“Not many of us are able to carry this word to foreign lands or to the distant parts of our own land; but we have an important part in it in contributing our money, our encouragement and our prayers.

“And not only may we do this but we may begin right here in our midst to make our school and church a missionary blessing to those nearby ones who need its warmth.  Remember that ’we are ambassadors, therefore, on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us.’”

“JOHNNIE APPLESEED”
    —­Boys’ Day
    —­Devotion

Story of the Man Who Braved the Dangers of the Wilderness to Bless the Early Settlers.

THE LESSON—­That the influence of a well-spent life is its best and most enduring monument.  It always adds fame to a good name.

The story of “Johnnie Appleseed” is dear to the hearts of thousands of boys and girls throughout America.  The writer has listened interestedly to narratives of the late George W. Brackenridge, of Fort Wayne, Ind., who remembered clearly the visits of “Johnnie” to his early home.  The story is abundant in good lessons, and ought to be of special interest on Boys’ Day.

The Talk.

“I am going to talk to you today about a man who paddled his canoe along the rivers in the middle west and roamed the wild forests when there were very few settlers in that country and while the hostile Indians brought terror to the hearts of many who had braved the dangers of the frontier.  This sounds like a dime novel tale, doesn’t it?  Yes, but it is a true story.  It is the story of ’Johnnie Appleseed.’  How many of you ever heard of him? [Govern yourself in the following remarks, by the acquaintance of your audience with the subject.]

“It was in the year 1801, that John Chapman then a young man of twenty-six years, aroused some interest by appearing with several sacks of appleseeds which he had procured from the cider mills in western Pennsylvania.  The first orchard he planted was on the farm of Isaac Stadden in Licking county, Ohio, and, from this beginning, his enthusiasm developed until he decided to go all through the wilderness as far as he could reach and plant apple orchards wherever they could be made to grow.

“One day a lone settler near Marietta, Ohio, saw a strange craft floating down the Ohio river.  The boatman was John Chapman, but from that time forward he was known as ‘Johnnie Appleseed’ by the settlers between the Ohio river and the Great Lakes and as far west as the territory which is now the State of Indiana.  I will draw a map to show you where he was and where he went.

[In the drawing of the “map,” which is, in reality, at the last, the branch of an apple tree, use brown crayon for the “rivers” and green for the “orchards,” carrying the drawings forward as the various points are mentioned.  Strict accuracy has not been observed in the map drawing.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 74]