this is the story of a boy who ruined a good book. a good book is always a good friend.

he did not mean to—oh, no! but what of that—he did it, as you may read.

his name was max green. one day max borrowed a book from tom brown, a fine new book with a picture of a submarine on the cover. tom had just received it as a birthday present from his uncle.

that night max sat down in a corner to read it.[40] soon he came to the place where the submarine was getting ready to fire a torpedo.

“squeak!” went the book, as max gave it a twist in his excitement. he did not hear the sound; he only saw the torpedo skimming through the water.

“crack!” went the book, as max gave it a heavier twist. he did not notice that he was bending the covers farther back. he only knew that the torpedo was striking the bow of a big man-of-war.

“rip!” went the book down the middle, as max gave it a harder twist with his hand.

but max read right on, for just then the man-of-war lurched over on its side as if it was getting ready to sink.

in his excitement max forgot all about what he was doing and twisted and bent the book back, cover to cover.

“stop—quick—oh! oh! it hurts! you have broken my back—broken my back! oh!—oh!” cried the book.

suddenly max woke up and saw what he had done—but it was too late. he had broken the glue and stitches apart and the covers hung limp.

just then his mother came in.

“look, mother—see what i have done to tom[41] brown’s book,” he confessed. “i am so sorry. it is such a good book. can’t we glue it together again?”

“no,” said his mother, “it is ruined. glue may help, but it will never be the same book.”

“oh, i am so sorry!” said max.

“yes, max, but being sorry will not make this book as good as it was when you borrowed it.”

“i will make it right with tom, mother. i will take my birthday money to buy him a new one.”

“that is the right thing to do, max,” answered his mother.

questions

how is a good book a good friend?

suppose it had been his own book that max ruined, would he have been treating it fairly?

if you were a book, how would you want to be treated?

do you know what holds a book together? tell what you know about the way a book is made.

why should we be so careful of books?

memory gem

for every evil under the sun,

there is a remedy, or there is none.

if there be one, try to find it;

if there be none, never mind it.