nd promised to be different in future. I left
them repentant and thoroughly ashamed of themselves, and went to other
duties.

[Illustration: SEWING-CLASS IN THE COURTYARD.]

Shortly afterwards Arulai found them in a state of great depression.
They told her they had promised to be good at the sewing-class, but were
afraid they would forget. Arulai's ideas are usually most original, and
she sympathised with the children, but told them there was no need for
them ever to forget. They asked eagerly what could be done to help them
to remember. They had prayed, but even so had doubts. Was there anything
to be done besides praying? Arulai said there was, and she expounded
certain verses from the Book of Proverbs. "Sometimes the best way to
make a mark upon the mind is to make a mark upon the body," she
suggested, and asked the children if they would like this done. The
children hesitated. They were aware that Arulai's "marks" were likely to
be emphatic, for Arulai never does things by halves. But their devotion
to her and belief in her overcame all fears; and being genuinely anxious
to reform, they one and all consented. So she sent a small girl off to
look for a cane; and presently one was produced, "thin and nice and
suitable," as I was afterwards informed. The younger children were
invited to take the cane and look at it, and consider well how it would
feel. This they did obediently, but still stuck undauntedly to their
determination, in fact, were keen to go through with it. Then Arulai
explained that when the King said, "Chasten thy son while there is hope,
and let not thy soul spare for his crying," he must have been thinking
of a very little boy who had not the sense to know what was good for
him. They had sense. The mark on the body would be waste punishment if
it were not received willingly and gratefully; so if any child cried or
pulled her hand away, she would stop. Then the children all stood up and
held out their hands--what a moment for a photograph! Arulai's "mark
upon the body" was a genuine affair, but the class received it with
fortitude and gratitude.

When I heard this history, an hour or so after its occurrence, I rather
demurred. The children had appeared to be sincerely sorry when I spoke
to them, and if so, why proceed to extremities? But Arulai answered with
wisdom and much assurance: "They have been talked to before and have
been sorry, but they forgot and did it again. This time they will not
forge