loose he is doomed. He is deceived. He finds out his mistake when it
is too late.

[Illustration: Fig. 81]

"Sometimes, the fisherman uses a spoon hook or other bait in which the
hooks are hidden beneath some bright-colored feathers or other
material which looks tempting to the fish. The intended victim dashes
after the alluring bait, seeing nothing but the glitter of the bright
metal or the brilliancy of the colors. He loses his life as a result.

"It seems strange--doesn't it--that fish can be fooled in this way?
And yet, I am not sure but that people are just as foolish themselves,
very often. Ask the drunkard how he happened to reach the low depths
to which he has fallen, and he will tell you that when he, as a young
man, took his first glass, it was in a brilliantly-lighted place
where, it seemed, the air was filled with good fellowship, and he
thought he was happy. At that very moment, he was pursuing the
glittering, attractive bait which later proved to be his utter
ruination. _He had not seen the hidden hooks._ Ask the thief,
confined in his lonely cell, how he happened to become an outcast, and
he may tell you that it started in school when he thought it a very
happy thing to cheat in his examinations and thus acquire the habit of
being dishonest. He did not see the hidden hooks which the evil one
had placed there to deceive and catch him.

"Jesus wants all the boys and girls to be watchful of the snares of
life and to live so truly that they will easily escape the temptations
which abound everywhere. 'Take heed,' he said, 'Watch ye, therefore,
and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things.'"

THE MASK
--Sincerity
--Truth

Let Us Ask Ourselves Earnestly if We Are Guilty of Wearing It.

THE LESSON--That the world honors and respects an honest man, one
who does not fear the opinion of those about him.

We recall the words of Jesus, who, in His Sermon on the Mount, warned
his hearers to "beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps'
clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves," and we reflect how
applicable are the words in modern times. Everywhere, one must beware
the snares and deceit of the servants of Satan, who, with pleasing
outward appearance, entrap their victims. It is a delight and a
satisfaction, then, to find real truth and sincerity in the earth, and
it is to be found if we but look for it.

~~The Talk.~~

"It is said that when a thief