you give to a girl
thrills you--really it is one of the greatest minutes of your life. The
next girl you kiss seems less of a pleasure. Then after a while it
becomes a mere habit; it loses all sense of enjoyment--the holiness has
long since been done away with. Stronger desires than kissing arise and
soon you are not the man God intended you to be. You will have a low
idea of women. Even your wife, if you get the sweetest and purest in the
world, will not seem so to you. Marriage will not be a sacred
fulfillment; it will be a commonplace event."

His arms had tightened around her, but he was silent.

"And," she continued, "your future career as a man will be touched. You
cannot think clearly or act quickly when any of the senses of your body
have been impaired. Lust kills ambition, ability and power. I do not
mean that every boy who starts in this way has the same fatal ending,
but a great many do. There is the half-way place where many men stop;
yet you will find they are not real men. It will be so much holier and
better to stay at the beginning."

She sat silent, waiting for him to speak. At last he did. "Of course,
Beth, I wouldn't want to go even half-way, now; I wouldn't even want to
touch"--and a tender smile played around his lips--"any roses but one.
But I cannot see yet why I can't let her know that I care for her; I
will be constant. I want to like her and I want her to like me."

She drew a sharp breath. "You mean you will crush the petals of your own
rose, and then enjoy the heart when it is opened. When you come back you
may not even want to see that heart; you are just a boy. If you do,
there will be times when you will see those crushed petals and be
sorry. You may blame yourself, but you will probably blame Rose. You may
grow so discontented that you will blame another man. If you know she
allowed you these caresses, these little familiarities, you will think
she would allow others."

He spoke with pride. "I know Rose."

"We will look at it from her side. After she realizes those petals have
been crushed by you she may be afraid of the future. She may be afraid
that you have wandered far into the garden and come back to her a
worn-out traveller. She may be afraid that you will not appreciate her
and that you will not deal rightly with her."

He laughed. "I am not afraid of that."

"Other girls just as constant in their friendship as Rose have felt that
way," she said in a low voice.

"What do