"Don't tell me that boys have no influence," said the dark-eyed lady, with
emphasis. "Why, I myself know a boy of twelve whose influence changed the
manners of an entire hotel. Tell you about it?--Certainly. It was a family
hotel on the seacoast in southern California, and almost all the guests in
the house were there for the winter. We had become well acquainted,
and--well, lazy I guess is the best word for it. So we decided that it was
too much trouble to dress for meals, and dropped into the habit of coming
in just as we chanced to be, from lounging in the hammock, or fishing off
the pier, or bicycle riding down the beach. Our manners, too, had become
about as careless as our dress; we were there for a rest, a good time, and
these little things didn't matter, we said.
"One day there was a new arrival. Mrs. Blinn, a young widow, with her
little son, Robert, as sturdy, bright-faced a lad of twelve as one often
sees. The first time he came into the dining-room, erect, manly, with his
tie and collar and dress in perfect order, escorting his mother as if she
had been a princess, and standing till not only she, but every lady at the
table was seated, we all felt that a breath of new air had come among us,
and every one there, I think, straightened up a little. However we looked
at one another and nodded our heads, as much as to say, 'He won't keep this
up long.' We were strangers, and in the familiarity of every-day life we
did not doubt that it would soon wear away.
"But it did not. Rob was full of life, and active and busy as a boy could
well be. At the same time, when, twenty minutes before meals, his mother
blew a little silver whistle, no matter where he was or what he was doing,
everything was dropped, and he ran in to make himself ready. And every time
he came to the table, with his clean face and smooth hair and clothes
carefully arranged or changed, he was in himself a sermon on neatness and
self-respect, which, though none of us said much about it, we felt all the
same. Then by and by one and another began to respond to the little silver
whistle, as well as Rob. One laid aside a bicycle dress, another a
half-invalid negligee, till you could hardly have believed it was the same
company of a few weeks before.
"It was the same with manners. Rob's politeness, simple, unaffected, and
unfailing, at the table, on the veranda, upon the beach, wherever you met
him; his readiness to be helpful; his deference to those older; his
thoughtfulness for all, was the best lesson,--that of example. As a
consequence, the thoughtless began to remember, and the selfish to feel
ashamed, and the careless to keep themselves more in hand.
"And so, as I said in the beginning, in less than a month the whole
atmosphere of that hotel had been changed by the influence of one boy; and
the only one utterly unconscious of this was Rob himself."
This is truly a pleasing incident. We like to think of this boy who,
because he was at heart a true little gentleman, drew what was kindly and
courteous and gracious in those about him to the surface as by a magnet. In
like manner it is possible for every boy to be so true and kindly and
tender, so unselfish of action, so obedient to duty, so responsive to
conscience, that, wherever he goes, he shall carry an inspiring atmosphere
and influence with him; and whoever he meets shall, because of him, be
drawn to better thoughts and nobler living.--_Adele E. Thompson_.