way, and that he knew that the log was
firm and steady, and that he could go over it without falling in. "And
so you thought you had good reasons for disobeying me," rejoined George.
"Yes," said Egbert, triumphantly. "That is just it," said George. "You
are willing to obey, except when you think you have good reasons for
disobeying, and then you disobey. That's the way a great many boys do, and
that reminds me of the story I was going to tell you. It is about some
soldiers."

George then told Egbert a long story about a colonel who sent a captain
with a company of men on a secret expedition with specific orders, and the
captain disobeyed the orders and crossed a stream with his force, when he
had been directed to remain on the hither side of it, thinking himself that
it would be better to cross, and in consequence of it he and all his force
were captured by the enemy, who were lying in ambush near by, as the
colonel knew, though the captain did not know it. George concluded his
story with some very forcible remarks, showing, in a manner adapted to
Egbert's state of mental development, how essential it was to the character
of a good soldier that he should obey implicitly all the commands of his
superior, without ever presuming to disregard them on the ground of his
seeing good reason for doing so.

He then went on to relate another story of an officer on whom the general
could rely for implicit and unhesitating obedience to all his commands, and
who was sent on an important expedition with orders, the reasons for which
he did not understand, but all of which he promptly obeyed, and thus
brought the expedition to a successful conclusion. He made the story
interesting to Egbert by narrating many details of a character adapted
to Egbert's comprehension, and at the end drew a moral from it for his
instruction.

_The Moral_.

This moral was not, as some readers might perhaps anticipate, and as,
indeed, many persons of less tact might have made it, that Egbert ought
himself, as a boy, to obey those in authority over him. Instead of this he
closed by saying: "And I advise you, if you grow up to be a man and ever
become the general of an army, never to trust any captain or colonel with
the charge of an important enterprise, unless they are men that know how
to obey." Egbert answered very gravely that he was "determined that he
wouldn't."

Soon after this George bade him good-night and went away. The next day he
told Egber