There was hardly time in the press of school work for the weekly
meetings, and, besides, out of the little club had grown what was
known as the Boys' Civic League, an organization among schoolboys, in
which, under the direction of one of their professors, they studied
the history of their own town and pledged themselves to do all they
could for its welfare. So, as Mrs. Howard wished it, the Good
Neighbors gave up their club and joined the League.
They still considered themselves her boys, however, and a week seldom
passed in which some of them did not spend an hour with her. They owed
more than they knew to her companionship, for in varying degrees her
love for what was pure and true had left its impress on their
characters. Her interest in them had grown with their years, and she
looked forward with regret to the next winter, when most of them would
go away to school. She would miss their boyish devotion, and she
dreaded the temptations which they must so surely meet. Each one must
fight his own battle, she knew, and she had not much fear for quiet,
painstaking Will, or even for Carl, with all his faults; Ikey was
still a good deal of a child, conscientious and open-hearted; but
Aleck, with his brightness and indolence, and Jim, with his handsome
face, engaging ways, and money, gave her most concern.
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