"Somebody said that it couldn't be done;
But he, with a chuckle, replied
That maybe it couldn't, but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in, with the trace of a grin
On his face; if he worried, he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done--and he did it.
"Somebody scoffed: 'Oh, you'll never do that;
At least, no one has ever done it.'
But he took off his coat, and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin;
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done--and he did it.
"There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done;
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Then take off your coat and go to it.
Just start in to sing, as you tackle the thing
That 'cannot be done'--and you'll do it."
*VIII*
*"I FORGOT"*
Oh, how much trouble this little fox causes!
Out West near Fort William, once occurred a serious collision--all
because an engineer forgot to watch the safety signals! A great train
was wrecked and a whole railway district held up for hours; and some
lives were lost--because a brakeman forgot to guard an open switch!
It's a bad fox, girls and boys!
It makes your character ragged and slovenly. It wastes people's time.
It causes endless confusion. It holds up plans. Somebody forgets to do
his duty and that upsets all some one else has to do; and so it goes on
and around, until things become a regular mix-up.
There is a place for a good forgetter!
It is just to forget your worries and to forget yourself; and to forget
the nasty things people do to you; and to forget your mistakes, if you
are sorry for them; and to forget that you were not invited to
somebody's party; and to forget that you fell down yesterday, if you got
up again and are still on your feet!
But it is important to have a good memory too.
A little girl forgot to post her mother's letter, and it stopped the
chance of a pleasant holiday for her grandmother, who was waiting for
directions.
A little boy forgot to close the door of the nursery when he was told,
and the baby nearly died of pneumonia.
In the days of the great war so recently closed, they had to spend
millions of dollars on making shells. They had to be very carefully
made. If a shell was more than 3/1000 of an inch more in diameter than
was called for, it was sent back. It was important not to forget this.
In fact, they had to watch against fuzz getting on the shell from the
gloves worn by the workers.
One day an inspector found a shell that would not fit. Some one forgot
to watch against the fine lint and sent in the shell which was at once
sent back.
And surely if it was so important to remember all these fine points
about a death-dealing shell, it is just as important not to forget the
little things of life, that may spoil the whole day.
A bridge-builder made out all his plans and set the men to work, and
when it was put together it was seventeen feet too short, because the
plan-maker forgot one little measure that knocked the whole work out.
I read a rather strange thing that occurred across the line among our
Southern neighbours.
A bill was passed, allowing certain goods to come in free of paying
duty. Among them were what was called foreign fruit-plants. You know
what that stroke between the two words is. It is a hyphen that joins
the words and makes them one. A clerk was copying the bill and forgot
all about the hyphen, and made the bill read "fruit, plants," etc., and
for a whole year, until their parliament met, all foreign fruit came in
free; and they say the government lost nearly $2,500,000, all because a
clerk forgot a hyphen and put in a comma instead.
But it is not only the mistake that costs, but if we will just think
that it is the memories that store up our thoughts. It is the things
marked in memory that we use for all our mind's growth.
A girl or boy who is always forgetting will some day find the life grown
up and full of emptiness; for it is what you remember that makes the
furniture in your soul's living-rooms; and if you keep on forgetting,
your soul will have bare walls, and bare floors, and all you will hear
will be echoes.
Be alert. Keep your eyes open. Attend to business. Put your mind on
things. Do not say, "I forgot!" Be ashamed to! You have no right to
forget!
You can pardon an old man whose teeth are all out and whose hair is all
off, and who is bent with age, but you have no excuse.
Your forgetter has no right to be working at all.
Stop forgetting!--Remember!
*IX*
*"BY-AND-BY"*
"Oh, dear me! What a child that is! Johnny, will you please do that
errand for me?"
"Yes, Mother, by-and-by!"'
"Mary, will you pick up your things and tidy your room? It looks as
though a storm had struck it!"
"Oh, yes, I will, by-and-by!"
When are you going to do your home work? By-and-by!
When are you going to start that job you wanted to do? By-and-by!
When are you going to be useful? By-and-by!
When are you going to bed? By-and-by!
When are you going to get up? By-and-by!
When? When? When?--By-and-by! By-and-by! By-and-by!
"By-and-by is a very bad boy,
Shun him at once and forever;
For he that goes with By-and-by
Soon comes to the town of Never!"
They say that Rothschild, one of the wealthiest men of the world, made
the beginning of his fortune by acting at the moment. He was in
Brussels and heard the report of the battle, and spurred his horse and
paid a large sum to be ferried across a river; and got to London early
in the morning before the news was abroad; and laid the foundations of
his wealth in a few hours.
That is one of the roads to success--being prompt.
The dilly-dallying, shirking, waiting girl or boy will always be at the
tail-end of things, and will never catch up enough to catch on.
Do you want to catch on?
Then do it now--not by-and-by!
There is a little poem printed in _Messenger for the Children_. I want
to repeat it to you: