1.“What are you doing，Felix？”
“I am cutting my name up here，grandfather.I‘ve almost finished.”
As he spoke the boy dropped lightly down from the branch to which he had been clinging in order to carve his name high up on the old tree.
“It’s my name and the date of to-day because this is my birthday，and because you gave me this new pocket-knife.”
2.“Are you always going to make a high mark as yougo along？”
Felix did not quite know what his grandfather meant.
“Wherever you go，my boy，you are sure to leave a mark of some kind，”continued he.“All through your school life you will do so.It will be written in the books of the school that a boy of your name was there，and left either a high or a low record .
3.”But you are making marks of another kind.Every action you do，good or bad，leaves its mark on yourself，and helps to make you into a good or a bad man.Besides，boys very often do as they see others do，so your example is leaving marks on your companions also.And these are marks which will last far longer than the name and date on the barkof the tree.
4.Will this last ver y long？“asked Felix，as he glancedup at the letters and figures he had carved.
“Come here，”said his grandfather.
Felix followed him round to the other side of the tree.He looked closely at some marks on the bark to which his grandfather pointed.
5.“Why，”he said，“that‘s your name，grandfather，and the date is eighteen hundred and forty-four.That’s just fifty years ago.”
“Yes，”said grandfather.“I cut these when I was not much older than you are to-day.”
“Fifty years！”said Felix，as he looked at those letterswhich had been cut such a very，very long time ago，as it seemed to him.“And will my name stay here for fifty years？”
6.“I suppose so，unless the tree is cut down.If you live for fifty years，you will still find it here.Your hair will be gray then.”-grandfather laid his hand on the curly brown head-“and I shall be over there on the hillside，”he added，pointing to the little churchyard in the distance.
“But I shan‘t want to come here then，grandfather，”said Felix，with tears very near to his eyes.
7.“Oh yes，you will.You will have other things to think about then.And I trust，Felix，that when you come here and see the letters you cut so long ago，you will be able to say，’If grandfather could see me to-day，he would see that I have not forgotten what he said to me on my birthday so long ago.‘“8.Grandfather walked slowly across the meadow towards the house.Felix looked after him for a few moments，and then turned again to the tree.
9.”Grandfather is right，“he said to himself，“and I must never forget what he has said.If I do not try to make good high marks of the kind he spoke of，I shall be ashamed ever to come here and see my name on this old tree.”