ct only with his peers. His gang is as
exclusive as the traditions of Sons of the Revolution. The
non-christians of other lands, like the non-christians of North America,
somehow or other, have got to get as good as he is--not in morals, but
in genuine worth-whileness. If they can "pull off a couple of stunts"
that are beyond him, watch his real admiration and interest grow. Maybe,
after a while, we will drop the word Missions and substitute another
word--Extension. Perhaps! Then the fellow whom he teaches to "throw a
curve" in the vacant lot, or the foreign-speaking boy, who can "shoot a
basket," to whom he gives a half-hour lesson in English, or the Hindoo
lad, who easily swims the Ganges, and who is being sent to school by his
gang, will all command his interest, because they are partners with him
in the common things of his everyday life. The boy grows by
ever-widening circles of interest; first, the self, then the gang, then
the school life, then his city, then the state, then the nation, and so
on--out to humanity. And all of it must be on a par with his highest
ideals. That which falls below meets his contempt. Interest, then, in
non-christian folks in foreign lands, will become the boy's interest
only when it reaches his admiration and the level of the worth-while.
The pity and love that burns to help another is a mature passion, and is
only in germ in boyhood. It is capable, however, of great development.

The interest of the early adolescent is primarily physical. Most of his
life centers in his play and games. Wise educators are using the play
instinct as a medium for his education. Manual training is increasing,
the formal work of the class-room is taking on the nature of competition
and music, even music with its old-time monotony and routine of running
scales in the practice period under parental persuasion, has ceased to
be a thing of dread, and has become a delightful thing of play--a
building of houses, a planting of seeds, etc.

The heart of missions is a genuine regard for the highest welfare of the
non-christian, a real interest in the lives of others. Now interest is
the act of being caught and held by something. It is also temporary, as
well as permanent. This depends wholly on how much one is caught and
held. This fact is as true in boyhood as in manhood. Further, interests
are matters of association--one interest is the path to another.
Perhaps, then, the boy's play may widen to embrace China.