room and took all my clothes except my shirt. I certainly was in a fix.
I had to catch for my team and I would not miss that game of ball for
anything in the world; I simply had to go. In looking around the room I
found a skirt belonging to my sister that I thought would answer my
purpose. I had my shirt on and I put the skirt on over my head. Then I
ripped the skirt up the center and tied it around each leg with a piece
of cord--anything for that game!--and there I was with a pair of
trousers manufactured out of a girl's skirt. But I had to catch that
game of ball that day at any cost. Getting to the ground was easy. I
opened the window and let myself down as far as I could and then
dropped. I arrived all right, a little shaken up, but what is that to a
boy who has a ball game in his head!

I got to the game all right and some of the boys fixed me up. I don't
remember which side won that game, but when it was finished I went home
and met mother, and the interview was not a pleasant one, though she did
not give me a whipping.

I used to read novels, any number of them, in those days--all about
Indians, pirates, and all those blood-and-thunder tales--lies. You can
not get any good out of them, and they do corrupt your mind. I would
advise the young people who read these lines, and older folks also, if
this is your style of reading, to stop right where you are. Get some
good books--there are plenty of them--and don't fill your mind with
stuff that only unfits you for the real life of the years to come.

[Illustration: A NOON SHOP MEETING ADDRESSED BY MR. RANNEY.]