Amy: Oh, I know! It is the food we eat.
Elmer: And we must have water to drink, too.
Mother: Yes; but what would you think of an engine driver who would fill the furnace of his engine with stones or sand, and fill the boiler with beer or whisky?
Percy: I think he wouldn’t have much steam, and his engine would soon be ruined.
Mother: Then what shall we say about food and drink for the body, which is a hundred times more perfect in all its parts than the best engine men ever built, and so is much more apt to be injured?
Helen: We ought to give it the very best food and drink we can get.
“The engine takes water without stopping.”
Mother: I think so, too. You know an engine works several hours, and is then sent to an engine house to be made ready for another trip, and, while it is running, the driver steps out at every station, almost, with his oil-can in one hand and something to clean with in the other, and he keeps cleaning it, oiling it, feeding it, and letting it drink till he comes to the end of his journey. Can you think how the body is different from this?
Elmer: When the body-machine starts running in the journey of life, it never stops to rest till it is worn out and can work no more.