one. He accordingly made the brave decision,
unprecedented in that section of the country, that his daughters should
have natural feet, and the bandages were taken off. This proceeding was
viewed with great disapproval by his small daughter, for while it freed her
from physical pain, her unbound feet were the source of constant comment
and ridicule, far more galling to the sensitive child than the tight
bandages had been. Now, an ardent advocate of natural feet, she often tells
of her trials as a pioneer of the movement in Fuhkien province. "That I
have the distinction of being the first girl who did not have her feet
bound, is due to no effort of mine," she says, "for the neighbour women
used to say, 'Rather a nice girl, but those feet!' 'Rather a bright girl,
but those feet,' and 'Those feet,' 'Those feet' was all I heard, until I
was ashamed to be seen."

Finally her mother, who did not wholly share her husband's view of the
matter, took advantage of his absence from home, and replaced the bandages.
When she would ask, "Can you stand them a little tighter?" the little
devotee to the stern mandates of fashion and custom invariably replied,
"Yes, mother, a little tighter"; for was she not going to be a lady and not
hear "those feet," "those feet" any more! But when her father came home he
had a long and serious talk with his wife about foot-binding, and off came
the bandages again. Later the little girl went on a visit to a relative,
who was greatly horrified at her large feet, and took it upon herself to
bind them again, to the child's great delight. It was with an immense sense
of her importance that she came hobbling home, supported on each side. Her
mother was ill in bed at the time, but greatly to King Eng's
disappointment, instead of being pleased, she bade her take the bandages
off and burn them, and never replace them. To the child's plea that people
were all saying "those feet," "those feet," until she was ashamed to meet
any one, Mrs. Hue replied, "Tell them bound-footed girls never enter the
emperor's palace." "And that," says Dr. Hue, "put a quietus on 'those feet,'
and when I learned that all the world did not have bound feet I became more
reconciled."

II

EDUCATION IN CHINA AND AMERICA

When she was old enough, King Eng became a pupil in the Foochow Boarding
School for Girls, where she did good work as a student. No musical teaching
was given in the school at that time, but King Eng was so eag