We sometimes hear of people being suffocated by gas, but it is not often
we hear of trees being suffocated.

But the other day I was walking down the street, and noticed that all
the trees on one side of the avenue for several blocks were dead. They
looked as if they had been fine, strong, healthy trees, and I could not
understand why they had all died, until I was told that a gas-pipe
beneath their roots had leaked, and that the escaping gas had killed the
trees.

I am sure you and I know people who are like those dead trees: they have
become discouraged and wilted, and if you and I could dig down into
their lives we should probably find something like that poisonous gas
which has ruined them.

Sin is the most poisonous thing that gets into one's life.

If a boy or girl has done wrong and is hiding it from his father and
his mother, and his conscience is pricking him all the time, then he
cannot be sunny and healthy like a growing tree. He becomes cross and
easily provoked, and is sulky and wilted.

If you have done something wrong, which you ought to tell your parents
about, do not go to sleep until you have told them. If you do, you will
wake in the morning with dread, and you will go around all day with a
dull ache which will spoil all the sunshine. Moreover, if you begin
keeping secrets from your parents in this way you will have no one to
check you in your misdeeds. Your parents may punish you, but they are
the best friends you have. And besides, there is no punishment like
hiding a feeling of guilt. The next best thing after keeping from doing