CHAPTER XXIX 



EATING 



I know a farmer who never hires a man to help him 

 work on the farm until he has seen him eat. He says 

 he can tell by the way the man eats whether he is likely 

 to work well or not. 



We are apt to think that a man is healthy, vigorous, 

 and able to work if he has a good appetite ; and when 

 we hear a boy say, " I am as hungry as a bear," we are 

 quite sure that he is well, while we also suspect that he 

 is growing fast. 



It is a good sign to feel hungry. In fact, that is the 

 way the body rings the bell to tell us that it needs food 

 to make flesh and brains out of. If a boy never felt 

 hungry, he might be so busy with his tops, his balls, and 

 his books as to forget his eating entirely. If he did not 

 eat, he would grow thinner and weaker day by day until 

 he was nothing but skin and bone and unable to walk, 

 and at last he would stop living entirely. That is what 

 happens when people starve to death. 



Even when people have food enough they make great 

 mistakes about eating. Every child should know four 

 things in this direction. 



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