“Exactly. I observe that you have a practical mind, John. Study hard; that’s the idea. But don’t let study be hard if you can help it. Try and like study, my boy. If you were master of a seining schooner and set out on a trip to The Georges you’d be doing something that would be at once pleasure and duty, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Surely. Well, see if you can’t combine pleasure and duty here, John. It’s quite possible. Study needn’t be drudgery. Keep in mind that learning is like rolling a snowball down hill. It may be slow work at first, but it gets easier every minute, and the bigger the snowball gets the more snow it takes up, until when you’ve reached the bottom of the hill maybe it’ll be all you can do to look over the top of it. And then, if you’ve put your mind on it, perhaps your snowball will be bigger than anybody else’s snowball. Now, let me see. You want to enter the First Junior Class, I think? And your age is what? Fourteen? Hm. Well, I think you ought to find your place there without much trouble. But we’ll attend to that later. You’re at West House?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s excellent. Mrs. Linn is a very capable woman and you will like her. Who are you to room with?”
“Ned Brent, sir.”
“Brent?” The Doctor’s brows went up and he was silent a moment. Once he frowned and once his hand went forth toward the telephone on the corner of the desk. Finally, however, he nodded his head slowly. “Well, maybe he’s just the boy for you,” he said thoughtfully. “We’ll see later. Ned is rather a favorite of mine, but I’m not blind to his little weaknesses. However— Well, that’s all this time, I think, John. I hope you’ll get along nicely with us and will enjoy being here. It isn’t all study here, you know; we play football and baseball and all the other games that boys like; and we try to be out of doors all we can. Healthful bodies make healthful minds, you know. The rules aren’t hard; we try not to have very many. The principal one is this, John: Be manly, straightforward and diligent. When you find that you’ve just got to break one of the regulations, go ahead and break it. Then come over here and tell me about it honestly and we’ll try to make the punishment no harder than necessary. We don’t expect every boy to behave like a sober old man all the time; boys must rare and tear a bit; all we ask is that they shall be straightforward and honest. I’ll see you at school tomorrow morning, John, and we’ll see how much you’ve already learned. Good afternoon.”
The Doctor shook hands again, the door opened and John was once more in the darkened library.
“Who is next, please?” asked the Doctor.