two leading motives are cowardice and jealousy.
Just as the cur will wait till the big dog has passed by, and then,
slinking up behind, give a surreptitious snap at his heels, so the
sneak, instead of standing face to face with his rival, and instead of
entering into fair competition with him, creeps up unobserved and
inflicts his wound on the sly.

Thus it has been with all traitors and spies and deserters and mischief-
makers since the world began. What a list one could give of the sneaks
of history, beginning at that arch-serpent who marred the happiness of
Eden, down to some of the informers and renegades of the present day!

Boys cannot be too early on their guard against sneaking habits. No
truly English boy, we are glad to think, is likely to fall into them;
still, even among our own acquaintance, it is sad to think how many
there are who are not wholly free from the reproach.

The child in the nursery who begins to tell tales to his mother of his
little brothers and sisters will, if not corrected, grow up to be just
such another sneak as Jerry; and Jerry, unless he cures himself of his
vice, will become a mere odious meddler and scandalmonger in society,
and may arrive at the unenviable distinction of being the most detested
man of his generation.

Every disease has its cure. Be honest, be brave, be kind, and have
always a good conscience, and you _cannot_ be a sneak.

CHAPTER NINE.

THE SULKY BOY.

We all know him. He might be a good-looking fellow, perhaps, if it
weren't for the scowl over his eyes and the everlasting pout about his
lips. He skulks about with his hands in his pockets, and his head hung
down. We all make room for him, and give him a wide berth; no one is
anxious to be chosen upon the same side with him at chevy, or to get the
desk next his in school. It's a fact we are all afraid of him, though
we all despise him. He makes everybody unhappy, by being miserable
himself for no reason at all.

Sometimes, indeed, he can be jolly enough--when he chooses. No one
could tell at such times that there was anything queer about him; but
then all of a sudden he shows in his true colours (and dingy enough
colours they are), and then it is all up with enjoyment till he takes
himself off, which he generally does before long.

All this is very sad; and if I say a word or two about sulkiness now, it
will be in the hope of inducing my readers to give no encouragement to
so ugly a vice.