t." And neither did they. As long as that class continued, its
behaviour was exemplary; and "the mark upon the mind," to judge by their
demeanour, remained as fresh as it must have been on that memorable day
when the "mark" upon the body effected its creation. The story ought to
end here; but most stories have a sequel, and this has two.

The first occurred a few weeks later. A little girl, one of the
sewing-class, had slipped into the habit of careless disobedience,
followed too often by sulks. If we happened to come across her just when
the thunder-clouds were gathering, we could usually divert her attention
and avert the threatened trouble; but if we did not happen to meet her
just at the right moment, she would plunge straight into the most
outrageous naughtiness with a sort of purposeful directness that was
difficult to deal with. Knowing the child well, we often let her choose
her own punishments; and she did this so conscientiously that at last,
as she herself mournfully remarked, "they were all used up," and there
was nothing left but the most ancient--and perhaps in some cases most
efficacious, which, the circumstances being what they were, I was
naturally reluctant to try. But the child, trained to be perfectly
honest with herself, apparently thought the thing over, and calmly made
up her mind to accept the inevitable; for when, anxious she should not
misunderstand, I began to explain matters to her, I was met by this
somewhat astonishing response: "Yes, Amma, I know. I know you have tried
everything else" (she said this almost sympathetically, as if
appreciating my dilemma), "and so you have to do it. I do not like it at
all, but Arulai Accal says it is no use unless I take it willingly, so
Amma, please give me a good caning." (The idiom is the same in Tamil as
in English, but there is a stronger word which she now proceeded to use
with great deliberation.) "Yes, Amma, a _hot_ caning--with my full mind
I am willing. And I will not cry. Or if I do cry" (this was added in a
serious, reflecting sort of way), "let not your soul spare for my
crying!"

The second is less abnormal. Esli, whose placid soul had been sadly
stirred at the time of the infliction of the "mark," was so impressed by
its salutary effect that she conceived a new respect for the methods of
King Solomon. The application of "morning glory" is a privilege
reserved, as a rule, for ourselves; but one day, being doubtless hard
pressed, Esli produce