ntly
he would grow up without friends, and, in all probability, in
consequence of his sins, come down to an early grave.

Mr. Spicer then addressed the scholars, and said, "All of you who think
Charles Duran ought to be expelled from the school for continued bad
conduct, raise your right hands." In a moment every right hand was
raised up!

Then Mr. Spicer said, in a solemn and affecting manner, _"Charles Duran,
with the voice of all your school-mates, you are expelled from this
school, for bad conduct."_

CHAPTER V.

CHARLES'S HABITS.

Good habits are of the greatest importance. If they are cultivated by
the young, they become fixed and permanent. Evil habits, unless they are
corrected, will increase in number and strength. The young should beware
of the first evil habit. A boy does not become a bad boy all at once: he
gives way to one bad habit, and then to another. One small sin prepares
the way for another and a greater one. Dr. Clarke says, "Sin is a small
matter in its commencement; but by indulgence it grows great, and
multiplies itself beyond all calculation." The old rabbins used to say
it was like a spider's web at first, and that it increased till it was
like a cart-rope. This is seen in the case of Charles Duran. His
expulsion from school did not improve him: he grew up in the indulgence
of his bad temper, and, instead of being a lovely, industrious boy, fond
of his studies, and attentive to his various duties, he was idle, lazy,
and vicious. When he ought to have been in school, he was fishing, and
idling away his time along the margins of the brooks and rivers. He soon
learned to use a gun, and much of his time was spent in the woods,
hunting birds, squirrels, and rabbits. Idle habits are very dangerous. A
boy or man that is habitually idle cannot be good,--mark that. The devil
will always find mischief for such persons, and he will be very sure
to get them into it.

[Illustration: CHARLES HUNTING.]

Charles had, what many boys desire, a gun, and was very fond of
shooting. Besides shooting squirrels and birds, he would shoot at marks
on his father's out-buildings and fences. There was not a door, not a
board, not a post, and scarcely a rail, in all the out-buildings and
fences, that was not full of shot-holes. This kind of shooting was a
dangerous practice. I wondered, when I examined the premises, that the
barn and sheds had not taken fire from the burning wads. It was
dangerous also to t