I do n't wonder you find it `` hard to toe the mark '' , when books , pictures , ball-rooms , theatres , and streets offer temptations ; yet you can resist , if you try . Last winter Mrs Brooke used to worry about John 's being out so late reporting ; but when she spoke to him about the things he must see and hear on his way to and fro from the office at midnight , he said in his sober way , `` I know what you mean , mother ; but no fellow need to go wrong unless he wants to . '' ` That 's like the Deacon ! ' exclaimed Stuffy , with an approving smile on his fat face . ` I 'm glad you told me that . He 's right ; and it 's because he does n't want to go wrong we all respect him so , ' added Dolly , looking up now with an expression which assured his Mentor that the right string had been touched , and a spirit of emulation roused , more helpful , perhaps , than any words of hers . Seeing this , she was satisfied , and said , as she prepared to leave the bar before which her culprits had been tried and found guilty , but recommended to mercy : ` Then be to others what John is to you -- a good example . Forgive me for troubling you , my dear lads , and remember my little preachment . I think it will do you good , though I may never know it . Chance words spoken in kindness often help amazingly ; and that 's what old people are here for -- else their experience is of little use . Now , come and find the young folk . I hope I shall never have to shut the gates of Plumfield upon you , as I have on some of your `` gentlemen '' . I mean to keep my boys and girls safe if I can , and this a wholesome place where the good old-fashioned virtues are lived and taught . ' Much impressed by that dire threat , Dolly helped her from her perch with deep respect ; and Stuffy relieved her of her empty jugs , solemnly vowing to abstain from all fermented beverages except root-beer , as long as feeble flesh could hold out . Of course they made light of ` Mother Bhaer 's lecture ' when they were alone -- that was to be expected of ` men of our class ' but in their secret souls they thanked her for giving their boyish consciences a jog , and more than once afterward had cause to remember gratefully that half-hour in the tennis court . Chapter 17 . AMONG THE MAIDS Although this story is about Jo 's boys , her girls can not be neglected , because they held a high place in this little republic , and especial care was taken to fit them to play their parts worthily in the great republic which offered them wider opportunities and more serious duties . To many the social influence was the better part of the training they received ; for education is not confined to books , and the finest characters often graduate from no college , but make experience their master , and life their book . Others cared only for the mental culture , and were in danger of over-studying , under the delusion which pervades New England that learning must be had at all costs , forgetting that health and real wisdom are better . A third class of ambitious girls hardly knew what they wanted , but were hungry for whatever could fit them to face the world and earn a living , being driven by necessity , the urgency of some half-conscious talent , or the restlessness of strong young natures to break away from the narrow life which no longer satisfied .
At Plumfield all found something to help them ; for the growing institution had not yet made its rules as fixed as the laws of the Medes and Persians , and believed so heartily in the XXXXX of all sexes , colours , creeds , and ranks to education , that there was room for everyone who knocked , and a welcome to the shabby youths from up country , the eager girls from the West , the awkward freedman or woman from the South , or the well-born student whose poverty made this college a possibility when other doors were barred .
Bhaer England Plumfield Stuffy emulation fro midnight preachment right root-beer