STRIKE THE KNOT.



"STRIKE the knot, boy, strike the knot!" said a gentleman one day to his son, who, tired and weary, was leaning on his ax over a log which he had in vain been trying to cleave. Then, looking at the log, the gentleman saw how the boy had hacked and chipped all around the knot without hitting it. Taking the ax, he struck a few sharp blows on the knot, and split the log without difficulty. Smiling, he returned the ax to his son, saying, "Always strike the knot."

That was good advice. It is as good for you, dear children, as it was for the boy to whom it was first given. It is a capital maxim to follow when you are in trouble. 

Have you a hard sum to do at school? Are you obliged to face difficulty? Are you leaving home to live for the first time among strangers? Strike the knot! Look your trouble in the eye, as the bold lion hunter looks in the face of the lion. Never shrink from a painful duty, but step right up to it and do it. Yes, strike the knot, boys and girls, and you will always conquer your difficulties.