iding it; that is,
when you are in danger of falling to the right you must turn the front
wheel to the right. If you do not, you will fall off.

Here again, you see, you must be tied in order to be free.

You will find that a rule all through life. That is why your parents and
teachers lay down so many rules for you. It is not because they want to
hedge you in and torment you, but that you may be free men and women
later.

Boys and girls who are never tied up, sooner or later find that as men
and women they are not free. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, would
not be tied up to any rules as a girl. She was wilful and wild, so in
later life she caused the death of her husband and herself.

That same rule is even true of stars. Comets are tramp stars. They
refuse to be tied up, and they ramble about all over the sky. So they
never have trees and flowers on them. Our earth, on the other hand, is
tied up to the sun and goes round it like a horse round a racetrack, and
so it is bound by seasons and brings forth beautiful trees and flowers.

Among other disadvantages of being a comet is that comets are in danger
of losing a great part of their substance every time they approach the
sun. Halley's comet, which used to be such a wonderful sight, has
dwindled away to a very great extent. When it came a few years ago
scarcely any one saw it.

So it is always: to be really free and to grow you must be tied; and I
hope that none of you children will ever be fretful when your parents
and teachers make rules that you do not see the meaning of, but which
are for your good.

CUTTING CORNERS

Have you boys and girls ever noticed how all the curbings at the corners
of the streets in the city are worn smooth by drivers of carts and
wagons trying to cut the corners as closely as possible?

But the principal thing to notice about those curbs is that you will
often find on them the paint, sometimes red and sometimes black or
yellow, scratched off the wheels of these carriages that are so anxious
to cut corners. And the wheels that cut corners soon get to looking
shabby from lack of paint.

That is the way it nearly always happens with people who try to cut
corners. I know boys and girls who try it in school.

They try to skim through by doing just as little work as possible. They
cut the corners as closely as possible with their lessons, so that they
can have time for play. They do that with the work in subtraction, and