Fifty-Two Story Talks

TO BOYS AND GIRLS

BY

REV. HOWARD J. CHIDLEY, B. D. 

PASTOR TRINITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY

GARDEN CITY, NEW YORK

DOUBLEDAY, DORAN & COMPANY, INC. 

Copyright, 1914 by

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

TO

MY DAUGHTER

Elizabeth

FOREWORD

No department of Christian literature is of more importance for thefuture of the Church than that which seeks to enlist the children in theservice of Christ. Mr. Chidley, by his gifts and experience as a pastorand a teacher of the young, is eminently fitted to contribute towardsthis most vital phase of Christian activity. His successful career inthe Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, where I shared theprivilege of his valuable co-operation, and in the Trinity Church ofEast Orange, New Jersey, of which he is now the beloved and honoredpastor, bespeak the merits of this series of addresses to Boys andGirls. They are at once an efficient protest against the Protestantneglect of the young and a remedy for that neglect. Parents, instructors, and guardians of the juvenile members of our Churches willbe wise to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the teachings andexhortations presented here. It is a book of absorbing interest, andthe little folks and those of older years can not fail to be bothprofited and delighted by it. The revolution in Christian thoughtconcerning the relation of children to the Church and the Kingdom of Godis apparent on every page. Dr. Martineau averred that children do notrequire to be led so much as not to be misled, and in these "Fifty-twoStories" we have a model application of his weighty aphorism. Thereceptive and expansive hours of child nature are admirably considered, and what is here written has a direct bearing upon its spiritualdevelopment and welfare. 

S. PARKES CADMAN. 

 _The Parish House, __Central Congregational Church, _ _Brooklyn, N. Y. , March 2, 1914. _

CONTENTS

 PAGEINTRODUCTION xiiiA BIBLE RIDDLE 3CLOSED GATES 6HIRING A COACHMAN 9THE FIERCEST THING IN THE BIBLE 11SACRIFICE HITS 13THE LIBERTY OF OBEDIENCE 15CUTTING CORNERS 18HABITS 20A LESSON IN COURTESY 23LITTLE FOXES 25A TRICKY OX 28"SHINE INSIDE" 30THE STORM KING EAGLE 33A DOG WHICH ATE THE BIBLE 35STEAM AND SAILS 37A FISH-STORY 39OPPORTUNITY 41GOD IS NOW HERE 43DAVID LIVINGSTONE'S FAITH 45THE HAPPY MAN 47A SERMON FOR THE BOYS 49TIRE-TROUBLE 51WATCHING FOR IDLE BOYS 53CHRIST AND THE DOG 55THE BOY WHO WAS TO BE MANAGER 58A TALE ABOUT WORDS 61SUFFOCATED TREES 64ULYSSES AND THE SIRENS 66POISON-LABELS 68LIES THAT WALK 71WELLINGTON AND THE SOLDIER 73ABRAHAM'S GUEST 75ABOUT GENEROSITY 78SUN AND WIND 80THE BOY AND THE TURTLE 82THE BOY AND THE NICKEL 84THE THREE FATES 86THE INCH-WORM AND THE MOUNTAIN 88THE FRENCH DRUMMER-BOY 91A KING IN THE STUFF 93BREAD AND WINE 96THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROL 98A HINT FROM A CARIBOU 100THE REPENTANCE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 103EASTER 105THE WHISPERING GALLERY 108THE HE-SAID GIRL 111ON DECK 113THE TERROR BY NIGHT 116THE BRAMBLE BUSH KING 119WHERE IS HEAVEN? 122THE CHRISTIAN ARMY 124

INTRODUCTION

In a certain Western university the president receives a salary of tenthousand dollars a year for training young men and young women, whilenot many miles distant from that university is a stock-farm thesuperintendent of which receives a salary of twelve thousand dollars fortraining high-bred colts. That colt-trainer is at hand when the colt isfoaled, and before it rises to its feet has rubbed down its head and puta halter upon it, so that from birth it shall be accustomed to thefeeling of the halter. 

From that time the training of the colt is not suspended for a moment. If in training it to travel in harness a piece of paper should blowacross the training-course, causing the colt to shy, an assistant holdsthe paper on the opposite side of the road, so that the animal shallhave the kink taken out of its nervous system and its tendency to shyagain in the same direction be at once corrected. 

The old method was to allow a colt to run wild until two or three yearsof age, then "break it in. " The result was apt to be either a "cowed"animal or a nervous horse. 

Would that we were manifesting as much wisdom in the religious trainingof our children as that horse-trainer. But unfortunately we are pursuinglargely the old method, allowing our children to get full of all sortsof mental kinks up through those first plastic three or four years, andthen handing them over to the church kindergarten-teacher for one hour aweek, expecting her to straighten out all these aberrations and giveback to the parents a normally religious child. 

Many parents seem to assume that the child's brain is lying dormantduring those first few years, when, as a matter of fact, the child'smind during these years is most receptive, and expanding at a rate neverafter equalled. The nervous system is receiving impressions which, though in after-years the child has no _conscious_ memory of it, are yetindelibly chiselled there for good or ill. 

It is high time that parents and religious teachers took morecognizance than they do of this fact. 

There are other parents who deliberately refuse to give their childrenany religious training during this period for fear of "undulyinfluencing" them from the religious standpoint. This point of view isstated, whether seriously or not, in the following quotation from arecent writer: "I think it is a bad thing to be what is known as'brought up, ' don't you? Why should we--poor, helpless little children, all soft and resistless--be squeezed and jammed into the iron bands ofparental points of view? Why should we have points of view at all? Whynot for those few divine years when we are still so near God, leave usjust to wonder? We are not given a chance. On our pulpy little minds ourparents carve their opinions, and the mass slowly hardens, and all thosedeep, narrow, up-and-down strokes harden with it, and the first thingthe best of us have to do on growing up is to waste precious timebeating at the things, to try to get them out. Surely the child of themost admirable and wise parents is richer with his own faulty butoriginal point of view than he would be fitted out with the choicestselections of maxims and conclusions that he did not have to think outfor himself. I could never be a schoolmistress. I should be afraid toteach the children. They know more than I do. They know how to be happy, how to live from day to day, in godlike indifference to what may comenext. And is not trying to be happy the secret we spend our lives tryingto guess? Why, then, should I, by forcing them to look through my staleeyes, show them, as through a dreadful magnifying-glass, the terrificpossibilities, the cruel explosiveness of what they had been lightlytossing across the daisies, and thinking they were only toys?"

All of which sounds very pretty, but when simmered down, the wisdom, ifwisdom it be, of a statement like that can be compressed into the oldadage, "Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise. " But the pointis that the world has pretty generally come to the conclusion thatbliss is not necessarily the most healthful thing, either for adults orchildren. "Soft and resistless!" Precisely, there is the crux. If these"soft and resistless" minds do not receive good impressions they willreceive bad ones, and it is the part of wisdom to get the good in first. Where a mind is "to let, " some sort of tenant is sure to occupy. 

Coleridge put the case in a nutshell when an English deist inveighedbitterly against the rigid instruction of Christian homes. The deistsaid: "Consider the helplessness of a little child. Before it has wisdomor judgment to decide for itself, it is prejudiced in favour ofChristianity. How selfish is the parent who stamps his religious ideasinto a child's receptive nature, as a moulder stamps the hot iron withhis model! I shall prejudice my children neither for Christianity norfor Buddhism, nor for Atheism, but allow them to wait for their matureyears. Then they can open the question and decide for themselves. " LaterColeridge led his friend into the garden, and then whimsicallyexclaimed: "How selfish is the gardener to ruthlessly stamp hisprejudice in favour of roses, violets and strawberries into a receptivegarden-bed. The time was when in April I pulled up the young weeds, --theparsley, the thistles, --and planted the garden-beds out with vegetablesand flowers. Now I have decided to permit the garden to go untilSeptember. Then the black clods can choose for themselves betweencockleburrs, currants and strawberries. " The deist saw the point. 

Another weakness in our system of religious training for children ismanifest at the adolescence-period of the child. We have been in thehabit of allowing the child to consider the Bible-school as his church. We send him to the Bible-school in his very early years, but make nodemands upon him as far as specific church-attendance is concerned. Andat the kindergarten-period we are probably wise in this; for after thechild has attended kindergarten for an hour, it is too great a tax uponhim to require him to sit through an hour's church-service. But afterthe kindergarten-period it seems to me the plain duty of parents toencourage the child to attend church, though not necessarily for theentire service; for if the child does not establish a church-going_habit_ during these plastic years, the probability is that he willnever form it. This partially explains why there is such a leakagebetween the Bible-school and the church. When the child gets "too oldfor Bible-school, " not having formed the church-going habit, he isstranded

 "Between two worlds, One dead, the other powerless to be born. "

And the result is he drifts away from the Church. 

In the endeavour to remedy this situation in his own Church it has beenthe custom of the writer to have all children from seven to twelve yearsof age in the Bible-school, which meets on Sunday morning before church, attend the morning worship for the first fifteen minutes. During thistime they hear the Call to Worship, the Invocation, the Lord's Prayer, the Children's Sermon, and the Anthem by the choir. At the close of theanthem the children file out with their teachers as the adultcongregation rises for the Responsive Lesson. In this way the childrenare establishing a church-going habit, with the result that they earlybegin to feel that something is wrong on Sunday if they have not been tochurch. 

A word as to the content of the sermons preached. I believe that achild's religion ought to be largely of the motor type. That is, itshould be concerned with getting religion into the child's hands andfeet. In other words, it should seek to establish in him a habit ofright-doing. For this reason his religion should be of the mostpractical sort, leaving the theory to come later. He should havesufficient theological pegs to hang his morality on, but he should betroubled little with dogma. For this reason his religion will probablyhave largely to do with the here and now. He cannot be much interestedin an other-worldly religion. The normal child at this period will notsing with any great enthusiasm "I want to be an angel. " For this worldis to him just then a very interesting and fascinating place. He is forthat reason ready also to admire men of action, and is wide open forthe influences of hero-worship. And while he cannot be argued into beinga Christian, for he is not sufficiently awake to logic; and while hecannot be coerced, for he possesses the dynamic of a locomotive combinedwith the resistance of a mule, he can be magnetized into being aChristian if there is set as his teacher and example a virile, magneticman. The boy will open his soul to him as he does his windows to welcomethe breath of May. Such considerations as these have determined thecontent of these sermons. 

The author makes no claim to originality for much of the materialpresented, but he has given a new setting to old truths, a setting whichexperience has proved to be interesting to the children of his owncongregation. 

It may seem that the wording of some of these sermons is beyond thegrasp of the children for whom it was intended. Two things are to benoted in this connection. First, a child resents being talked down to. He soon detects a condescending smile and mock affability in a speaker. And when he detects these he closes the door of his heart against themessage. Second, it is better to give the child something to grow to, provided it is not too far beyond his grasp. But here again experienceis the best criterion. The children who have heard these sermons haveenjoyed them, and have carried their substance and lessons home withthem to repeat to older ears. 

They are offered to the public, therefore, in the hope that they maysuggest a method, add a little to the scant supply of material forchildren's sermons, and serve to interest other children as well. 

H. J. C. 

_Orange, New Jersey. _

A BIBLE-RIDDLE

Boys and girls are all fond of riddles, and I am sure you will besurprised to know that there is one of the best riddles of all in theBible, one that is very hard to guess, and yet one that has a finelesson in it when I tell you the answer. 

This riddle was told by Samson on his wedding-day, and nobody would everhave guessed it if his wife had not let the secret out. 

But first I must tell where Samson got his riddle. Well, one day withhis father and mother he was walking down the road to the land where thePhilistines lived. And according to the story, a young lion rushed outat him from behind some bushes, and Samson, being a very strong man, broke its jaws and killed it, and left its carcass behind some bushes bythe roadside. 

Some time afterward he was going down that road again, and he turnedaside to see what had become of the carcass. And what do you think hefound there? This: a swarm of wild bees had made their nest in thatcarcass. Now, Samson was fond of honey, and he took the comb of honeywith him and ate it as he walked along the road. And as he walked hemade up this riddle: "Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of thestrong came forth sweetness. " That means that out of this lion whichwould have eaten him up he got something to eat, and out of this strongbeast he got something sweet. 

I suppose you will wonder what sort of lesson for boys and girls anyonecan draw from that. You say you will never meet a lion on the roadside. 

I am not so sure of that. I think boys and girls meet things every daythat are very much like lions. Of course, in these days we call themtemptations. But, then, they jump out at you very suddenly andunexpectedly sometimes. And they would devour your souls just as thislion would have eaten up Samson had he not killed it. And when you killa temptation by not giving way to it you can make a riddle just likeSamson, and you can say, too, "Out of the eater came forth meat, and outof the strong came forth sweetness. " For just like Samson, every timeyou come to the place where you have overcome a temptation, --it may beto say unkind things, or to be quick-tempered, or to be hateful, --youwill find that you will be stronger to overcome it next time. And theremembrance of how you were able to overcome your feelings will besweet, just as that honey was to Samson. God says that if we trust Him, "the young lion shall ye trample under foot. "

CLOSED GATES

If any of you boys and girls, while riding through a great city on anexpress train, ever chance to put your head out of the car-window andlook forward along the tracks, you will see several blocks ahead of thetrain people in carriages, on foot, and in street-cars crossing therailway-tracks in great numbers, and it seems as if the train would haveto stop, or else it would run over somebody. But the train neverslackens speed. The engineer keeps on blowing the whistle, and the trainthunders along at the usual rate. 

Then you will notice when you get near those crossings that all thegates are down and the railway-tracks are perfectly clear. 

That is the way with many of the difficulties we face in life. We setout to do the thing our conscience tells us to do, and it seems as ifthe road were full of obstructions. But you just go straight ahead, determined to do your duty, and lo, the hindrances disappear. When anearnest man goes right ahead, the crowd usually opens up to let himthrough. 

As you get older and face the world you will find it looks like a great, fierce giant. But really its fierce look is caused by a false-face thatit wears to frighten faint-hearted people. You go boldly up and takehold of his beard, as David faced the giant, and you will be surprisedto find that not only the beard but the whole mask comes off in yourhands, and there is a kindly countenance behind. For the world wouldrather see you succeed than fail. 

I heard of a young man the other day who went into an office in Chicagoto sell a bill of goods. The man behind the desk was very brusque andfierce-looking, and snapped out, "Well, what do you want here?"

The young man promptly replied, "I want first to be treated as agentleman, and then I may talk business to you. "

The other man dropped his fierce manner at once, and the young man soldhim a large bill of goods. The man behind the desk told him when he wasleaving that he greeted strangers fiercely to try their mettle, and ifthey ran away he concluded they weren't worth troubling with anyhow. 

And so I say to you, boys and girls, be sure in your own minds that youare doing right, then go boldly ahead, and you will find the gates downand the tracks clear. Let this be your motto:

 "Silken-handed stroke a nettle, And it stings you for your pains. Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains. "

HIRING A COACHMAN

There is a story that tells of a man who advertised for a coachman, andthree men answered the advertisement. They all made a good appearance, and the man was at a loss to know which one to choose. 

Finally he hit upon this scheme. There was a road near his house thatran along the edge of a precipice. The man asked each one of thesecoachmen in turn how close he could drive to the cliff without goingover. The first said he could drive within six inches of it; the secondsaid he could drive within two inches of it. When the third man wasasked he said, "I should keep away from it as far as possible. "

The man said, "You are the coachman I want. "

The way that last coachman felt about the precipice is the way for boysand girls to feel about temptation. Some things that are wrong are likethin ice: they tempt you to see how far you can go, and the first thingyou know you are in. A boy, especially, is tempted to be what is knownas a "daredevil;" that is, one who is not afraid of anything. But thereis nothing in it, boys. That sort of thing is not courage: it israshness, which is just another name for foolishness. 

Shakespeare once said:

 "I dare do all that may become a man, Who dares do more is none. "

The really brave boy is not the one that blusters and brags: the braveboy is usually quiet, but, as we say, "all there" when the pinch reallycomes. 

Christ was one of the bravest men the world ever knew, and yet He toldus to be afraid, actually afraid, of things that hurt our souls. 

Do not see how near the fire you can go without getting scorched; don'tsee how near sin you can go without getting caught. It is poor business. Take this as your motto when you are inclined to tamper with wrong: "Whoeats with the devil needs a long-handled spoon. " The farther you keepaway from him, the better. 

THE FIERCEST THING IN THE BIBLE

I suppose if I should ask you which is the fiercest animal mentioned inthe Bible, I should get many different answers. Some of you would saythe lion; some, the bear; some the panther; some, the wolf; and so on. But none of these is right, and I will tell you why. All of theseanimals can be tamed, more or less; but there is one fiercer thing thanall these, and it cannot be tamed, so one of the apostles says. 

It is kept behind two red doors and more than twenty white bars, and itsname is spelled as follows: T-O-N-G-U-E. Yes, that is it, the tongue. James says, "The tongue can no man tame. "

It is not only one of the fiercest things mentioned in the Bible, but itis also one of the crudest. I suppose you never thought that you couldkill a person with your tongue, did you? And yet I have known somepeople say such mean things about others that those people were killedas far as living in their town was concerned, and had to move away, forall their influence was dead. 

A pretty safe way when you are tempted to say anything unkind aboutanother boy or girl, who is not present, is to ask yourself if it isfair play, since the other cannot defend himself; for I know that youall want to play fair. That is the basis of all true sport. 

And then remember also that when once you have said an unkind thing youcannot take it back, for it lives on in spite of you. 

Perhaps you recollect the interesting idea which the old Hebrews had ofthe separate existence of words as soon as they were spoken. A curseonce uttered could not be recalled because it now existed independentlyof the speaker. You remember the story of the blessing of Jacob byIsaac. Isaac could not give it to Esau, because it had passed beyond hiscontrol. 

 "Boys flying kites, haul in their white-winged birds; You can't do that way when you're flying words, Things that we think may sometimes fall back dead, But God Himself can't kill them when they're said. "

SACRIFICE HITS

I hope that all you boys play baseball, and that many of you are onbaseball teams. If you are, I suppose you know what is meant by asacrifice hit. 

It is called a "sacrifice hit" when the score is close and a playercomes to the bat, and, although he would like to make a run, nevertheless, for the sake of the man on the base, he makes a "bunt, " sothat, while the pitcher or shortstop runs up to get the ball and put himout on first base, the man on the bases may make another base. 

You see, then, that instead of making what is called a "grand-standplay" he just gives up his own glory for the sake of his team. 

Did you ever think that your parents are constantly making "sacrificehits" for you? Whenever your mother goes without a new dress in orderthat you may have a better suit of clothes; whenever your father givesup some pleasure to keep you in school, they are making a sacrifice hitfor you. 

And after all, boys and girls, that is about the only way the world hasever moved very far ahead. Socrates, an old Greek, made a sacrifice hitwhen he was put to death in prison with poison, because he wanted tomake the young men of Athens wiser. Martin Luther made a sacrifice hitwhen he went to Worms, although he feared the Pope would kill him. Buthe was determined to get liberty for the people. 

But the biggest sacrifice hit that was ever made was made by Christ whenHe was crucified on Calvary, in order that the world might know that Godwas a Father and loved His children. 

And every boy and girl who would follow in the footsteps of Christ, andwould be strong and noble, must be prepared to make sacrifice hits, --toforget themselves and do things for the sake of others. Jesus said, "Icame not to be ministered unto, but to minister. " And a minister is onewho serves, one who makes sacrifice hits. 

THE LIBERTY OF OBEDIENCE

I know it would seem strange if I told you that every boy and girl hasto be tied to something in order that he may be free. And yet that isthe exact truth. 

The majority of you no doubt know what the multiplication-table is, andI am sure you have thought it a pretty disagreeable thing. Perhaps youhave wondered why seven times eight is always fifty-six, and why yourteacher insists that it shall be that every time. You don't see why itcan't be fifty-five just once, or possibly fifty-seven. But, no, sir; itis _always_ fifty-six. 

When you get farther along in life I believe you will be glad to knowthat seven times eight is _always_ fifty-six, whether you meet it in thegrocery-store, or in the bank, or in New York, or in Philadelphia, or inChina; for it will be a comfort to know that the multiplication-tabledoes not change, like many other things, as you go from place to place. Whenever or wherever you meet it, it is always the same. Now, becauseyou were tied to that table as a boy or girl, you will be free to gowhere you like with it in after-life. 

The same is true about riding a bicycle. You know that in order to befree to ride a bicycle you must obey the rules of riding it; that is, when you are in danger of falling to the right you must turn the frontwheel to the right. If you do not, you will fall off. 

Here again, you see, you must be tied in order to be free. 

You will find that a rule all through life. That is why your parents andteachers lay down so many rules for you. It is not because they want tohedge you in and torment you, but that you may be free men and womenlater. 

Boys and girls who are never tied up, sooner or later find that as menand women they are not free. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, wouldnot be tied up to any rules as a girl. She was wilful and wild, so inlater life she caused the death of her husband and herself. 

That same rule is even true of stars. Comets are tramp stars. Theyrefuse to be tied up, and they ramble about all over the sky. So theynever have trees and flowers on them. Our earth, on the other hand, istied up to the sun and goes round it like a horse round a racetrack, andso it is bound by seasons and brings forth beautiful trees and flowers. 

Among other disadvantages of being a comet is that comets are in dangerof losing a great part of their substance every time they approach thesun. Halley's comet, which used to be such a wonderful sight, hasdwindled away to a very great extent. When it came a few years agoscarcely any one saw it. 

So it is always: to be really free and to grow you must be tied; and Ihope that none of you children will ever be fretful when your parentsand teachers make rules that you do not see the meaning of, but whichare for your good. 

CUTTING CORNERS

Have you boys and girls ever noticed how all the curbings at the cornersof the streets in the city are worn smooth by drivers of carts andwagons trying to cut the corners as closely as possible?

But the principal thing to notice about those curbs is that you willoften find on them the paint, sometimes red and sometimes black oryellow, scratched off the wheels of these carriages that are so anxiousto cut corners. And the wheels that cut corners soon get to lookingshabby from lack of paint. 

That is the way it nearly always happens with people who try to cutcorners. I know boys and girls who try it in school. 

They try to skim through by doing just as little work as possible. Theycut the corners as closely as possible with their lessons, so that theycan have time for play. They do that with the work in subtraction, andthen, when they get into multiplication or division, they have allsorts of trouble. And soon their arithmetic looks very shabby indeed. 

Other boys and girls try to cut corners with the truth. They see justhow near a lie they can come, and yet keep within the bounds of truth. Something inside tells them it is not quite fair. And again, when thathappens, they have rubbed some of the bright, beautiful paint, so tospeak, off their consciences. And before long their consciences get tobe quite shabby, and not at all new, and people begin to say that theydon't quite trust that boy or girl. 

And so I say to you, boys and girls, it does not pay to cut corners. Give yourselves plenty of room. Be open and fair and industrious. Forone who cuts close corners as a boy or girl, usually grows up into avery small sort of man or woman. 

HABITS

I wonder if I can make plain to you what a habit is. Have you ever seenmen laying concrete sidewalks here in the city, and they put boardsacross to keep people from walking on the pavements before they werethoroughly dry? I am sure you have. These men keep people off the walkwhile it is soft because, if any one steps on it, then his footprintsharden into the walk as it dries, and will always remain there. 

Now, boys' and girls' minds are just like those cement walks when theyare wet and soft; and if you do a thing over and over again as a boy orgirl, you will make such a deep mark in your brains that when you growup you cannot get the mark out, and you just keep on doing it, whetheryou want to or not. 

When once you do a thing, it is easier to do it again. Even cloth andpaper find it easier to do a thing a second time than the first. Thesleeves of your dresses and coats fall into the same wrinkles andcreases every time you put them on. That is what we call the "hang" of adress or coat. And if you fold a piece of paper once, it quickly getsthe habit of folding along the same crease again. 

And so you see that it is very important for you to get good habits asboys and girls, for first you make the habits, and then the habits makeyou. 

You have often seen a little brook running along between its banks andover its pebbly bed. Well, once there was no brook-bed there, butgradually, years ago, a little stream began to trickle through, andfinally it wore out a bed for itself. Now it cannot leave the bed if itwishes to. That is just what you do when you make a habit: you make acourse which you will follow later in life. 

First you take the train, then the train takes you. First the streammakes the bed, then the bed guides the stream. 

They tell us that after we are thirty years of age we are little morethan a bundle of habits. I suppose thirty years seems a long way offfor you boys and girls, but you will reach it if you live. And therewill be men living somewhere who will hear the name that you boys nowhave, and you are deciding now by the habits you make what sort of manhe is going to be. If you want him to be a good, honorable, strong man, be sure you form good habits now. 

A LESSON IN COURTESY

I read a story recently of how a young man got his start in life throughbeing courteous. This young man was an assistant doorkeeper in thecapitol at Washington. His work was to direct people where they wantedto go in that great building. 

One day he overheard a stranger ask one of the other doorkeepers forhelp in finding one of the senators from California. The doorkeeperanswered in a very discourteous way that it was none of his businesswhere the senators were. 

"But can't you help me?" the stranger said. "I was sent over herebecause he was seen to come this way. "

"No, I can't, " the doorkeeper answered. "I have trouble enough lookingafter the representatives. "

The stranger was about to turn away when an assistant, who had overheardthe conversation, said: "If you are from California, you have come along way, I will try to help you. " Then he asked him to take a seat, andhurried off in search of the senator. 

He soon brought him to the stranger, who then gave his card to thedoorkeeper and asked him to call at his hotel that evening. 

That stranger was Collis P. Huntington, who was a great railroadofficial in those days. 

When the doorkeeper called upon him that night, Mr. Huntington offeredhim a position at nearly twice the salary he was then receiving. Heaccepted the new position and was rapidly promoted from that time on. 

The lesson I would have you learn from this is that you never know whena good deed is going to return to you. I don't mean that you should becourteous, expecting that you are going to be paid for it each time, forthe greatest pay for kindness is just the feeling that you have helpedsomeone. As the old saying goes, "Civility costs nothing, " and on theother hand, you never gain anything by getting the ill-will of anybodyor anything, even of a dog. Be courteous: it is the mark of a gentleman, of a lady, and it is often the passport to success. 

LITTLE FOXES

In far-off Syria, a country lying northeast of Palestine, the land inwhich Jesus was born, the farmers who keep vineyards are very muchtroubled with foxes and bears, which destroy their crops at night. Andso, to protect their vineyards, they build high stone-walls about them, and put broken bottles on the top to keep these animals out, much assome people in this country who have orchards do, in order to keep outsmall boys. 

These fences keep out the bears, because they cut themselves on theglass in trying to climb over, and they also keep out some of the foxes. But after all, when the grapes are nearly ripe, the owners of thevineyards and their men are obliged to build platforms up above thetrellises, and stay there all night, in order to guard their crops. These watchers manage very well with all the other wild animalsexcepting the little foxes. They can see the big foxes and drive themoff, but the little ones they cannot see, and so these destroy thevines. I suppose that it was an experience something like that which ledone of the Bible-writers to say that the little foxes destroy the vines. 

It seems to me that this is very true with sins, too; it is the littlesins that destroy us. When a big sin like stealing, lying or cheatingcomes along we can see that easily enough, and we will not let it overthe fence into our lives. We drive it away, and are soon rid of it. Butwhen the little sins come, like little foxes, we do not see them, and sothey get in and destroy our character. 

What are some of these little foxes? I think one is pride, which makesyou so conceited, because you live in a big house or have an automobileor fine clothes, that you will not speak to or play with other boys andgirls who have not quite such fine things, although they may be just asbright and just as good as you. Pride is a little fox that kills thevine of brotherliness which Christ planted in our hearts. 

Then another little fox is sulkiness. Sulkiness makes you frown and goaway in a corner. It sucks up all the sunlight there is, and makes theworld very gray and dull, like a day in November. This fox kills thevine called "peace" which Christ planted. 

One more little fox is jealousy. This makes boys and girls dislikeothers who get higher marks than they in school, or who have morefriends, or better toys. It is one of the most destructive little foxesthere is, for it kills the best vine of all that Christ planted: thatis, love. 

Be careful, then, boys and girls, of these little foxes, for they areworse than bears and big foxes, because they look so small and harmless, and slip by when you are not paying attention, but which destroy yourcharacter as readily as the others. 

A TRICKY OX

I want to tell you to-day about a tricky ox I once read about. I supposeyou will at once think that this ox was in a circus. But he wasn't. Farfrom it! It would have been better for some other cattle if he had been. 

This ox is kept in the stockyards at Chicago. In those stockyards theykill thousands of cattle every year to give us beef to eat. When thecattle come to these stockyards they are not tame cattle like the cowswe see out in our pastures, but they are cattle that have pastured outon the great broad prairies, and they have seen very few people. And forthat reason they are very timid and hard to get close to. So it isdifficult to get them near the pens where they want them. 

Here is where the tricky ox comes in. In one of those yards they keep ablack, short-tailed ox known as "Bob, " and he just walks along in anunconcerned way toward the pens, and he looks so calm and unafraid thatthe other cattle just take confidence and follow along after him. Andthen, before they know it, they are in a trap and can never get out. Butin the meanwhile Bob has slipped away, to play the same trick on othercattle. 

There are some boys and girls just like that ox. They are always urgingother boys and girls on to do wrong things, telling them that they arecowards if they don't take the "dare" and do it, and showing how bravethey are. But when they have got you into a scrape, and the realbusiness of punishment begins, they can't be found anywhere: they haveslipped out like old Bob. 

You must be on the lookout for boys like that. Don't be afraid to becalled a coward by them. Don't let them "dare" you to do things whichyour conscience tells you are foolish or wrong. You will be a biggercoward if you do these things because you are ashamed not to take thedare. 

"SHINE INSIDE"

As I was passing along the street the other day I saw on the window of abootblack's parlour the words, "Shine Inside. "

I want to turn these words around and make a motto of them for you boysand girls. For I think that if every boy and girl would shine inside, our homes, and the world in general, would be a much happier place. 

Of course there are some boys and girls who shine only on the _outside_. A little while ago I read a story about Byron, a great poet, of whom youwill learn later in school. A man said to Sir Walter Scott that hewished he might have seen Byron when he was alive. He said he had onlyseen a photograph of him. Scott said, "Yes, the luster is there [in thephotograph], but it is not lighted up. " Now, there are some boys' andgirls' faces that have a luster, but it is not lighted up. 

Or their faces are like a mirror that shines brightly only when thereis sunlight or some other light falling upon it. The mirror only shinesoutside. The luster is not always lighted up. I know boys and girls whoshine outside only when other boys and girls play the game which theywant them to play, or when they get the clothes they want to wear or thefood they want to eat, or when they are out in pleasant company. Butwhen they don't have their own way, then their faces are very cloudy. 

But the boy or girl who shines _inside_ is one who "irons out hiswrinkles with a smile" even though things do not exactly please him, andhe thinks of other people instead of himself. 

Now, how can boys and girls shine inside so that they will always shineoutside whether they have their own way or not? Well, you remember thatthe Bible says that when Moses came down from the mountain his faceshone, because he had been talking with God. That is the secret, boysand girls. When a man or a woman or a boy or a girl talks often enoughwith God in prayer and asks to be made like Christ, then a light islighted within him which causes his face to shine. You remember Christsaid, "I am the Light. " Let Him into your heart, and you will shineinside. 

 "The man worth while is the man with a smile When everything goes dead wrong. "

THE STORM-KING EAGLE

If you have been up the Hudson River from New York to Albany by theday-boat, you will probably have noticed a high mountain on theright-hand side of the river by the name of Storm King. 

I want to tell you about an eagle that used to live there. He could beseen there almost any day soaring high above the mountain-peak. And manya hunter had tried to shoot him. But he avoided them all. And how do youthink he did it? Did he hide from them? No. Just by flying so high thatthe bullets could not reach him, or, if some chance bullet did reachhim, he was so far away that it just kissed his plumage and fell back toearth without doing him any harm. 

I wish that every boy and girl were as wise as that old eagle. That isalways the way to avoid being wounded by sins: just keep high up abovethem. I mean by that, when you are tempted to do anything that iswrong, not to stop and argue with yourself whether you will get caughtif you do it, or whether you will be happier if you do not do it, or anyof these things by which you lose time. But just get right away from it:put it out of your mind. 

I suppose you will wonder how you can do that. I will tell you. You haveoften heard about "wishing-caps, " and how the people in fairy-storiesput them on and just wish themselves wherever they want to be, and quickas a flash they are there. Well, there is a wishing-cap that every boyand girl can put on when he is tempted; it is this prayer, "O God, helpme not to do this thing which is wrong!" And if you say that prayer, andbelieve God will help you, it will take you high out of reach of thesin, just as that old eagle flew high above reach of the bullets. ForGod says that they who ask Him for help shall "mount up on wings aseagles. "

A DOG WHICH ATE THE BIBLE

I heard an amusing story sometime ago about a savage in Africa who cameto a missionary very much excited and told him that his dog had beencompletely spoiled as a watch-dog because he had chewed up and eaten asmall New Testament he had happened to get hold of. He said that the dogwould never be of any more use because the New Testament which he hadswallowed would take all the fight out of him, and he could no longerkeep wild animals away from the sheep. 

That seems a strange notion for a grown-up man to get into his head, doesn't it? And yet, boys and girls, I run across some young people evenhere in America that think if they let Christ into their hearts it willmake them sort of "wishy-washy" and "goody-goody, " and not strong andrugged people. 

It is true that to be a Christian does take some of the fight out of aperson, but it is the quarrelsome kind of fighting that has neitherbeauty nor strength in it which it takes out of one. But when you cometo read history you will find that some of our bravest soldiers wereChristians. John Havelock, a British general who fought in India for thesake of his country, was called "The Christian Warrior. " Sir OliverCromwell, who had to lead an army in England against the king, who wasill-treating the people, had a body of soldiers under him who wereChristians, and they were such good soldiers and so hard to defeat thatthey were called "Cromwell's Ironsides. " Sometimes just before battlethese soldiers used to sing hymns and then pray on the battlefields. Andbecause they were Christians it made better and braver soldiers of them. 

And so the truest kind of courage that any boy or girl can have is thekind that Christ gives. Paul tells all of us Christians to be "goodsoldiers. " The Bible takes the wrong kind of fight out of you and putsthe right kind of fight into you, the fight for noble things. 

STEAM AND SAILS

All the vessels on the oceans can be divided into two classes:steamships and sailing vessels. The sailing vessels, as you know, settheir broad white sails like wings to catch the favouring winds, andthen they go scudding across the seas like birds to their distantharbours. But when there is no wind these vessels must sometimes liebecalmed, and do not move for days or sometimes weeks. The steamships, on the other hand, do not depend upon the wind to drive them ahead. Their power comes from great engines away down in the heart of thevessel. Even if the wind blows right in the face of the ship, it onlymakes the boiler-fires burn faster and brighter, and she plunges aheadin spite of wind or tide. 

Boys and girls also can be divided into two classes, like ships. Somedepend upon other boys and girls to make them go; others have the "go"in themselves. These people with the "go" in themselves we call"go-ahead" sort of people. They are the boys and girls who becomeleaders. The others are followers. 

What the world most needs is these "go-ahead" people. There are plentyof people who go like a sailing vessel when there is something from theoutside to send them along. I heard a man say the other day that anotherman was like "a chip in a pan of milk;" that is, he went only where hewas pushed. 

If you want to have "go" in yourselves, try to think things out foryourselves. Don't do things just because somebody else does them. Don'twear things just because somebody else wears them. Don't say things justbecause somebody else says them. Paul says that people who are blownabout by every wind do not amount to much. I am sure of this, at least, that I should rather be a steamship than a sailing vessel, that onlygoes when a wind blows. 

A FISH-STORY

A recent writer tells in one of his books of an experience he had as aboy when he went on a fishing-trip with his father. 

They were wading along in brooks with their rubber-boots on. Butsometimes the water was too deep for him, and he was in danger ofgetting his feet wet by the water running in over the tops of his boots. When, however, they came to places like these, his father would take himpig-a-back and carry him along, and then the boy would fish with his rodresting on his father's shoulder, and his line dangling in front. Andthis writer says that he used to catch many fish in this way. Then headds, "How many of our best catches in life are made over someone's elseshoulder?"

I think that fathers and mothers are always allowing their children tofish over their shoulders, don't you? When they send you to school toget an education, so that in later life you may enjoy good books, youare catching fish over their shoulders. When they give you money totravel, so that you may know what a big, beautiful place the world is, you are fishing over their shoulders. When they give you beautifulhomes, so that you shall have good friends and grow up thoughtful, well-mannered men and women, you are fishing over their shoulders. 

In fact, it seems to me that we should not catch many fish at all if itwere not for our loving, painstaking, unselfish parents. 

And don't you think we ought to be obedient and thoughtful of them whenthey carry us along so uncomplainingly and rejoice in seeing us take insuch beautiful catches from life?

OPPORTUNITY

Have you ever heard of a picture that was called "Opportunity?" Itrepresents a person with a great deal of hair on her forehead, but noneon the back of her head. The meaning of the picture is this: When youcatch an opportunity as it _comes_, it is easy to hold; but once you letit get by you, it is very difficult to catch it again. It is somethinglike trying to catch a train that has just pulled out of the station. 

I used to live near a boy in Canada who did not like to go to school, and when the snow was deep and the weather was frosty he would find someexcuse by which he got his mother to let him stay at home. When he grewup he found out what he had missed by not getting an education, and hetried to make it up, but he could not. He was running after the train. He soon got discouraged and gave up, and tried to get his living in someother way than by hard work. The last I heard of him he had just beenarrested for stealing. 

I have known other boys and girls who thought of joining the Church, but they just kept putting it off and putting it off, thinking that anytime would do well enough. And then, as they got older, they felt thatthey weren't good enough, or that some of their friends might notapprove, and so they have grown up and have not yet joined, and eachyear it keeps growing harder. 

The two opportunities that you boys and girls ought to take "by theforelock, " as we say, are, first: in getting all the schooling you canwhile you have the chance. You will never have such a good opportunityagain, and if you let it slip you may never, never catch up. And second:in making as fine a start as you can in your Christian life by learningall you can about the Bible and by getting Christ's example into yourhearts. 

GOD IS NOW HERE

In a sermon which Dean Stanley, an English minister, preached tochildren in Westminster Abbey, he told the following story: "There was alittle girl living with her grandfather. She was a good child, but hewas not a very good man; and one day, when she came back from school, hehad put in writing over her bed, 'God is nowhere, ' for he did notbelieve in the good God, and he tried to make the little girl believethe same as he. 

"What did the little girl do? She had no eyes to see, no ears to hearwhat her grandfather tried to teach her. She was very small. She couldonly read words of one syllable at a time; she rose above the badmeaning which he had tried to put into her mind, because her little mindcould not do otherwise, and she read the words not 'God is nowhere, ' but'God is now here. '"

And she was right. She was wiser than her gray-haired grandfather. ForGod is now here. He is everywhere. And whenever even the smallest childspeaks to Him in the simplest prayer He hears the child's voice. God isnow here. That is a good motto for us to take with us to school, to keepus honest; to play, to keep us sweet; to our homes, to keep usunselfish. 

DAVID LIVINGSTONE'S FAITH

No doubt you have all heard of David Livingstone, the great missionaryto Africa. I wish to tell you a story of his faith in Christ. 

He was trying to cross one of the rivers of Africa one day with hislittle company of men, when the savages in that locality tried toprevent him. They gathered in large numbers with their spears andpoisoned arrows and war-clubs, and blocked his way to the river. Livingstone and his little company were no match for these hostilewarriors, and it looked as if he and his men would be killed. 

Then he thought of a scheme of waiting till nightfall and of crossingover under cover of the darkness. But later that seemed to him acowardly thing to do, and he tells us how the verse in the Bible cameback to him in which Jesus says: "All power is given unto Me in heavenand on earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations . .. And lo! I amwith you alway, even unto the end of the world. "

The great missionary said of this verse: "It is the word of a Gentlemanof the most sacred and strictest honour, and there is an end on't. Ifeel quite calm now, thank God. "

Next morning he crossed the river without any difficulty, although thebank was lined with savages armed to the teeth. 

I think that is always the way when we trust in Christ. He has promisednever to leave us nor forsake us, and we can rely upon His word. 

THE HAPPY MAN

Once upon a time there was a king who was very rich, but very unhappy. He had a beautiful marble palace, with extensive parks and grounds, finehorses and carriages, but he was not happy. 

So one day he called together his court-messengers, and sent them outinto the world, telling them to travel far and wide until they found aman who was happy beyond all others, and when they found him, to takeoff his shirt and bring it to him. For he thought that perhaps bywearing this shirt he might gain the happiness he sought. 

The messengers went forth, and after a long search finally found a manwho seemed happier than all his fellows. And as he sat singing in thesunshine the king's messengers pounced upon him to take away his shirt;but lo, when they took his coat off they found he had no shirt!

The story means this, that happiness does not depend upon what you haveor have not. It comes from within, and not from without. If you have theright spirit you will have a song, riches or not. But if you have notthe right spirit you will not be happy, no matter what you have. 

A SERMON FOR THE BOYS

A teacher said the other day that ninety boys out of every hundred whofail in grammar schools and high-schools smoke tobacco. He says alsothat boys who smoke are nearly all unruly and disobedient in school. Andhe says again, that boys who get their lessons well and stand high ingrammar-schools take lower marks in high-school if they begin to smokein high-school. This ought to be enough to make any boy stop and thinkbefore he begins to smoke, for it shows that it not only hurts a boy'smind, but his morals also. 

I think the reason most boys take up smoking is not because they likeit, but because their schoolmates do it, and they want to be one of "thecrowd. " When you boil that down it means either that a boy wants to besmart, or else he has not courage enough to stand alone; that is, he isa coward. 

You would not think much of a boy who was about to enter a race and, just before he entered it, hurt his foot on purpose, so that he couldnot run his best, would you? Well, that is just what every boy does whosmokes: it hinders him in the race of life. You ought not to smokebefore you are twenty-one years old, because your body is not strongenough to stand it. The safest way is not to smoke at all, but at leastdon't smoke until you get your growth. 

TIRE-TROUBLE

People who own automobiles have a great deal to say about"tire-trouble. " There are a great many kinds of tire-trouble. In thefirst place, a tire often gets punctured by a nail running into it. Thenthere are "blow-outs" caused by the inner tube giving way. Then thereare leaky valves, by which the air slowly leaks out. There are alsosand-blisters, caused by little particles of sand getting into the tireand making a swelling in it, which soon gives way. And finally tires mayget rim-cut, which means that the steel rim which fastens them on wearsthem through by rubbing. The result of these things is what is known asa flat tire with all the air gone out, and the automobile bumps on thehard rim. 

Boys and girls have tire-troubles, too. I have seen boys and girls getso vexed about things that they just exploded in a burst of temper likea blow-out in a tire. I have known them to run up against somethingsharp and difficult which took all the buoyancy out of them, just like anail causing a puncture in a tire. I have known them to tell a lie, although nobody else knew it, and it bothered them so inside that it waslike sand on the inside of the tire causing a sand-blister. I have knownthem to fret about things so that all their enthusiasm leaked away justas the tire that had a leaky valve. And finally I have known them to berim-cut by associating with some sharp-tongued boy or girl. The resultof all this was a flat tire, and these boys and girls just went bumpingalong without any happiness or lightness of heart. They couldn't getanywhere with their work or their play. 

The only cure that I know of for a boy or girl with a flat tire is moreof God's uplifting strength. 

God says that they who trust in Him shall run, and not be weary. 

WATCHING FOR IDLE BOYS

Probably all boys and girls whisper in school if they think the teacherwill not catch them. Some teachers set boys and girls to watch oneanother and to tell on one another when they see anyone whispering. I donot think that is a fair thing to do, for it makes tell-tales of boysand girls. And tell-tales are never attractive. 

The story I am going to relate to you is about a teacher who set thepupils in a room to watch each other, and to tell if they caught anyoneidle. One boy had a grudge against another, and he thought that nowwould be the time to get even with him. So he watched carefully, and assoon as he found the other boy idling he called the teacher's attentionto it. Of course every boy and girl waited anxiously to see what theteacher would do. And then something unexpected happened. The teachersaid to the tell-tale: "So you saw this boy idling, did you?"

"Yes, sir, " quickly answered the boy. 

"Then, " said the teacher, "what were you doing when you found himidling?" The boy blushed, and hung his head. He not only had been caughtidling himself, but playing a mean trick. That was a lesson for him: henever watched for idle boys again. And it ought to be a lesson for us, too, when instead of attending to our own work, we neglect it, and tryto get other people into trouble. 

CHRIST AND THE DOG

My children's sermon to-day has to do with a legend. A legend is a storythat has come down to us from the olden times, but which cannot beproved to be true. This legend is about Christ. 

It tells of how one day He was walking down a street in Jerusalem andsaw a company of people gathered about a dead dog in the street. Now, city dogs in the land where Christ lived are not petted as they are inour own country. They act as scavengers, and live on whatever they canpick up. They are shaggy and dirty and yellow. The people stone them andkick them, and do not call them by kind names. 

So the people who had gathered about this dog were making unkind remarksabout it, saying how ugly it was, when Christ came up, and looking atthe dog, He said, "But do you see what beautiful, even, white teeth hehas?" Then, it is said, the people knew this must be Christ, who couldfind something to praise even in a dog like that. 

But that was the way Christ always dealt with people. He always sawsomething good in them. And when people knew that Christ saw somethinggood in them, they tried to live up to what He saw, and to be good. 

You remember how Zaccheus, the little, short man who had been robbingthe people by collecting too much tax-money, climbed up into a sycamoretree to see Christ pass by. Christ told him that He was going to takedinner with him. And when Christ dined with him, Zaccheus felt thatChrist thought he was better than he was, and he became so ashamed ofwhat he had been doing that he went and gave the money back. 

And Christ's rule is a good rule for us to follow. If we wish people tobe good, we must look for the good things in them. If we _expect_ themto be good, they will _try_ to be good. There is a jailer in Chicagowho, when a man has served his term in jail, gives him a letter ofrecommendation so that he can get a job. And the men who get theseletters are ashamed to do wrong and to get into jail again, because ofthe disappointment they will cause the jailer who believes in them. 

A girl once said to her mother, who was always finding something goodinstead of bad to say of people, "Mother, I believe you would havesomething good to say of the devil. "

"Well, " said her mother, "we might all admire his perseverance. "

Try to see how many good things you can see in people. It's the bestgame of all to play. 

THE BOY WHO WAS TO BE MANAGER

A boy recently answered an advertisement of a certain firm in New Yorkwhich wanted an office-boy. He went to the office, and as he was abright, neat-looking boy, he made a good impression upon the manager. The manager liked him and told him to report for work the followingmorning. 

The boy was about to leave the office in great glee, when the managercalled him back and asked him to write his name, in order that he mightsee whether or no he was a good writer. The boy wrote his name in such amiserable scrawl that the manager could hardly read it, and he told theboy that he was very sorry, but he would be obliged to cancel hisagreement, and could not take him on. 

He then advised the boy to take lessons in penmanship, in order toimprove his writing. 

"But, " the boy said, "why do I need to be a good penman? I'm going to bea manager some day, and I'll have a stenographer to do my writing forme. "

"Yes, " said the man, "that may be true. But before you get to be amanager anywhere you will have to work up to it through a great manyyears of lower positions, and you must learn to write. " The boy couldnot see why, and went to find work elsewhere, before improving hiswriting. 

There are a great many people just like that boy. They expect to bemanagers, superintendents, presidents, but they don't see that they mustwork up to it, and every step must be faithfully and patiently taken. 

Some boys expect to be good at long division, and they do not take anypains to learn subtraction thoroughly. Or they expect to be good inEnglish, and will not study grammar. They are like the boy in thisstory. 

Some girls expect to appear like ladies, but they pay no attention towhat their mothers say about neatness, --such as keeping their hair inorder and their shoes clean. These girls are also like the boy of thestory. 

Most things worth while in life have to be worked for, and as youcannot well get upstairs at one jump, but must take the steps betweenone by one, so the good things of life come by patiently filling in eachtask with care and faithfulness. Then the big things will take care ofthemselves. 

A TALE ABOUT WORDS

Boys and girls like fairy-tales. So my sermon to-day is to be in thatform. This fairy-tale comes from France, and it is told by KatherinePyle in her book, "Fairy-Tales from Many Lands. "

A widow had two daughters. One was coarse and slovenly, with an uglydisposition, but because she resembled her mother the woman loved herand thought her beautiful. The other daughter had hair like gold and acomplexion like a pink rose, while her eyes were as blue as the sky. Shewas sweet-tempered and kind, but her mother hated her, and gave her allthe hardest work to do and the poorest food to eat. 

One day she gave her a heavy jug and sent her into the forest to bringwater for her sister. When the girl reached the spring she was tired andsad, and sat weeping on the stone. Presently a voice behind her askedfor a drink, and she turned and saw a withered old woman sitting there. So she gently raised the jug to the woman's lips, and then refilled itand started home. 

But the old woman called her back and said: "Daughter, you have helpedone who is able to repay you for your kindness. Every word you speakshall be a pearl or a rose. " The girl hastened home. Her mother met herwith scolding words, asking her why she had been so long. And when herdaughter explained to her, lo! every word she spoke was a pearl or arose. The greedy old woman snatched up the pearls and left the roses. 

Then she called her other daughter, --the ugly one, --told her what hadhappened, and said: "Hasten, daughter! Take the silver pitcher and runto the fountain. If the fairy has given these for a drink from a jug, what will she give for a drink from a silver pitcher!"

The girl sulked off to the fountain swinging the pitcher and loiteringalong the way. When she reached there no old woman was in sight, butbeside the spring was a tall, beautiful young woman who asked her for adrink. The ugly one replied, "There is the pitcher, draw the water foryourself. "

When she was about to go, the young woman said sharply: "Stop! the wordsthat fall from your lips are evil things, and they shall look like thethings they are. Every word you speak shall be a spider or a snake, until you learn to speak kindly. "

The girl trudged off home scarcely thinking about what the woman said, little knowing that it was the same fairy who had spoken to her sister. But when she began to answer her mother, spiders and snakes dropped fromher lips, and she was very much frightened. 

I wonder whether our words would be pearls or spiders if we could seethem? Let us make them pearls. 

SUFFOCATED TREES

We sometimes hear of people being suffocated by gas, but it is not oftenwe hear of trees being suffocated. 

But the other day I was walking down the street, and noticed that allthe trees on one side of the avenue for several blocks were dead. Theylooked as if they had been fine, strong, healthy trees, and I could notunderstand why they had all died, until I was told that a gas-pipebeneath their roots had leaked, and that the escaping gas had killed thetrees. 

I am sure you and I know people who are like those dead trees: they havebecome discouraged and wilted, and if you and I could dig down intotheir lives we should probably find something like that poisonous gaswhich has ruined them. 

Sin is the most poisonous thing that gets into one's life. 

If a boy or girl has done wrong and is hiding it from his father andhis mother, and his conscience is pricking him all the time, then hecannot be sunny and healthy like a growing tree. He becomes cross andeasily provoked, and is sulky and wilted. 

If you have done something wrong, which you ought to tell your parentsabout, do not go to sleep until you have told them. If you do, you willwake in the morning with dread, and you will go around all day with adull ache which will spoil all the sunshine. Moreover, if you beginkeeping secrets from your parents in this way you will have no one tocheck you in your misdeeds. Your parents may punish you, but they arethe best friends you have. And besides, there is no punishment likehiding a feeling of guilt. The next best thing after keeping from doingwrong is to own up to it in an honest way when you have done wrong. Manya boy and girl would have been saved untold trouble if they had onlybeen frank with their parents. One of the saddest days in any boy's orgirl's life is when they first keep a guilty secret from their parents. 

ULYSSES AND THE SIRENS

When you boys and girls get older and further along in school, you willprobably learn of a famous Greek whose name was Ulysses. He was noted asa heroic seaman, who travelled over dangerous seas and into unknownlands. 

In one of the seas where Ulysses sailed was an island known as the Isleof the Sirens. The sirens would attract sailors to their shores bybeautiful music. But when the sailors drew near the land they wouldirresistibly cast themselves into the sea, to their destruction. 

Now Ulysses had heard of the sirens through Circe, and he wanted to hearthe maidens sing, but he did not want to come within their power. Sothis is the way he managed it. One day he put wax in the ears of all hissailors, so that they could not hear the music, and then had himselfstrapped to the mast. Then he ordered the sailors to row near enough tothe island for him to hear the music. In this way he heard the singing, but did not get caught. 

That was a clever way of getting tempted, and yet not getting caught, was it not? But someone has said in a joke it would have been better ifUlysses had had an orchestra on board which would have made better musicthan the sirens. Then neither Ulysses nor the sailors would have beentempted to go too near the dangerous isle. 

That is a pretty good way of dealing with all kinds of temptation, --notby trying to keep temptation out, but by putting something moreattractive in its place. If you are tempted to go to the movingpictures, when you were told not to, do not simply stand around outsidethe place with nothing else to do. Go off and play something which willbe more attractive than moving pictures. If you are told that you mustnot go fishing, don't sulk around wishing that you could go. Just go atbaseball or something else, and soon you will have forgotten about theother thing. 

Always put something else in the place of the thing you are not to do, and it will help you to overcome temptation. 

POISON-LABELS

You have all seen bottles of poison, and you know when your father ormother buys poison from the druggist there is a label on the bottlemarked "POISON" in large letters, and on the label is a picture of askull and crossbones. This is done to warn people from drinking thepoison. 

Now, if a druggist were to put clear, pure water into a bottle, and puta label marked "Poison" on it, no one would drink the water if he werechoking, for fear of being poisoned. 

And there are boys and girls just like that good, pure, fresh water withthe poison-label on it. They are good at heart. They are kind andunselfish and obedient, but nobody will have anything to do with thembecause they put such terrible poison-labels upon themselves. 

I will tell you what some of these poison-labels are which frightenpeople away from boys and girls. One of them is slang. Now, of course, some girls and boys who are inwardly little ladies and gentlemen useslang, but usually slang is used by low-bred people who have not wordsenough to say what they want to. And consequently when you use slang, ifpeople do not know that you are well-bred boys and girls, they thinkthat you are coarse and vulgar, and they will have nothing to do withyou. 

Another poison-label that boys sometimes stick on is swearing. And ofcourse that is always bad-mannered. Another is smoking. Another is badcompany. I knew a boy who was really good at heart, but who persisted ingoing with bad boys, and no business man in town would take him into hisbusiness because of that terrible label. 

Girls sometimes wear such poison-labels as forwardness; that is, theyare always making themselves heard and seen. Others are proud. Otherschew gum. 

I have not time to mention all of these different labels. You can thinkof them for yourselves. What I want to say is that it is too bad forsuch good, useful, well-intentioned and wholesome boys and girls to puton labels which lead people to think less of them than they shouldthink. For by these things they spoil their chances of getting into thecompany of well-bred people. 

LIES THAT WALK

We usually think of a lie as a thing that is spoken. But there are otherkinds of lies. Some girls that I once knew went to an office in New Yorkand bought some labels with the pictures and names of hotels in Europeprinted on them. They pasted these on their suit-cases. 

Now, as you probably know, when people go to Europe some of the hotelspaste labels on your suit-cases and trunks when they take your baggageto the station. Some people come home with their baggage quite coveredover with these slips of paper, and one can easily see by these labelswhat a long distance the owners of the luggage have traveled. 

These girls who bought those labels in New York, but had never been toEurope, were trying to make people believe that they, too, had traveledin foreign countries. 

Of course you know what that sort of deception means: it is telling alie without speaking it. 

So you see these lies went with the suit-cases. And wherever thosegirls carried their bags, the lies walked along with them, and said toeveryone who looked at them, "Our owners have been to Europe. "

Of course, no self-respecting boy or girl would do such a thing. But youmust also be careful not to act falsehoods by pretending things inschool, or acting at home as if you don't know about things when you do. Don't try to fool _yourselves_, then you will not try to fool otherpeople. 

WELLINGTON AND THE SOLDIER

No boy likes to be called a coward, and some boys do things that aredangerous for fear that their friends will think they have no courage. Sometimes it is more cowardly to do a dangerous thing like that than notto do it. 

Do not think that you are a coward because you are afraid of dangerousthings. Some of the bravest men the world ever saw have been afraid, butin spite of their fear they went firmly on. 

A story is told of Lord Wellington, a great English general, who saw ayoung man in his army who was white with fear just before a battle, andyet did not run away. Lord Wellington said: "There is a brave man. Heknows the danger, and yet he faces it. " Another story is told of asoldier who was making fun of a second who was badly frightened justbefore battle. The frightened soldier said to the other one: "Yes, I amafraid. And if you were half as much afraid as I am, you would runaway. "

The lesson I want to draw is this, that it is not cowardly to be afraidof things which have danger in them. It is cowardly to run away if youought to face them. And if you ought not to face them it is cowardly togo headlong into them, just because of some other boy's foolish dare. 

I remember a playmate who used to bite the heads off the fish he caught, just because another boy dared him to. It used to make him terriblysick, but he was too much of a coward not to do it. Some boys take upsmoking and drinking and swearing for the same reason. Any boy who doesthat sort of thing is a coward. 

ABRAHAM'S GUEST

You have all heard of Abraham, who went out from his home in Ur of theChaldees to find God. And you remember how he dwelt in tents, and hadhundreds of cattle. And you know how good he was to his nephew, Lot. 

There is a story told about Abraham which you will not find in theBible. Abraham received into his tent one day an aged traveler. After hehad invited the traveler to dine with him at his sunset meal, Abrahamwent out to offer up his evening sacrifice to God. But the travelerwould not join him in prayer and thanksgiving. Abraham was angry becauseof the old man's lack of religion, and drove him from his tent. 

Later in the evening the angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham and askedhim why he had driven out the old man. Abraham replied:

"Lord, he refused to acknowledge Thee!"

The Lord replied: "What! I have borne with this old man for eightyyears, and you could not bear with him for two days!" After that, so thestory goes, Abraham helped everyone who came along, no matter what hisreligious belief might be. 

That is a good story for boys and girls to remember when they feel thatthey cannot forgive someone who has done them a wrong. What would becomeof you if God never forgave you when _you_ did wrong? It is this spiritof forgiveness that Christ means to teach us when He says in the Lord'sPrayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. " If, then, yousay that prayer and refuse to forgive anyone who has done you a wrong, you mean that you want to have God act just as unforgiving with you asyou are with your enemies. That would be terrible, --to ask God not toforgive you. None of us would dare pray like that. 

You remember Peter came to Christ once and asked how often we were toforgive people. Peter thought seven times was enough. But Christ said, "No, you must forgive until seventy times seven. " That would be fourhundred and ninety times. Christ did not mean exactly that many times. But He meant more times than you can think. That is, if you are afollower of Christ you are to forgive a person as often as he is sorryfor having done you a wrong, and comes to you and asks your forgiveness. 

ABOUT GENEROSITY

When we speak of a person as being generous we usually think of someonewho gives his money, or whatever belongs to him, freely to others. Butdid you ever think that people can be generous with their thoughts, too?

Let me show you what I mean by that. There were once two boys who wentto visit at a farm where they kept Shetland ponies, and of course bothboys wanted to ride them. So one day they persuaded the man in charge ofthe ponies to put the saddle on a handsome black one and lead him outinto the yard for them to mount. But when it came to actually getting onthe pony's back, the younger boy was afraid. Although the older boyurged him, he would not take a ride. Finally the other boy mounted androde gaily off, and came back beaming with delight. But instead of beingproud, and thinking the other boy cowardly, he went over to the youngerlad and said: "Now you get on. I know you can ride him. " And when atlast the other did ride off, the older boy's eyes danced with delight, and he clapped his hands to encourage the younger boy. That is one ofthe best forms of generosity. 

Another illustration of it is when you are on a baseball or footballteam, or in a contest of any sort, to be able to say when you arehonestly beaten that you were beaten by a better team. When you can saythat, it takes half the sting out of defeat and makes those who winadmire you more than ever. 

Don't be stingy with your thoughts about people. Always think the bestabout others, and believe the best, and you will grow to beopen-hearted, friendly, lovable and big. 

SUN AND WIND

Once upon a time, according to an old fable, the sun and the northwindhad a contest to see which could take a man's coat off the more quickly. 

The northwind tried first. It gathered together all its forces in itsown corner of the earth, and then rushed forth upon this man who waswalking along a country-road. The wind blew and blew, and it seemed asif the traveller's coat would be blown from his back or torn to tatters. But the harder the northwind blew the tighter the man drew his coatabout him, and the wind could not get it off his back. After it hadspent all its force it gave up in despair. 

Then the sun had its turn. It came out without noise or violence likethe northwind. It did not whistle in the treetops nor bluster throughthe bushes. It did not buffet nor struggle with the man. It just went onpouring forth its heat. And it seemed as if it could never win, anymore than the northwind. But soon the traveller took out hishandkerchief and wiped the perspiration from his face. Then, beforelong, he took off his hat. Soon he unbuttoned his coat, and finally hetook it off of his own accord. The sun had won the contest against thenorthwind!

Now, a fable is meant to teach a lesson. The lesson of this fable isthat gentleness wins where only strength and rudeness fail. If some onehas done you a wrong, the way to deal with him is not to try to "geteven" with him, as we say. Nor is the best way to get angry with him andscold him. The Bible tells us that the way to overcome your enemy is todo good for evil, for it says by so doing you will "heap coals of fireupon his head. "

Usually it is the weak people who bluster like the northwind, and stormand brag. Strong people are usually quiet. There is an old saying that"if you are right you can afford to keep your temper, and if you arewrong you cannot afford to lose it. " Be gentle. You will win more thatway than by getting angry. 

THE BOY AND THE TURTLE

Theodore Parker was one of the greatest preachers America ever had, andthis story is told of him as a boy. One day, as he was going across thefields, he came to a pond where he saw a small turtle sunning itselfupon a stone which rose out of the water. The boy picked up a stick, andwas about to strike the turtle, when a voice within him said, "Stop!"His arm paused in midair and, startled, he ran home to ask his motherwhat the voice meant. Tears came into his mother's eyes as she took theboy in her arms and told him that it was his conscience which had cried"Stop!" Then she told him that his conscience was the voice of God, andthat his moral safety depended upon his heeding that inner voice. 

The same thing is true of all boys and girls. If you obey that innervoice in questions of right and wrong, it will speak to you clearly. 

But if you neglect it, it will grow silent, and you will be left indarkness and in doubt as to what is right and wrong. 

Some people call this voice the "inner light, " and that is a very goodname for it. Every time you walk by the light you put fresh oil in thelamp, and the light grows stronger and the way clearer. 

Whenever that inner voice speaks to you and tells you that a thing iswrong, don't argue with the voice and give reasons for doing the thingthat is wrong. Obey the voice at once, as Parker did, and it will saveyou endless trouble. 

THE BOY AND THE NICKEL

A man once found a boy crying on the street, and asked the little chapwhat he was crying about. The child told him he had just lost a nickel. The stranger gave him another, and then the boy began to cry again. Thisgreatly astonished the man, and he asked him why he was crying again. The little chap said, "Because, if I hadn't lost that other nickel, I'dhave two now. "

That was, of course, a very foolish way to look at it, but that is theway a great many people look at things. This is what is calledcovetousness. Covetous people always want something they have not, andso they are usually unhappy. 

The way to be happy is to think of the things you have, and not of thethings you have not. A man was once told that Cæsar was going to causehim great unhappiness, and he replied that if Cæsar could blot out thesun with a blanket he might make him unhappy. But if he had the sun toshine upon him, he would still be happy. We all have the sun to shineupon us, and other things a-plenty to be happy over, if we will justcount them up. Let us not be like the little boy crying about the nickelhe did not have. 

THE THREE FATES

Boys and girls in ancient Greece believed that there were three fates, in the form of three women seated above the clouds, who spun the threadof everyone's life, and cut it off with shears when death came. 

We no longer believe in such things, but we still speak of fate. Boysand girls sometimes say that they are fated to fail in examinations, andso think they cannot help failing. But that is no more true than thebelief about the three women which the Grecian boys and girls held. As amatter of fact, nothing outside of us makes evil things happen to us. Wemake our own fates. Or shall I say, we _are_ our own fates? Someone hassaid, "Our fates lie asleep along the roadside until we waken them. "That is very true, as I think I can show you by a story. 

Not long ago I was riding on a train up through Vermont. A boy came intothe car selling papers, books, candy, fruit, and other things. Therewas a boy opposite me in the smoking-car who wanted to appear very smartand manly. He was smoking a cigar and looking very much traveled. Thetrainboy offered him a book which had a bad title and worse pictures init. But in front of this young chap sat two bright-faced, innocent-looking boys who did not pretend to be anything but what theywere. The trainboy offered them salted peanuts. In front of those boyssat a fine, clean-looking, well-bred man. The trainboy offered him agood, wholesome book. 

Now, three fates were in that car in the form of that trainboy, and eachperson invited his own kind of fate by what he was in himself. That istrue all through life. Be true, and you attract truth. Be evil, and youattract evil. Your fate is what you are. 

THE INCH-WORM AND THE MOUNTAIN

Out in the state of California there is a great valley known as theYosemite Valley, and here once lived a tribe of Indians who tried toexplain how the wonderful streams and trees and rocks came to be. 

The story of one of the highest peaks, El Capitan, is very interesting. One day some Indian boys went fishing in a beautiful lake in theYosemite, and after they had grown tired they lay down in the sun upon arock beside the lake. They soon fell fast asleep. How long they sleptthey did not know, but when they awoke they found that during theirsleep the rock on which they lay had been stood on end, so that theywere now nearly a mile high in the air and had no means of getting down. They were in a bad plight. 

But the animals in the valley which were friendly to mountaineers sawtheir misfortune and held a conference as to how to help the boys getdown. They decided that the only thing to do was to try to climb up theface of the cliff. But the rock, was too steep, and so they tried tojump up. First the raccoon tried it, then the bear, then the squirrel, then the fox, and finally the mountain-goat. It was all to no avail, however, and they gave up in discouragement, and were about to leave theboys to perish, when the inch-worm came along and offered her services. The animals laughed her to scorn. What could she do, with hersnail-pace, when they all, who were so fleet of foot, had to give it up!

But she would not be laughed out of her purpose, and she began to climbup the cliff. Slowly, inch by inch, she crawled up, so slowly that itseemed as if she would take a thousand years to get there. But as shepassed crag after crag the animals below ceased making fun of her andbegan to shout encouragement. At last she reached the top. And then theGreat Spirit turned her into a huge butterfly so strong that she flewdown, with the boys on her back, to safety. 

There is a verse in the Old Testament which says that the race is notalways to the swift, which means that it is not always the strongest whowin. It is the one who keeps at it. Many a bright boy fails in schoolbecause the lessons come so easily he does not work. Many a dull boywins because he sticks to it and plods away. 

If you are tempted to trust too much to your brightness, remember theanimals who made fun of the inch-worm. If you are dull, remember theinch-worm, take courage, and plod away. You will get there sometime. 

THE FRENCH DRUMMER-BOY

I want to tell you to-day of one of the bravest deeds ever done by aboy. 

It happened this way. Back in the year 1793, when the French people werehaving trouble with their king and queen, and finally put them to death, the rulers called in soldiers from other nations to help them againsttheir own people. The foreign soldiers met the French troops before atown called Maubeuge, and there a fierce battle was fought. 

The fiercest part of the fighting was carried on against HungarianGrenadiers, who held the market-place of the town. During this charge adrummer-boy in the French army saw that his countrymen were having ahard time of it, so he slipped around back of these Hungarian soldiersto the other side of the market-place, right in the thick of the enemy, and there drummed the charge, in order to make his comrades think thatsome of the French soldiers had already pushed through the enemy'sranks, and so encourage the others to push on. 

Many years after, in digging up the ground about the market-place, thelittle bones of that drummer-boy were found buried alongside the bonesof the tall Hungarian men amongst whom he had fallen. The French peoplehave put up a statue to his memory in the town of Avesnes, and he isshown still beating the charge on his drum, and looking out toward thefrontier whence the enemy of his people came. 

A KING IN THE STUFF

In the early days of the history of the children of Israel the peoplewere ruled by judges, and it was not until they saw the nations roundabout them under the leadership of kings that they desired a king oftheir own. In spite of the warnings of the old prophet Samuel, theydemanded a king, and Samuel chose a young man, afterwards King Saul, tobe their ruler. 

But when the people came together to make Saul King they could not findhim. They searched a long while, and finally God told them that Saul hadhidden himself amongst the baggage. There they looked, and sure enough, as the old story says, there was a king "hid in the stuff. "

That was many hundreds of years ago, and kings are no longer made inthat way. But the story has a meaning still for every boy. There isstill a king hid in the stuff that goes to make up every boy. A greatmany things about a boy in which he hides his kingship seem no betterthan the worthless stuff in which Saul hid. There are mistakes, outbursts of temper, laziness, selfishness, impatience, deceit, andcruelty. But hidden beneath all that, God would have you remember thatthere is still a king hid in the stuff. 

A story is told of the son of Louis XVI of France, whose father andmother were put to death by the people. He was thus left an orphan, andwas sent to live with a wicked man and woman who tried to teach him allmanner of wrongdoing. But when they tried to persuade him to do wrong, he would refuse, and say that he was a king's son, and would some day beking himself, therefore he could not stoop so low. 

I wish every boy, when he is tempted to do some unmanly thing, wouldremember his kingship, too. You are not the son of an earthly king, butyou are each the son of a Heavenly King, and you, too, have the makingof a king in you. You are too great to do mean things. There is an oldhymn which runs like this:

"My Father is rich in houses and lands, He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands;Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and goldHe has gone to prepare us a mansion untold. I'm the child of a King, the child of a King, With Jesus my Saviour, I'm the child of a King. "

And when you would do a mean thing, ask yourself if that is worthy ofyour kingship. Remember also that only those who live Kingly lives areworthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

BREAD AND WINE

This is Communion Sunday, when the Church celebrates what is known as"the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. " You remember that on the nightbefore Christ was crucified He gathered His twelve disciples togetherthat He might have a quiet meal and talk with them. And it is that LastSupper, as it is known, which we call to mind when we observe CommunionSunday. 

The first Christians did not have communion on Sunday. They used to havea common meal together on weekdays, and at a neighbour's house. At thesemeals they would recall the sayings of Jesus and His loving deeds. 

But Christ not only had the Last Supper with His disciples, and taughtthem to remember Him in the breaking of the bread: He also gave them thelesson about the bread and the wine by which to remember Him. 

You know how bread is made. Grains of wheat are put in the ground by thefarmer, and these grains give up their lives in order that other grainsmay grow on the stalk at harvest-time. Then these grains are gatheredin, and finally ground into flour. Christ also gave up His life just asthose first grains of wheat in the ground. And He meant to tell us bythe bread at communion that if we are to help other people we must bewilling to give up our own selfish desires for their sake. 

By the wine at communion Christ meant to teach us that just as thebranch of a grapevine must be attached to the stalk before there can begrapes, so you and I must keep close to Christ in order to be able tolive the life of unselfishness which shows that we are His followers. Hesays: "I am the vine, ye are the branches. Without me ye can donothing. "

After Christ's death, whenever the disciples took their meal together, they would think of Christ, and they would forgive one another andbecome more gentle and loving. Whenever we see the communion-tableprepared, we also must think of Christ, forgive those who have wrongedus, and try still harder to be unselfish and kind. 

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CAROL

In England on Christmas eve boys and girls and men and women go aboutthe streets singing Christmas carols, or songs, at the doors of people'shouses, and the people for whom they sing give them tokens of theirgood-will. The first verse of one of the oldest and best Christmascarols is as follows:

"God rest you merry, gentlemen; Let nothing you dismay, For Christ was born of Mary Upon a Christmas Day. "

That is a very beautiful carol, but there is one still more beautiful. It is the one the angels sang the night that Christ was born:

"Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth to men of good-will. "

This means that people who have good-will in their hearts toward otherpeople will have peace on earth. And how very true that is! Peoplegenerally act toward us the same way in which we act toward them. If weare cross, others are cross; but if we are warmhearted and loving, thenpeople are warmhearted toward us. It is just like seeing your face in alooking-glass. If you frown, the face in the mirror will frown. If yourface is smiling, the one in the mirror will be smiling. That is anotherway of saying that you get what you give. 

Christ came into the world to teach us how to have good-will to men, andfrom our good-will to get happiness. Any boy or girl who faithfullytries to be like Christ, and to do as he believes Jesus would do if Hewere in his place, will grow to have this good-will in his heart. Thensome day he will sing as the angels did, "Glory to God in the highest, "for he will know God's peace. Christ said, "Blessed are thepeace-makers. "

Here is a verse for you to take as a motto:

"Where are you going? Never mind. Just follow the road that says, 'Be kind, 'And do the duty that nearest you lies, For that is the road to Paradise. "

A HINT FROM A CARIBOU

This is an animal-story. It is about a caribou. A caribou is a kind ofreindeer, and lives in Canada. 

One day a man was out in a stumpy pasture-field beside a woods inCanada, and he saw a mother caribou and her little calf feeding quietlydown in a valley nearby. 

He was on a little hill some distance away, but the wind was blowing inthe direction of the caribou. Presently the mother caribou raised herhead, sniffed the air, and looked in the direction where the man washidden behind a stump. She had caught the scent of a human being. Thatmeant danger to her calf. Soon the mother caribou, leaving her calf inthe valley, started in the direction of the man. He slipped from hishiding-place to another stump. On came the caribou till she reached thevery stump behind which the man had first hidden. There she smelled theground, and then a strange thing happened. She called her calf to her, had it smell the ground, too, so as to get the scent of the man. Whenthat was done, she got behind that little caribou and butted it down thevalley as fast as it could go. Why did she do that? It was to teach hercalf that whenever it got that scent on the air, there was danger, andit must get away as quickly as possible. 

Ever after that, even before the calf knew that this scent belonged to aman, or had seen a man, it would run away from it. 

Your parents are constantly doing for you what that mother caribou didfor her little one. When they tell you that such and such a thing iswrong, and you must not do it; when again they tell you there is dangerin going to a certain place, or in chumming with a particular boy orgirl, they are again doing the same thing for you. And when they punishyou, as that mother caribou did her calf, it is because they know thedanger far better than you, and they know that your safety depends uponkeeping away from such things. 

Then, bye and bye, perhaps, as you grow older, you will begin to seefor yourself what the danger meant, just as the little caribou mightsome day see a hunter for itself. And then you will no longer think yourparents cruel or strict; you will be thankful that they were so wise andkind. 

THE REPENTANCE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON

When you begin to study English literature you will hear a great dealabout Samuel Johnson, who wrote one of the first English dictionaries, and was a great scholar. Johnson's father was a bookseller, who used tohave a little shop in the market-place, where he sold books onmarket-days. One day, when Johnson was a boy, his father took sick andasked Samuel to go to the market-place and sell books for him. Johnsonwas ashamed of such work, and refused to go. 

But many years afterward, when he had become an old man and was back ona visit to his native village, he was missed from breakfast one morningby the friends with whom he was staying. On his return at supper-time hetold his friends how he had spent the day. It was fifty years ago thatday when he had refused to help his father. He says: "To do away withthe sin of this disobedience, I this day went in a post-chaise toUttoxeter, and going into the market at the time of high business, uncovered my head and stood with it bare an hour before the stall whichmy father had formerly used, exposed to the sneers of standers-by andthe inclemency of the weather; a penance by which I trust I havepropitiated Heaven for this only instance, I believe, of contumacy to myfather. "

That is a story worth remembering when you are ashamed of doingsomething which your parents have asked you to do, perhaps to carry aparcel on the street or to mow the lawn. You will see sometime, I hope, that all honest work, if it is well done, is a thing to be proud of, instead of to be ashamed of. But it may be too late then. Your parentsmay have died, and you, like Johnson, will come back with deep sorrow tothink how you had disobeyed and forsaken them when they needed you. Theway to save yourselves such heartache is to be obedient to your parentsas long as they live. 

EASTER

Once upon a time a Persian king was marching westward with a great armyto fight against Greece. In the evening, after the army had encamped forthe night, someone found the king looking over the host of people spreadout before him, and he was in tears. When he was asked the cause of hissadness, he replied that he had been thinking that one hundred yearsfrom that time not one of all these men in his army would be alive. 

That was long before Christ lived, and had risen from the dead on Eastermorning. These people had no Easter. They did not believe in the sort ofeverlasting life in which we believe. And even long after theresurrection of Christ there were many people in Greece and Rome who hadnot heard the wonderful news. Here is a letter that someone wrote over ahundred years after that first Easter to a mother whose son had justdied:

 "I was much grieved, and shed as many tears over your son as I did over my own, and I did everything that was fitting, as so did my whole family. .. . But still there is nothing one can do in the face of such trouble. So I leave you to comfort yourselves. Good-bye. "

If these people had known about our Easter they would not have felt sohopeless and sad. For since Christ has risen from the dead, we know thatall who love Him and try to be like Him shall also rise from the dead, and be with Him in a life beyond the grave. 

He said to His disciples before He was crucified: "In my Father's houseare many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you; for I go toprepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I willcome again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may bealso. " When we know this, then to die is not so terrible as it was tothe Persians and Greeks. It is like going to sleep in our home, andwaking up in a place much more beautiful than we had ever dreamed of, and being with Christ, the Friend of little children, forever. But wemust know Christ in this life if we are to enjoy His friendship in thenext. 

THE WHISPERING GALLERY

If you ever go to London, one of the many buildings which will bepointed out to you will be Saint Paul's Cathedral, which is capped by awonderful dome. And if you ask the guide, he will show you in that domea strange room known as the "Whispering Gallery. " In this gallery yourlowest whisper can be heard on the other side of the room, a greatdistance away. It would be hard to tell secrets in a room like that. 

But there is a still more wonderful whispering gallery than that. It isthe one which each one of us carries about in his own soul. In thatgallery even things we _think_, whether we say them or not, are heard byGod, our Creator. No thought escapes Him. "In Him we live, and move, andhave our being. " If we "take the wings of the morning, and fly to theuttermost parts of the earth, " even there God is still. 

This would be a very terrible thing to realize if all our thoughts wereevil thoughts, unkind and unlovely. For then we should be like the manwho, when he was young, ill-treated his old father and mother. When hegrew up, this young man became very wealthy, and he used to carry candyin his pocket as he walked in the parks to give to the children, becausehe wanted their love. But the children would take his candy, thenscamper away like frightened squirrels, because something inside seemedto tell them that the man was not really kind at heart. Older peoplefelt the same way about him, and a chill came over them when they werewith him. So they avoided him. It would be unbearable to think that onlyour evil thoughts were open to God in that way. 

But while God knows all the wickedness in our hearts, and we cannot hideanything from Him, God also knows the good thoughts that are whisperedin the gallery of our soul. And when we wish ever so greatly that wecould do something to help somebody, but cannot do it; or when we wouldlike to be good, but are tripped up by some temptation, God knows thenhow hard we try, and gives us credit for our effort, even though we failto do what we wanted to. 

Let us remember the Whispering Gallery of the soul, then, and when wethink evil thoughts, even though we never tell them to our nearestfriend, let us be sure God knows them. And when we try hard to be goodand to do good, but fail, let us also remember that God sees it, eventhough none else knows. Our prayer each morning ought to be like thepsalmist's: "Let the words of my mouth, and the _meditations of myheart_ be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. "

THE HE-SAID GIRL

Sometimes, when I am walking along the street, I catch snatches ofconversation as I pass by a group of little girls. And often I hear thephrase "He said" this, or "He said" that. There are girls who do notseem to talk about much else but what this boy or that boy has said, andthese girls I call "he-said" girls. 

Now, of course it is all right for girls to think about the boys. Wecould not stop that if we would, and we would not stop it if we could. The danger comes when a girl thinks of little else. The girl who beginsby devoting all her thought to boys is apt to end by being a veryunattractive and unpopular sort of woman. Every girl ought to get alongwell with the girls of her own age as well as with the boys. There issomething wrong with the girl who cannot get along with her girlfriends. And so I say to you that if you do not want to be thoroughlyunhappy as a woman, try to win the friendship of girls as well as boys. 

A good plan for the "he-said" girl is to take her father as her ideal, and hero and lover. Then, as she grows to womanhood, she will not besatisfied with any man who is not in some measure as good as her father. In the meanwhile beware of being a "he-said" girl. 

ON DECK

When I was a boy I belonged to a baseball team in the village where Ilived, and when we played games with a team from another village we hada scorer who not only kept tally of the runs, but also told us who wasto be the next at the bat. He would say, "So-and-so is at the bat, So-and-so is on deck. " And when he told a boy he was "on deck, " that boyknew he was to be the next one at the bat. 

Boys and girls are always on deck, whether they are playing ball or not, for a boy or girl never knows when he is going to be called upon to playsome part in the game called Life. And the strange thing about it is, there is no scorer who tells you that you are on deck. So you never getany warning, and you may be on deck and not know it, and so miss yourchance. 

Samuel, for instance, was a boy who used to close the curtains and putout the candles at night in the temple away back hundreds of yearsbefore Christ was born. One evening he had put out the lights and closedthe curtains, just the same as he had a hundred times before, and thenlay down to sleep. He little thought that this particular day he was ondeck, and was to be called into the game by God. But that night Godcalled him, and sent him on a very important errand that was to changehis whole life and the history of his people. 

And things like that are happening in America to-day. I read a story theother day of a young student who was overtaken by a rainstorm, andborrowed an umbrella of a lawyer. He returned it a few days later with anote of thanks. Not long afterward he received a letter from the lawyeroffering him a position in his office on account of his goodhandwriting. The student took the position, kept on with his studies incollege, and after he graduated from college went right along in thatoffice till he became a man of influence. He didn't know what it meantwhen he wrote that note. He was on deck. 

The lesson that I want to draw is this: That you must be on the lookoutand do well the things that come to you each day, for who knows but youmay be on deck that very day, and be called to play some important part?For only those are called who are on deck; that is, ready to play. Theboy or girl who does not do his work well day by day may miss his chanceof being called to take some larger place in life when the times comes. Take this motto from the Old Testament: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth todo, do it with thy might. "

THE TERROR BY NIGHT

In some parts of Canada, where the country is still thinly settled bypeople, wild animals are quite numerous. In one of these communitiesthere once lived a boy who was in the village late one night. He hadbeen at the village-store, and had heard the men talking about a wildcatthat had been seen in that neighbourhood a short time before. 

The boy was not a coward, but when he started for his home, three milesaway, in the country, he was nervous. Nothing happened, however, untilhe was climbing over a set of bars at the end of a lane leading througha piece of woods near his home. Then he heard the bushes moving andtwigs crackling under the feet of some animal the other side of thelane-fence. He thought of the wildcat. He jumped to the ground, pickedup a heavy stick he had seen under a tree on his way through that dayand listened. Nearer and nearer came the rustling of the bushes, andevery little while he could hear an animal sniff the air. Finally itcame to the fence, clambered up opposite him. The boy raised his cluband waited, and when the animal jumped down beside him, its eyes shiningin the darkness, he struck with all his might. Off the beast went intothe darkness. All was silence again, and the boy stood listening andtrembling. Then from the top of a nearby hill he heard a dog howl withpain. He found, next morning, that it was only a neighbour's dog thathad frightened him so. 

That boy is not the only one who has seen things mistakenly, justbecause he was afraid. If you are dreading something, you will thinkthat everything that happens brings the thing you dread. Usually nothinghappens at all. The trouble was only in the person's mind, just as thatwildcat was in the boy's mind, and so every noise he could not explainwas a wildcat. 

I am sure David must have known something about that fear when, as aboy, he watched his sheep out on the lonely hills at night. But Davidlearned that there was One who was able to protect him by night as wellas by day. It was God. And so he wrote of God: "He that keepeth theewill not slumber. God is thy keeper. God is thy shade upon thy righthand. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for thearrow that flieth by day; for the pestilence that walketh indarkness. .. . It shall not come nigh thee. "

Let us remember that no real harm can come to us unless it comes fromwithin ourselves. God is our protector. In His love we can trust by day, and in His care we can lay us down to sleep at night without a fear. 

THE BRAMBLE-BUSH KING

There is a story in the Old Testament which says that once upon a timethe trees gathered together to choose a king to rule over them. 

First they invited the olive-tree; but the olive-tree said it was toobusy bearing fruit. Then they asked the fig-tree to be king; but thefig-tree had its work to do, and also declined. Next they waited uponthe vine with an invitation; but, like the others, it did not wish to betheir king. 

Finally the trees asked the bramble to accept the position, and thebramble gladly agreed. The first order it gave was for all the trees totake shelter under its branches or be burned with fire. That sounds justlike a prickly, thorny, little bramble, does it not?

That is usually the way of people who like to lord it over other peoplewhen they have no ability for it. There are some who want to do so whenthey are at a party. They want to be the hitching-post to which all thepeople are tied when they talk. If the bramble takes the form of a boy, he wants to be captain of his team, or he will not play. If it happensto be a girl, she insists upon everybody playing the game she wants, orshe will go home in a sulk. These people cannot agree long with anybody. They are quarrelsome and peevish. 

Some boys and girls are like horses: they make good single-drivers, butthey will not work with anyone else. Some horses go well enough alone, but when you hitch them with another horse they crowd, or bite, or kickit. They cannot "go double, " as we say. That is the bramble-natureshowing out in a horse. 

This is a bad trait, whether you find it in a horse, a man or woman, aboy or girl. Christ says: "You know the rulers of the Gentiles lord itover them. Not so shall it be among you; but whosoever would becomegreat among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be firstamong you shall be your servant. " Jesus also said, "I am meek and lowlyin heart. " So must all His followers be. 

If you are getting any of the bramble-nature, and want to lord it overeverybody, you had better give it up. Some of the unhappiest people inthe world are bramble-bush kings. 

WHERE IS HEAVEN?

Our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers used to talk much aboutwhere heaven was. And some thought it was up above the clouds, andothers thought it would be here on earth, after all the wickedness andselfishness were done away. Every one, however, used to think that theNew Jerusalem, with its pearly gates and golden streets, was a realplace like the cities of to-day. 

But we think of heaven more as the feeling in our hearts when we arehappy from being with our friends, or when we have done right andunselfish things. We know what it is, then, to have heaven on earth. Andwhen we have heaven on earth, we know pretty nearly what the real heavenis like. 

Let me show you what I mean. Not long ago a speaker in a rescue missionasked the children if they could tell him where heaven was. Immediatelya boy from the poorest section of the city sprang up, raised his handand cried shrilly: "I know; I know. " "Well, my boy, where is heaven?"the astonished leader asked. "Back in our street since mother gotacquainted with Jesus, " was the answer. 

That boy was on the right track. Whenever Christ comes into the heartthere comes with Him love and thoughtfulness of others. And when we dokind things for others, we find happiness for ourselves, and that isheaven. Christ says, "If any man hear my voice and open the door, I willcome in to him and sup with him and he with me. " That means, when we dothings that we believe Christ would like to have us do, then He comes into sup with us. And when we feel Christ as our Companion, then it isheaven. 

We may go to a beautiful place called heaven when we die, but it will beChrist who will make the place full of joy and gladness. And if we areto see Him in that land and enjoy that heaven, we must first make aheaven here on earth for ourselves and others by trying to please Himand to be like Him every day. 

THE CHRISTIAN ARMY

Saint Paul, in writing to the Christians of his day, urges them to be"good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ. " If every Christian is asoldier, then the Church ought to be called "the Christian Army. " Andthis makes plainer to us what it means to join the Church. 

Armies, as you know, are divided into regiments, and regiments intocompanies. Every soldier in the army belongs to a certain company. If aman said that he wanted to belong to the United States Army, but that hedid not want to join any particular regiment or company, but that heintended to be a soldier "in general, " people would laugh at him. Hewould be like a man who took his gun and went out all alone to fightagainst Spain when we were at war with her. Or it would be as if a manin a city should say that he wanted to fight fire, but instead ofjoining a fire company, he would snatch up his pail and run alone to putout the fire every time there was an alarm. 

Now, in the Christian army there are also regiments and companies. Thedifferent denominations, like the Presbyterians, the Methodists, theBaptists, the Congregationalists, and so on, are the regiments. TheChurches like this and other Churches are the companies in the army. 

So, when anyone says he wants to make war on wickedness and to bring inthe reign of love and peace and good-will which Christ started HisChurch to fight for, we ask him to join one of the companies of theChristian army. That is, we ask him to join a Church. 

You may ask if one cannot be a Christian outside of the Church. Ianswer, Yes, he can. But he is very much like the man with his pailrunning to put out the fire, or the lone soldier. He can do better workif he works with others. Furthermore, Christ said, "He that confessethme before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven, and he that denieth me before men, him will I deny before my Fatherwhich is in heaven. " In joining the Church you confess Christ. 

You may ask me too, how old one should be before he can join theChristian army, known as the Church of God. I answer, there is no setage. Some boys and girls are ready to join before others. One littlegirl who was going to join the Church was told by some of the members ofher Sunday-school class that she wasn't old enough. She replied, "Anyonewho is old enough to know right from wrong is old enough to join theChurch. " If you are trying honestly day by day to be like Christ and todo His will, and you wish to be a better soldier of the cross, then youare ready to join the Church. 

In the Christian army there are old and young, rich and poor, wise andsimple, all under the one flag, --the banner of the Cross; all under theone Captain, --even Jesus Christ. And the best thing about our Captainis, He has never lost a battle yet, and never will. All those who enlistunder His flag are sure to win, and to hear God's "Well done. "