurance thai
his friend would attend to matters. The
call of the friend that afternoon was a
comfort.
ayes, my business brought me to this
vicinity" said he. And he added that he
had made some preliminary inquiries, and
thought matters were not in any very Sc
rious way.
Day by day, when the gradually les
sened inquiry was made, he brought the
word that things seemed TO be working
well, and that there was no occasion to
worry.
One day, when convalescence had
fairly set in, and the sick man was able TO
look back and assure himself that he now
saw things in their right relations, he
thanked his friend for the hundredth time
that without arguing or deception he had
taken the burden off his mind. Then he
added, m've had a good deal Of time to
think, and have learned number OF les
sons and made some plans. have begun
TO wonder if | couldn't trust TO God in
something OF the same way = without
questioning, and without requiring details;
Just trust in His wisdom and goodness"