protecting knowledge. It is true enough that knowledge alone is not
a sure protection against wrong-doing; but you can have no moral
training without knowledge, and knowledge is the least you can give.

There is no reason why parents should think of enlightening their
children on this subject as a disagreeable necessity, instead of as
one of the important means through which to be of real help to their
children, and at the same time to help themselves to retain their
hold upon the children.




XIII.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF TRANSITION


There comes a time in the life of every boy and every girl that
brings a maximum of trials and worry--to the other people. This time
is the golden age of transition from childhood to manhood or
womanhood, the age of adolescence. If you have had annoyance and
hardship with your infants, if the children have perplexed you and
tried you--as you thought, to the limit--you may be sure that there
is more in store for you. For the age of adolescence brings with it
problems and perplexities and annoyances that will make you forget
that it's any trouble at all to look after younger children.

After years of painstaking attention to all the details of a child's
home surroundings, in the hope that this attention will result in