On the morrow, after morning service, the three boys (Dick having been invited to spend the day with Frank) were walking from church and talking upon the sermon which Mr. Meredith had just preached to them. It was a beautiful morning--one of those days on which it is a treat to live. The sun shone from a sky which was brilliant in its blue and white, the waters of the lake sparkled diamond-like under the stirring influence of a warm westerly wind. The scent of the honeysuckle and the roses in the cottage gardens filled the air with pleasant incense, and from every tall tree-top a thrush or blackbird sang his merriest. "That wasn't a bad motto which Meredith took for his text: 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,'" said Frank. "I think it is a motto you endeavour to carry out, Frank," answered Jimmy. "Well, I think if a fellow does that he can't be far wrong," replied Frank; "but here is the parson himself." A tall, broad-shouldered man came quickly up and said to them: "Well, boys, I hope you are applying my sermon to yourselves." "We should be glad to do so if we were quite sure about the application, Mr. Meredith," replied Frank. "Ah, you young rascal, you could not have been attending; but seriously, what I meant was this: You boys, and especially Master Frank, are very prone to take up a thing with all your might when once you begin. Now that is very right and proper. Whatever you do you should do your best to do well; but what I want you particularly to understand is that before taking up a thing, you should first of all think well and decide whether it is the right thing to do, and it is not until that question is settled that it becomes right to throw your whole heart into it. Now the immediate application of this is this: You are going head over heels into the study of Natural History, and you are making collections as fast as you can. Now it won't take you long to decide that Natural History is a very right and proper thing for you to take up, and therefore you may study it with all your might, and, I doubt not, to the praise and glory of God; but be very careful about the collecting part of the business. Don't let your zeal carry you too far. Don't let collecting be your sole aim and object, or you will become very low types of naturalists. Let it be only secondary and subservient to observation. Let your aim be to preserve rather than to destroy. Remember that God gave life to His creatures that they might enjoy it, as well as fulfil their missions and propagate their species. Therefore if you come across a rare bird, do not kill it unnecessarily; if you can observe its living motions it will interest you more and do you more good than will the possession of its stuffed body when dead." "I quite understand what you mean, sir," replied Frank; "and it is only what my father has often told me before. We will try to follow our pursuits in moderation."