“So, wherever we look, we see young men learning that the way of the saloon is the way of failure.  If they can only be halted in their way and be made to look for a moment upon another symbol—­a symbol of purity and true service—­they might be saved from the bitter path into which they are stepping. [Revise drawing by adding the bail and the lettering, completing Fig. 16.  If time will allow of the singing of a verse of ‘The Old Oaken Bucket,’ the innovation will prove a pleasing touch.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 16]

“Perhaps the warnings against liquor have become commonplace to you.  Perhaps you feel that you do not need to be told the story of the great curse.  But if the warning comes echoing back to you in the time of temptation you will bless the hearing of it, for it may mean everything to you and your loved ones and the generations to come.

“It is the Master who said, ’And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily, I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.’  But what may one lose when he puts the drunkard’s glass to the lips of a young man?

“Hear the voice of Solomon:  ’The drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.’  ’Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.’

“If Jesus held up to us a cup of cold water as the emblem of purity, let us never bring dishonor upon one of earth’s greatest blessings.

      “’Traverse the desert, and then ye can tell
        What treasures exist in the cold, deep well;
        Sink in despair on the red, parched earth,
        And then ye may reckon what water is worth.’”

—­ELIZA COOK.

TURN OVER A NEW LEAF
    —­New Year’s Day
    —­Gladness

The Psalmist Truly Says that “A Merry Heart Maketh a Cheerful
Countenance.”

THE LESSON—­That the wearing of a gloomy countenance is unpardonable and that “the smile that won’t come off” is the kind that ought to come on.

Laughter is catching.  The following chalk talk will capture an audience and bring genuine smiles as nothing else, perhaps, in this book.  It has been prepared for that purpose.  While it is arranged here as especially appropriate for the beginning of the new year, it may be used with varying applications on many other occasions.

The Talk.

“There is a good deal of consolation in the words of Cowper, who truly declares that

      “’The path of sorrow, and that path alone,
        Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown.’

“Nevertheless, most of us ask for as little real sorrow as possible while we are treading the pathway that leads to eternal peace.