“Behind the bread, the snowy flour; Behind the flour, the mill; Behind the mill, the growing wheat Nods on the breezy hill; Over the wheat is the glowing sun, Ripening the heart of the grain; Above the sun is the gracious God, Sending the sunlight and the rain.” FOOD AND FUEL MOTHER: See that engine. Can you tell me what gives it the power or strength to draw its heavy load? HELEN: Steam gives it power. MOTHER: And what makes the steam? ELMER: The fire in the furnace makes the water boil, and steam comes from the boiling water. MOTHER: Then the engine can do nothing unless it has fuel to burn and water to boil. It might be the best ever made, and yet do no work and have no power even to move itself. Do you suppose the engineer is careful to take plenty of the best fuel he can get, and to have a good supply of water, when he has a long journey and a heavy train? PERCY: I am sure he would be. I have read that it is counted one of the worst things an engineer can do to let his boiler get dry. MOTHER: Well, in some ways our bodies are like the engine. Can you guess what the fuel is we must have? AMY: Oh, I know! It is the food we eat. ELMER: And we must have water to drink, too. MOTHER: Yes; but what would you think of an engine driver who would fill the furnace of his engine with stones or sand, and fill the boiler with beer or whisky? PERCY: I think he wouldn’t have much steam, and his engine would soon be ruined. MOTHER: Then what shall we say about food and drink for the body, which is a hundred times more perfect in all its parts than the best engine men ever built, and so is much more apt to be injured? HELEN: We ought to give it the very best food and drink we can get. MOTHER: I think so, too. You know an engine works several hours, and is then sent to an engine house to be made ready for another trip, and, while it is running, the driver steps out at every station, almost, with his oil-can in one hand and something to clean with in the other, and he keeps cleaning it, oiling it, feeding it, and letting it drink till he comes to the end of his journey. Can you think how the body is different from this? [Illustration: “_The engine takes water without stopping._”] ELMER: When the body-machine starts running in the journey of life, it never stops to rest till it is worn out and can work no more.