Those Transients by Annie A. Preston

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 5, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 10.

Those Transients.

By Annie A. Preston

“I DID not wait for an introduction to her,” said Mrs. Rice, speaking of a woman she had seen at church the Sunday before. “I thought that in all probability I should never meet her again, or but two or three times at most, and I don’t think it worth while to make myself agreeable to transients.” “I once spent a night at the Tip Top House, Mount Washington,” replied Miss Barber. “There was a house full of guests, all transients of course, who stayed over to see the sun rise. It is not a pleasant place to stay; the wind howls and shrieks, it is cold, and altogether dreary. I have seldom felt more forlorn than when the night closed in around us there, yet I look back upon that evening as one of the most delightful I have ever passed. Every one seemed to aim to give of his best. There were games, stories, bits of adventures, incidents of travel, and songs, and we parted for the night by joining in singing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” As my aunt and I were preparing for bed she said: ‘This reminds me of the world. We are all transients, and if we have a mind to make it so, this world is a cold, cheerless, unfriendly place. Now if we would all contribute our mite toward helping everything to go on pleasantly, and making life delightful, what a different time of it altogether we should all have.’”

“It was a lesson to me. I was young and somewhat disposed to be dissatisfied with things in general. That taught me that I had my individual part in life toward making things pleasant. Since then I have never refused an introduction to a stranger, nor given any one who spoke to me a rebuff, nor under any circumstances crawled into my shell like a turtle. A gushing rivulet gives more pleasure all the way than a frozen pool; a ray of sunshine is more inspiring than a fog bank. With the abiding presence of the Spirit to help me, I will give of my best wherever I am placed, and believe me, dear Mrs. Rice, it pays.”—Annie A. Preston, in Christian at Work.