ON TIME


I once lived in a town of some five thousand population. In the center
of the town was a public square, and at the most prominent corner of the
square was a jeweler's store. In the window of the store was a clock
which regulated the coming and going of nearly all the inhabitants. You
see the children on their way to school had to pass this store, and they
always glanced in the window to see if they were on time. People going
away had to pass this store to get to the depot; they too looked at the
jeweler's clock to see if they had plenty of time to make their train.
The men who worked in the main factory of the town went by this corner;
each man as he passed would pull out his watch and set it by the
jeweler's clock.

Now one morning, for some reason or other, the clock was fifteen minutes
slow. Children, hurrying to school, looked in at the window, and, seeing
how much time they had they loitered and were late. Men and women, going
to the train or work, glanced at the clock, as was their custom, and,
finding that they did not have to hurry some missed their train, while
others were behind time at work.

We are all human clocks. We set the time for others. Your example, girls
and boys, has much to do with the way other young people, your
companions, act. If you, Mary, fail to get your lessons, some of your
friends are going to say, "Mary doesn't study much and I'm not going to
either." Robert, if you indulge in some bad habit your chum is going to
say, "Robert does this and I guess I can too." Is your life clock