alone, and then, perforce, there must be deliberate planning to escape
the punishment.

This harshness also begins to raise an invisible barrier between the
child and parent. It was felt by a little maiden of rare fancy, who
said in a whisper at the conclusion of one of these marvellous tales,
"But don't tell Mamma." The impassable wall between many a mother and
daughter in later years, once consisted of but a scattered stone here
and there.

Passing by the play life of the child where the imagination has fullest
scope, the question arises as to the meaning of this power in character
building. One purpose stands paramount over every other. It is the
"ideal making factory" of the life. From transforming sticks and chairs,
the soul will one day pass to transforming memories and thoughts,
putting away the unattractive features and investing the attractive with
even more charm, through dreams of what might be. From constructing
houses out of blocks, the soul will begin to construct ideals out of its
experiences and visions, according to a pattern shown on some mount.

As childhood recedes and manhood beckons, the soul unveils this ideal,
fashioned in its secret workshop out of all that appeared most
desirable, and with strange, magnetic power, it begins to draw the life
after it. Worthy or unworthy, the years to come will see some part, at
least, of the ideal, a reality. The character of the imagination,
therefore, becomes a matter of supreme concern to nurture. It will be
healthy or diseased morally, according to the quality of the material
supplied for its use. The two great sources of this material are every
day experiences and the story. The meaning of these experiences to the
child's life has already been emphasized in various connections, and