A boy, in his youth living
over again the history of his progenitors, escapes his nurse to become
an adventurer. At ten he is a pirate, at twelve a train robber, at
fourteen an aviator, actually living in all his thoughts and experiences
the life of his hero of the moment, learning all the while that the
world about him is full of adventurers like himself, ready to dispute
his claims at the slightest pretext, or to carry off his booty by
prevailing physical force.
Well-brought-up girls seldom are fortunate enough to have such educative
experiences. Their friends are selected for them, gentle untaught
creatures like themselves. Few of them learn much of the practical side
of life. A boy is delighted at knowing the toughest boy in the
neighborhood. A girl's ambitions always are to know girls "nicer" than
she is. The average girl emerges into womanhood with her eyes blinded,
uninformed on the affairs of life, business, politics, untrained in
anything useful or practical, knowing more of romance and history than
she does of present-day facts.
If Chief Fleck had understood how really inexperienced Jane Strong
actually was, it is a question whether he would have ventured to entrust
so important a mission to her as he had done. Jane herself, as she left
his office, aroused by his revelations of the treacherous work of
Germany's spies, and uplifted by his appeal to her patriotism, felt
enthusiastically capable of obeying his instructions.
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