e New Testament.

So long as abnormalities of character do not become too pronounced, friends
must be content.

Such children must be trained to express themselves in a practical manner,
not in weaving gorgeous phantasies in which they march to imaginary
victory. Day dreams form one of those unlatched doors of the madhouse that
swing open at a touch, the phantasy of to-day being written "emotional
dementia" on a lunacy certificate to-morrow.

Finally, remember that above them hangs the curse:

"Unstable as water, _thou shall not excel_."

"Go thou softly with them, all their days!" and whether your tears fall on
the ashes of a loved and loving, but weak and wilful one, or whether their
tears bedew the grave of the only friend they ever knew, you will not have
lacked a rich reward.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXII

DANGERS AT AND AFTER PUBERTY

"Th' expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, Lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had,
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so;
Had, having had, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream;
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well,
To shun the Heaven that leads men to this Hell!"
--Shakespeare. Sonnet 129.

At puberty (from the age of 11-15) a boy becomes capable of paternity, a
girl of maternity; during adolescence (from puberty to 25) the body in
general, and the reproductive organs in particular, grow and mature.

In the boy, semen is secreted, the voice breaks, the genitals enlarge, hair
grows on the pubes, face and armpits, and there is a rapid increase in
height owing to growth of bone. In the girl menstruation commences, the
pelvis is enlarged, bust and breasts develop, the complexion brightens, the
hair becomes glossy, and the eyes bright and attractive.

In both, the sexual instinct awakens, and the mental, like the physical,
changes are profound. There is great general instability, the child, at one
time shy and reticent, is at another, boisterous and self-assertive.

Parents rarely realize the importance and trying nature of this period when
"there awakes an app