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Boy Wanted 1

Boy Wanted 1


'Boy Wanted'
       A Book of Cheerful Counsel: Nixon Waterman


    Do not loiter or shirk,
      Do not falter or shrink;
    But just think out your work
      And then work out your "think".




OTHER BOOKS BY NIXON WATERMAN


A BOOK OF VERSES

IN MERRY MOOD
    A Book of Cheerful Rhymes.

    Cloth, 12mo, each, $1.25.

FORBES & COMPANY, CHICAGO


[Illustration: CABIN IN WHICH LINCOLN WAS BORN]




                             "BOY WANTED"

                      A BOOK OF CHEERFUL COUNSEL

                                  BY
                            NIXON WATERMAN

                     AUTHOR OF "THE GIRL WANTED,"
                       "A BOOK OF VERSES," ETC.

                                TORONTO
                        McCLELLAND & GOODCHILD
                                Limited




                            COPYRIGHT, 1906
                                  BY
                            NIXON WATERMAN

                         _All Rights Reserved_




    TO

    --THE BOY WHO DISCERNS
      HE CAN NEVER BE "IT"
    UNTIL HE DEVELOPS
      SOME "GIT-UP-AND-GIT."




Acknowledgments are hereby made to the publishers of Life, Success,
Saturday Evening Post, Woman's Home Companion, St. Nicholas, Christian
Endeavor World, Young People's Weekly, Youth's Companion, and other
periodicals, for their courteous permission to reprint the author's
copyrighted poems which originally appeared in their publications.




PREFACE


In presenting this book of cheerful counsel to his youthful friends,
and such of the seniors as are not too old to accept a bit of friendly
admonition, the author desires to offer a word of explanation regarding
the history of the making of this volume.

So many letters have been received from people of all classes and ages
requesting copies of some of the author's lines best suited for the
purpose of engendering a sense of self-help in the mind of youth, that
he deems it expedient to offer a number of his verses in the present
collected form. While he is indebted to a great array of bright minds
for the prose incidents and inspiration which constitute a large
portion of this volume, he desires to be held personally responsible
for all of the rhymed lines to be found within these covers.

It may be especially true of advice that "it is more blessed to
give than to receive," but it is hoped that in this present form of
tendering friendly counsel the precepts will be accepted in the same
cheerful spirit in which they are offered.

The author realizes that no one is more urgently in need of good advice
and the intelligence to follow it than is the writer of these lines,
and none cries more earnestly the well-known truth--

    Oh, fellow men and brothers,
      Could we but use the free
    Advice we give to others,
      How happy we should be!

While the title of this book and the character of its contents make
it obvious that it is a volume designed primarily for the guidance
of youth, no one should pass it by merely because he has reached the
years of maturity, and presumably of discretion. As a matter of fact
Time cannot remove any of us very far from the fancies and foibles, the
dreams and dangers of life's morning hours.

    Age bringeth wisdom, so they say,
      But lots of times we've seen
    A man long after he was gray
      Keep right on being "green."

                                                                  N. W.




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                                            PAGE

I THE AWAKENING                                                      11

The life partnership. When to begin. Foresight. "Boy Wanted."
The power of mind. "Couldn't and Could." Selfmade men. "Deliver
the Goods."


II "AM I A GENIUS?"                                                  23

Genius defined. Inspiration and perspiration. "Stick to It."
Genius and patience. "Keep Pegging Away." Examples of patience.
"The Secret of Success."


III OPPORTUNITY                                                      35

What is a fair chance? Abraham Lincoln. Depending on self.
"Myself and I." The importance of the present moment. "Right
Here and Just Now." Poverty and success. "Keep A-Trying."


IV OVER AND UNDERDOING                                               49

Precocity. Starting too soon as bad as starting too late. The
value of health. "Making a man." The worth of toil. "How to Win
Success." Sharpened wits. "The Steady Worker."


V THE VALUE OF SPARE MOMENTS                                         61

Wasting time. "The 'Going-to-Bees!'" The possibilities of one
hour a day. "Just This Minute." The vital importance of
properly employing leisure moments. "Do It Now."


VI CHEERFULNESS                                                      75

The value of smiles. "To Know All is to Forgive All." Hope and
strength. "A Cure for Trouble." Carlyle on cheerfulness. "The
One With a Song." Pessimism as a barrier to success. "A Smile
and a Task." A profitable virtue. "An Open Letter to the
Pessimist."


VII DREAMING AND DOING                                               89

Practicality. "Hank Streeter's Brain-Wave." Self-esteem. "The
Valley of Never." Opportunity and application. "Yender Grass."


VIII "TRIFLES"                                                      101

The value of little things. Sowing and reaping. The power of
habit. "'I Wish' and 'I Will.'" Jenny Lind's humble beginning.
Canova's genius. Present opportunities. "'Now' and
'Waitawhile.'"


IX THE WORTH OF ADVICE                                              115

Heeding the sign-post. The value of guide-books. "The World's
Victors." Good books a boy's best friend. The danger of knowing
too much. "My Boyhood Dreams." Reading and reflecting.


X REAL SUCCESS                                                      129

Are you the boy wanted? Money and success. "On Getting Rich."
Thinking and doing. Life's true purpose. "The Mother's Dream."




ILLUSTRATIONS


LINCOLN'S BIRTHPLACE                                     _Frontispiece_

PATRICK HENRY DELIVERING HIS CELEBRATED SPEECH           Facing page 23

WHITTIER'S BIRTHPLACE                                      "     "   35

WATT DISCOVERING THE CONDENSATION OF STEAM                 "     "   49

LONGFELLOW'S BIRTHPLACE                                    "     "   61

GARFIELD AS A CANAL BOY                                    "     "   75

BIRTHPLACE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN                            "     "   89

WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE AT MOUNT VERNON                   "     "  101




"BOY WANTED"




CHAPTER I

THE AWAKENING


[Sidenote: Nothing is impossible to the man who can will.--MIRABEAU.]

Ho, my brave youth! There's a "Boy Wanted," and--how fortunate!--you
are the very boy!

Who wants you?

[Sidenote: You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some with
you.--JOUBERT.]

The big, busy, beautiful world wants you, and I really do not see how
it is going to get on well without you. It has awaited your coming so
long, and has kept in store so many golden opportunities for you to
improve, it will be disappointed if, when the proper time arrives, you
do not smilingly lay hold and do something worth while.

When are you to begin?

[Sidenote: Things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them
up.--GARFIELD.]

Oh, I sincerely hope that you have already begun to begin; that is,
that you have already begun to train your hand and head and heart for
making the most of the opportunities that await you. In fact, if you
are so fortunate as to own thoughtful, intelligent parents, the work
of fitting you for the victories of life was begun before you were old
enough to give the subject serious consideration.

[Sidenote: Work has made me what I am. I never ate a bit of idle bread
in my life.--DANIEL WEBSTER.]

"When shall I begin to train my child?" asked a young mother of a wise
physician.

"How old is the child?" inquired the doctor.

"Two years."

[Sidenote: In the blackest soils grow the fairest flowers, and
the loftiest and strongest trees spring heavenward among the
rocks.--HOLLAND.]

"Then you have already lost just two years," was his serious response.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, when asked the same question, said: "You must
begin with the child's grandmother."

[Sidenote: Without courage there cannot be truth; and without truth
there can be no other virtue.--WALTER SCOTT.]

But no matter what has or has not been done for you up to the present
time, you and I know that from now on your future welfare will be
largely of your own making and in your own keeping. If you will
thoughtfully plan your purpose as definitely as conditions will permit
and then learn to stick to it through thick and thin, your success
in life is quite well assured, and you need not fear that at the
end of the journey you will have to say, as does many a man while
retrospectively viewing his years:

[Sidenote: Vigilance in watching opportunity; tact and daring in
seizing upon opportunity; force and persistence in crowding opportunity
to its utmost of possible achievement--these are the martial virtues
which must command success.--PHELPS.]

    O'er life's long and winding pathway,
      Looking backward, I confess
    I have not at looking forward
      Been a genuine success.

What is there for you to do?

[Sidenote: Work is the inevitable condition of human life, the true
source of human welfare.--TOLSTOI.]

Everything and anything you can do or care to do. You are to take your
pick of all the trades, professions, and vocations of mankind. Look
about you and note the thousand and one things now being done by the
men of to-day. It will not be so very long till all of these men will
be old enough to retire from active service, and then you and the other
boys, who in the meantime have grown to man's estate, will be called
upon to perform every one of the tasks these men are now doing. Doesn't
it look as if there would be plenty of honest, earnest, wholesome
toil for hand and head in store for you as soon as you are ready to
undertake it? You cannot wonder that the busy old world is ever and
always hanging out its notice--


    "BOY WANTED"

[Sidenote: People do not lack strength; they lack will.--VICTOR HUGO.]

    "Wanted--A Boy." How often we
    This quite familiar notice see.
    Wanted--a boy for every kind
    Of task that a busy world can find.
    He is wanted--wanted now and here;
    There are towns to build; there are paths to clear;
    There are seas to sail; there are gulfs to span,
    In the ever onward march of man.

[Sidenote: You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer
and forge one yourself.--FROUDE.]

    Wanted--the world wants boys to-day
    And it offers them all it has for pay.
    'Twill grant them wealth, position, fame,
    A useful life, and an honored name.
    Boys who will guide the plow and pen;
    Boys who will shape the ways for men;
    Boys who will forward the tasks begun,
    For the world's great work is never done.

[Sidenote: The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.--NAPOLEON.]

    The world is eager to employ
    Not just one, but every boy
    Who, with a purpose stanch and true,
    Will greet the work he finds to do.
    Honest, faithful, earnest, kind,--
    To good, awake; to evil, blind,--
    A heart of gold without alloy,--
    Wanted--the world wants such a boy.

[Sidenote: While we are considering when to begin, it is often too late
to act.--QUINTILIAN.]

No, the world does not insist that you are to accept a position and
begin work with your hands at once, but it wishes you to begin to think
right things. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." What you think
will have much to do in determining what you are to become.

    The mind is master of the man,
    And so "they can who think they can."

[Sidenote: Where boasting ends, there dignity begins.--YOUNG.]

[Sidenote: Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of
fools.--NAPOLEON.]

This influence of the mind in thus shaping the man is very well set
forth by James Allen, who says: "A man's mind may be likened to a
garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild;
but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth.
If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless
weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds,
and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man
tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and
impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and
fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process,
a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his
soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the
laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how
the thought-forces and mind-elements operate in the shaping of his
character, circumstances, and destiny."

[Sidenote: I am in earnest. I will not equivocate. I will not excuse. I
will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard.--GARRISON.]

So it is not too early for you to begin to think bravely and resolutely
and hopefully upon the life you intend to live, and to cultivate the
mental and physical strength that shall help you later on to put your
good thoughts into permanent good deeds. Certainty of victory goes far
toward winning battles before they are fought. The boy who thinks "I
can" is much more likely to succeed in life than is the one who thinks
"I can't."


    "COULDN'T" AND "COULD"

[Sidenote: While you stand deliberating which book your son shall read
first, another boy has read both.--DR. JOHNSON.]

    "Couldn't" and "Could" were two promising boys
        Who lived not a great while ago.
    They had just the same playmates and just the same toys,
    And just the same chances for winning life's joys
        And all that the years may bestow.

[Sidenote: Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is
the stuff life is made of.--FRANKLIN.]

    And "Could" soon found out he could fashion his life
        On lines very much as he planned;
    He could cultivate goodness and guard against strife;
    He could have all his deeds with good cheer to be rife,
        And build him a name that would stand.

[Sidenote: When passion is on the throne, reason is out of
doors.--MATTHEW HENRY.]

    But poor little "Couldn't" just couldn't pull through
        All the trials he met with a sigh;
    When a task needed doing, he couldn't, he knew;
    And hence, when he couldn't, how could he? Could you,
        If you couldn't determine you'd try?

[Sidenote: I wasted time, and now time doth waste me.--SHAKESPEARE.]

    So "Could" just kept building his way to success,
        Nor clouding his sky with a doubt,
    But "Couldn't" strayed into the slough of Distress,
    Alas! and his end it is easy to guess--
        Strayed in, but he couldn't get out.

    And that was the difference 'twixt "Couldn't" and "Could";
        Each followed his own chosen plan;
    And where "Couldn't" just wouldn't "Could" earnestly would,
    And where one of them weakened the other "made good,"
        And won with his watchword, "I can!"

[Sidenote: Weak men wait for opportunities, strong men make
them.--MARDEN.]

By reading between the lines we can infer from the foregoing that what
the world really wants is men--good men. But the world is old enough
and wise enough to know that if it does not train up some good boys,
there will be no good men, by and by. "As the twig is bent the tree is
inclined." "The child is father of the man."

[Sidenote: Give me insight into to-day, and you may have the antique
and future worlds.--EMERSON.]

So the world simply wishes to inform you, here and now, that it will
count on your assistance as soon as you have had sufficient time and
opportunity to prepare properly for the many chances it has in store
for you. It notifies you in good season of the important use it hopes
to make of you. It does not wish you to be confronted suddenly with
a life problem you cannot solve intelligently. You must be so well
equipped that you will not make life a "fizzle."

[Sidenote: When I don't know whether to fight or not, I always
fight.--NELSON.]

A "fizzle," as defined by the dictionaries, is a bungling, unsuccessful
undertaking.

[Sidenote: What is a gentleman? I'll tell you: a gentleman is one who
keeps his promises made to those who cannot enforce them.--HUBBARD.]

Life is, or ought to be, a splendid undertaking. Some make a success
of it; some make a "fizzle;" some make a sort of half-and-half. Every
one who lives his or her life must make something of it. What that
"something" is depends very largely on the individual person. Heredity
has something to do with it; environment has something to do with it;
yet we like to think it is the individual who has most to do with the
finished product.

All men are to some degree "self-made," although they are slow to admit
it except in instances where the work has been well done.

[Sidenote: When one begins to turn in bed it is time to turn
out.--WELLINGTON.]

    The loser declares it is Fate's hard plan,
    But the winner--ho, ho!--he's a "self-made" man.

It is unfair for the loser to blame others for his deficiencies and
delinquencies. No one's reputation is likely to suffer much lasting
injury as long as he keeps his character unspotted. What others may say
of us is not of so much moment; the important question is, "Is it true?"

[Sidenote: When I found I was black, I resolved to live as if I were
white, and so force men to look below my skin.--ALEXANDRE DUMAS.]

    Of strife others make us, we've little to fear
      Because we can surely defeat it;
    Few persons get into hot water, 'tis clear,
      But they furnish the fuel to heat it.

[Sidenote: Impossible? I trample upon impossibilities!--PITT.]

On the other hand the winner is ungrateful when he credits to his own
ability the help and good influence he has derived from his associates
and his surroundings. No one lives by, to, or for himself, alone. A
great man adds to his greatness by generously praising those who have
aided in his advancement.

    We are, most of us, selfishly slow to confess
    How much others aid us in winning success;
    But the Fourth of July and the oyster must see
    What failures, without any crackers, they'd be.

[Sidenote: When all is holiday, there are no holidays.--LAMB.]

This timely notice telling you what the world is going to ask you to
perform is as if you were told to prepare to take an extended and
important journey. It would require some time for you to procure
a trunk and a traveling-bag and to select wearing apparel suitable
for the undertaking. Then, too, you would need to study maps and
time-tables so as to select the best lines of travel and to make
advantageous connections with trains and steamships. Furthermore, it
would be for your best interests to read books describing the countries
through which you were to pass, and to learn as much as possible
regarding their peoples and customs.

[Sidenote: Let's take the instant by the forward top.--SHAKESPEARE.]

[Sidenote: I have generally found that the man who is good at an excuse
is good for nothing else.--FRANKLIN.]

[Sidenote: I feel and grieve, but, by the grace of God, I fret at
nothing.--JOHN WESLEY.]

As a matter of fact you _are_ preparing to start on an extended and
important journey. You are going out into the big world, by and by,
to do business. You are going into partnership with the world, after
a fashion. You are to put into the business your honesty, industry,
integrity, and ability, and in return for your contributions, the world
is to bestow upon you all the honor, fame, goodwill, and happiness
of mind that your manner of living your life shall merit. The world
is only too willing to bargain for the highest and noblest and best
products of the human mind with any one who can


    DELIVER THE GOODS

[Sidenote: We can sing away our cares easier than we can reason them
away.--BEECHER.]

    The world will buy largely of any one who
        Can deliver the goods.
    It is ready and eager to barter if you
        Can deliver the goods.
    But don't take its order and make out the bill
    Unless you are sure you'll be able to fill
    Your contract, because it won't pay you until
        You deliver the goods.

[Sidenote: Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no
trifle.--MICHAEL ANGELO.]

    The world rears its loftiest shafts to the men
        Who deliver the goods.
    With plow, lever, brush, hammer, sword, or with pen
        They deliver the goods.
    And while we their eloquent epitaphs scan
    That say in the world's work they stood in the van,
    We know that the meaning is, "Here lies a man
        Who delivered the goods."

[Sidenote: Anxiety never yet successfully bridged over any
chasm.--RUFFINI.]

    And rude or refined be your wares, still be sure
        To deliver the goods.
    Though a king or a clown, still remember that you're
        To deliver the goods.
    If you find you are called to the pulpit to preach,
    To the grain-fields to till, to the forum to teach;
    Be you poet or porter, remember that each
        Must deliver the goods.

[Illustration: PATRICK HENRY DELIVERING HIS CELEBRATED SPEECH]




CHAPTER II

"AM I A GENIUS?"


[Sidenote: True merit is like a river, the deeper it is the less noise
it makes.--HALIFAX.]

You hope, and perchance believe, no doubt, that when you have a full
opportunity to show the world what sort of timber you are made of that
it will look upon you as being a "genius." Almost every boy cherishes
some such aspiration. And why not? Such a trend of thought is to be
encouraged. It is proper and commendable. We would all be geniuses if
we could.

[Sidenote: We know what we are, but not what we may be.--SHAKESPEARE.]

The world admires a genius. If he is the genuine article it seeks his
autograph, prints his picture in books and newspapers, and when he
passes away it is likely to build a monument over his remains.

[Sidenote: Vacillation is the prominent feature of weakness of
character.--VOLTAIRE.]

And can we all be geniuses? Some say we can and some say we cannot,
quite. Some say geniuses are born and some say they are self-made.

When Mr. Edison, the famous electrician and inventor, was asked for
his definition of genius he answered: "Two per cent is genius and
ninety-eight per cent is hard work." On another occasion when asked:
"Mr. Edison, don't you believe that genius is inspiration?" he replied,
"No! genius is perspiration."

[Sidenote: Conduct is three-fourths of life.--EMERSON.]

This definition of genius quite agrees with that given by the American
statesman, Alexander Hamilton, who said: "All the genius I have lies in
just this: When I have a subject in hand, I study it profoundly. Day
and night it is before me. I explore it in all its bearings; my mind
becomes pervaded with it. Then the effort which I make the people are
pleased to call genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought."

[Sidenote: We must not yield to difficulties, but strive the harder to
overcome them.--ROBERT E. LEE.]

Helvetius, the famous French philosopher, says: "Genius is nothing but
a continued attention," and Buffon tells us that "genius is only a
protracted patience."

[Sidenote: Through every clause and part of speech of a right book, I
meet the eyes of the most determined men.--EMERSON.]

Turner, the great landscape painter, when asked how he had achieved
his great success, replied: "I have no secret but hard work. This is a
secret that many never learn, and they do not succeed because they do
not learn it. Labor is the genius that changes the world from ugliness
to beauty."

[Sidenote: All your Greek will never advance you from secretary to
envoy, or from envoy to ambassador; but your address, your air, your
manner, if good, may.--CHESTERFIELD.]

"The man who succeeds above his fellows," says Lord Lytton, "is the
one who early in life clearly discerns his object and toward that
object habitually directs his powers. Even genius itself is but fine
observation strengthened by fixity of purpose. Every man who observes
vigilantly and resolves steadfastly grows unconsciously into genius."

"Am I a genius?"

[Sidenote: 'Tis the mind that makes the body rich.--SHAKESPEARE.]

Now that you have asked the question, why not carefully think it
over and determine what the answer should be? Have you patience and
determination? Are you cultivating the habit of sticking to it?


    STICK TO IT

[Sidenote: To read without reflection is like eating without
digesting.--BURKE.]

    O prim little postage-stamp, "holding your own"
        In a manner so winning and gentle.
    That you're "stuck on" your task--(is that slang?)--you will own,
        And yet, you're not two-cent-imental.
    I have noted with pride that through thick and through thin
        You cling to a thing till you do it,
    And, whatever your aim, you are certain to win
        Because you seem bound to stick to it.

[Sidenote: I learnt that nothing can constitute good breeding that has
not good nature for its foundation.--BULWER.]

    Sometimes when I feel just like shirking a task
        Or quitting the work I'm pursuing,
    I recall your stick-to-it-ive-ness and I ask,
        "Would a postage-stamp do as I'm doing?"
    Then I turn to whatever my hands are about
        And with fortified purpose renew it,
    And the end soon encompass, for which I set out,
        If, only, like you, I stick to it.

    The sages declare that true genius, so called,
        Is simply the will to "keep at it."
    A "won't-give-up" purpose is never forestalled,
        No matter what foes may combat it.
    And most of mankind's vaunted progress is made,
        O stamp! if the world only knew it,
    By noting the wisdom which you have displayed
        In sticking adhesively to it.

[Sidenote: To acquire a few tongues, says a French writer, is the
task of a few years; but to be eloquent in one is the labor of a
life.--COLTON.]

Genius has a twin brother whose name is Patience. The one is quite
often mistaken for the other, which is not strange since they resemble
each other so closely their most intimate friends can scarcely tell
them apart. These two brothers usually work together, which enables the
world to tell who and what they are, for whenever either of them is
employed singly and alone he is hardly ever recognized.

[Sidenote: To be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance.--BISHOP
TAYLOR.]

One of these brothers plants the tree and the other cares for it until
the fruit is finally matured. The tree which Genius plants would never
amount to much if Patience were to grow tired of watering and caring
for it. There are weeds to be kept down, branches to be pruned, the
soil must be looked after, worms'-nests must be destroyed, and many
things must be done before the fruit is ready to harvest.

[Sidenote: Life is not so short but that there is always room enough
for courtesy.--EMERSON.]

If Patience were to refuse to work at any time the whole undertaking
would prove a failure. But he does not. He performs his plain, simple
duty, day after day, year after year, until, after long waiting,
there is the beautiful fruit at last. It looks very pretty, but it is
not yet quite ripe. Pick it too soon and it will shrivel up and lack
flavor. But Patience has learned to wait until the day and the hour of
perfection is at hand, and lo! there is his great reward!

[Sidenote: A man's own good breeding is the best security against other
people's ill manners.--CHESTERFIELD.]

The people say: "See this wonderful fruit that grew on the tree which
Genius planted!" But Genius, who is wiser than the multitude, says,
"See this wonderful fruit that grew on the tree which Patience tended!"

[Sidenote: Common sense bows to the inevitable and makes use of
it.--WENDELL PHILLIPS.]

Patience and perseverance are the qualities that enable one to work out
his problems in school and his larger problems in the big university
of the busy world.

[Sidenote: Above all things, reverence yourself.--PYTHAGORAS.]

    Toil holds all genius as his own,
      For in his grasp a strength is hid
    To make of polished words or stone
      A poem or a pyramid.

It has been very truly said that if we will pick up a grain a day and
add to our heap we shall soon learn by happy experience the power of
littles as applied to intellectual processes and possessions.

[Sidenote: To Adam, Paradise was home; to the good among his
descendants, home is Paradise.--HARE.]

The road to success, says one of the world's philosophers, is not to be
run upon by seven-league boots. Step by step, little by little, bit by
bit; that is the way to wealth, that is the way to wisdom, that is the
way to glory. The man who is most likely to achieve success in life is
the one who when a boy learns to


    KEEP PEGGING AWAY

[Sidenote: To give happiness is to deserve happiness.--ROSSEAU.]

    Men seldom mount at a single bound
      To the ladder's very top;
    They must slowly climb it, round by round,
      With many a start and stop.
    And the winner is sure to be the man
      Who labors day by day,
    For the world has learned that the safest plan
      Is to keep on pegging away.

[Sidenote: Self-respect,--that corner-stone of all virtues.--JOHN
HERSCHEL.]

    You have read, of course, about the hare
      And the tortoise--the tale is old--
    How they ran a race--it counts not where--
      And the tortoise won, we're told.
    The hare was sure he had time to pause
      And to browse about and play,
    So the tortoise won the race because
      He just kept pegging away.

    A little toil and a little rest,
      And a little more earned than spent,
    Is sure to bring to an honest breast
      A blessing of glad content.
    And so, though skies may frown or smile,
      Be diligent day by day;
    Reward shall greet you after while
      If you just keep pegging away.

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