at nobody would
expect that the white sticks would transfer their purity and cleanness
to this black stick. When I mix them, or rub them together, the black
sticks get no whiter, but all the white sticks get blacker.

[Illustration: White and Charred Sticks.]

That is the way it always is with the boys who keep bad company. Instead
of exerting a good influence, so as to reform and purify, and make good
boys of the bad boys, the bad boys make bad boys of the good boys. At
first the good boys are horrified at what they hear and see the bad boys
say and do. After a while it ceases to be unpleasant to them. A little
later they may possibly laugh at the bad boys, but after a while they
will come to like the bad boys, and finally they will do as the bad
boys do and become like them in conduct and in character.

Perhaps you have seen boys who like to take cork and burn it in the
candle or fire, and then blacken their faces with it, so as to make them
look like colored people. Now, it is not the best thing for a white boy
to try to look like a colored boy, but if he does rub this black on his
face, he can wash it off with soap and water. But when a good boy goes
with bad boys and his character becomes tarnished and blackened, he
cannot cleanse and purify it so easily. He not only gets a bad character
but a bad reputation as well, both of which are very difficult to
cleanse or to get rid of.

[Illustration: Glass of Water and Bottle of Ink.]

Now, here I have a glass of water and a bottle of ink. If I take and
pour a half a teaspoonful of this water into the ink, it makes no
particular difference in its color. But if I take only two or three
drops of ink and mix them with the water, it discolors the entire glass
of water at once. One or two good boys in the midst of many bad ones are
likely to be influenced in a bad direction. This is especially true if
the good boys have sought the bad boys as companions. Even one or two
bad boys, placed in the midst of several good boys, may exert a very bad
influence over them. I suppose you have all seen this illustrated in the
school room. You may have had a set of good boys, or a set of good girls
in your class, but some day a bad boy came to the school, or a bad girl
joined the class and they were frivolous, laughed and talked and were
disorderly, disobeyed the teacher, played truant and did all kinds of
naughtiness when in school, and it had its bad effect upon the entire
class, and