an evil influence on those boys. Indeed, Mrs. Roberts was known to
remark, a few Sundays afterwards, that if there _were_ no opening
and closing exercises in the Sabbath-school, her work would be easier;
that street boys did not seem to have one element of devotion in them,
and needed to be kept at high pressure, in order to be able to control
themselves.

The thought is worthy of study, perhaps. It is just possible that our
opening and closing exercises are too long drawn out even for those who
are not street boys.

Be that as it may, the little spell which Mrs. Roberts had been able for
a few minutes to weave around her boys on this particular Sabbath, was
broken by the sound of the bell. The boys returned to their memories of
insult, as they regarded the police force. They muttered sullenly among
themselves about "traps" and "sells," and "guessed they wouldn't get
caught here again;" and Mrs. Roberts, seeming not to hear, heard with a
heavy heart.

How angry they looked! Even Nimble Dick's usually merry face was clouded
over. What a curious thing it was that even they had their ideas of
propriety, and felt themselves insulted! Was it an instinct, she
wondered--a reminder that there was in them material for manhood?

Would they ever, any of them, be men--Christian gentlemen? It seemed
almost too great a stretch for even her imagination. As she moved in her
seat her delicately-embroidered, perfumed handkerchief fell to the
floor. Mrs. Roberts was used to young men--mere boys, even--whose
instinctive movement would be to instantly restore it to her. Not a boy
before her thought of such a thing. She had not expected it, of course.