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His Old Father Satisfied

Improvement Era, vol. 13, no. 6, April 1910, p. 511

Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations

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THE SPRINGTIME OF LIFE. 511

fill harvest. Give heed that the biting frosts of sin, or the blighting of misdirected energies do not blast the promise of life's harvest. Neglect the warning and the bitter winds of remorse will whistle through the leafless forest of old age; then, cheerless

indeed will be the keen memories of the past. Beaver, Utah.

His Old Father Satisfied.

Twenty years ago a discouraged young doctor in one of our large cities was visited once by his old father, who came up from a rural disrict to look after his boy. "Well, son," he said, "how are you getting along?" "I'm not getting along at all, " was the disheartened answer. "I'm not doing a thing." The old man's countenance fell, but he spoke of courage and pa- tience and perseverance. Later in the day he went with his son to the "Free Dispensary," where the young doctor had an un- salaried position, and where he spent an hour or more every day. The father sat by, a silent but intensely-interested spectator, while twenty-five poor unfortunates received help. The doctor forgot his visitor while he bent his skilled energies to this task; but hardly had the door closed on the last patient, when the old man burst forth: "I thought you told me that you were not doing anything! Why, if I had helped twenty-five people in a month as you have in one morning, I would thank God that my life counted for something." "There isn't any money in it, though," explained the son some- what abashed. "Money!" the old man shouted, still scornfully. "Money! What is money in comparison with being of use to your fellow- men? Never mind about money; you go right along at this work every day. I'll go back to the farm, and gladly earn money to support you as long as I live — yes, and sleep sound every night with the thought that I have helped you to help your fellow- men." Chicago Advance.