afternoon, and as he did not like the idea of stopping after school, he
gave pretty close attention to his book during the rest of the session.
About fifteen minutes after the school was dismissed, he told the
teacher he was prepared to recite, and he succeeded in getting through
the lesson with tolerable accuracy. When he had finished, the teacher
talked with him very plainly about his indolent habits in school, and
the consequences that would hereafter result from them.

"I would advise you," he said, "to do one of two things,--either commit
your lessons perfectly, hereafter, or else give up study entirely, and
ask your father to take you from school and put you to some business.
You can learn as fast as any boy in school, if you will only give your
attention to it; but I despise this half-way system that you have
fallen into. It is only wasting time to half learn a thing, as you did
your geography lesson this afternoon. You studied it just enough to
get a few indistinct impressions, and what little you did learn you
were not sure of. It would be better for you to master but one single
question a day, and then _know_ that you know it, than to fill your
head with a thousand half-learned, indefinite, and uncertain ideas. I
have told you all this before, but you do not seem to pay any attention
to it. I am sorry that it is so, for you might easily stand at the
head of the school, if you would try."

Oscar _had_ received such advice before, but, as his teacher intimated,
he had not profited much by it. If anything, he had grown more
indolent and negligent, within a few months. On going home that night,
Ralph accosted him with the inquiry:

"What did you think of the blackboard, Oscar? Do you suppose you
should know it again, if you should happen to see it?"