for us for we have been forehanded--we have a _new crew on
board to chase away the cares of old age and infirmities_.

Try how we will there is no way to forestall the operation of the law of
compensation. We reap as we sow. The world will be good to those who
compel its respect by becoming the right sort of citizens. _Wedlock in
time--that's the answer_!

CHAPTER XIX

LAUGH AND LIVE

Again I find it expedient to resort to the personal pronoun and
therefore this final chapter is to be devoted to "_you_ and _me_." There
are facts you may want to know _for sure_ and one of them is whether or
not I live up to my own prescription.

I do--_and it's easy_!

I have kept myself happy and well through keeping my physical department
in first class order. If that had been left to take care of itself I
would surely have fallen by the wayside in other departments. Once we
sit down in security the world seems to _hand us things we do not need_.

Fresh air is my intoxicant--and it keeps me in high spirits. My system
doesn't crave artificial stimulation because _my daily exercise_
quickens the blood sufficiently. Then, too, I manage to _keep busy_.
That's the real elixir--_activity_! Not always physical activity,
either, for I must read good books in order to exercise my mind in other
channels than just my daily routine--and add to my store of knowledge as
well.

Then there is my _inner-self_ which must have attention now and then.
For this a little solitude is helpful. We have only to sense the
phenomena surrounding us to know that we must have a _working
faith_--something _practical_ to live by, which automatically keeps us
on our course. The mystery of life somehow loses its density _if we
retain our spark of hope_.

All of my life since childhood I have held Shakespeare in constant
companionship. Aside from the Bible--which is entirely apart from all
other books--Shakespeare has no equal. My father, partly from his love
for the great poet, and partly for the purpose of aiding me to memorize
accurately, taught me to recite Shakespeare before I was old enough to
know the meaning of the words. I remembered them, however, and in later
years I grew to know their full significance. Then I became an ardent
follower of the Master Philosopher, than whom no greater interpreter of
human emotions ever lived. In the matter of sage advice there has never
been his equal. In "_Hamlet_" we find the wonderful words of admonition