The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-06-27
JUVENILE COLUMN.
ONE STEP AT A TIME.


A,f;rst there were many things to look at
) that Charlie, who wss climbing up with
lis father, had not thought about the steep,
<eoe nnon another, with the purple heather
growjng here and there on the little ledRes,
as if some careful gardener had planted it
z there to make the most of room the little
stream gurgling and foaming, following
|5the course marked out for it, and deter
mined not to be turned aside, and leaping
spver the precipices as if it laughed at the
grim old rocks, and said to them,-"Down
"a 60, you can't hinder me-" the graceful
xlady- fern peeping from under the crags,
8and the cotton grass, so white and feathery,
towering the dark, boggy ground the large
Rbird that kept wheeling around them, and
(which Charlie thought was an eagle
&though it was only kite (; the little noun
ktain sheep, they were so small and 30 very
white-ail he had enjoyed very much, till
lust as far off as ever; 30 that his cou-
SWe don't get a bit nearer, father" he
cried, as he threw himself down npon q
mossy stone; so we had better give it
up."
4 and don't lose heart" said his father.
H"Rest q few minutes, and then make an
Other effort. / see you have not yet learned
the best way up the hill"
sNo, father what is it "said Charlie,
hooking around to see whether there was
an easier path they might have token.
"One stsp at a time, Charlie; that is the
best way"
"But that is the only way anywhere !
end Charlie looked again rather puzzled.
"Quite true, my boy but truer still in
going up a mountain. What 1 mean is
: fhis if You look at the difficulties before
you, how high the summit is, and how far
s of it seems, you lose your courage but 1t
you only think of what is just beneath
you, and take one step, and then another,
( then another. why, each one is taking you
nearer and nearer; and little by little,
step by step, you get to your journeys
end"
~ see, seer cried Charlie, springing
up "hurrah then, here goes!" and in a
very short time he was sitting on the pile
= of stones at the mountain g summit, reward
: ed for his toll, and refreshed by the breeze
and heartily enjoying the contents of the
basket his father had carried up for
him.
The holidays were over. The mountains
q were left behind with the heather and the
streams, the free fresh air. and the cloudy
! shadow and the everyday world and
Il the dull routine of school life had come in
stead.
Charlie was sitting at his desk, poring
over his Latin translation. 1t was what he
called rather tough; it was much harder
Charlie, as yOu may have guessed, was not
Fery fond of difficulties. He began any
thing very eagerly, but if he found he could
hot jump to the end at once he was apt to
tire of it and throw it aside.
40 dear!" he cried again, II can't see my
way through it all, 1never shall under
stand Latin.,,
20 Charlie, Cbarlie!, said his father;
"have you forgotten the Welsh mountain Ms
alreadyf Remember the best way up the
hill is also the best through the Latin gram
mar. Step by step will carry you over
harder than this. Don't be thinking about
the future at all do with all your heart,
to- days appointed task, that is one step
TO- morrow will bring to morrow's task,
that isanother and though you may not see
at the time that it tells for much, yet when
you look back at the end of the half year,
you will find real progress has been made,
and that one step at a time has carried you
a good way up the hill"
"Father," said Charlie, half an hour af-
terward, when be met him in the garden,
81 am afraid have not much patience
with my books. 1 wish had. But there
it is SO dull and tiiesome to go on plodding.
How nice it must be to be clever, and then
one might grow wise without all this
trouble"
His father shook his head. "You have
often heard me say there is no royal road
to learning. 1t would do you very little
III 6ooA W NC SISNSlJ yOu "oLo pcLoo-
vering too. Nearly all the learned men in the
world have gained their knowledge piece
by piece, and little by little. They have all
travelled the same road before you, if you
would only believe it. A house is built one
brick On top of another, and all our great
discoveries and inventions have been made
not all at once, but by slow degrees-a
happy thought from one man, and then a
bright idea from another. Paintings and
sculptures did not spring out of peoples
hands by magic but were the work OF
months and years of patient labor, such
as you would call dull and tiresome. How
ever, hope you will learn better as you
grow older"
:" will try father to show you that
mean it; will go now and weed my gar
oen. began last week but it was 80 over
grown that got tired and gaveit up. Now
You shall see what can do"
=, Charlie set to work, and weeded hard
.ss s9sE Gay, and the next day, and the day
SS;eef, 30 by the end of the week he called
us lather to look at his now neat and tidy