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d I could forget that mighty fact for one little fleeting moment," thought Miss Preston, but, aloud, she asked: "And do you think that I am not fully conscious of it, Mrs. Stone?" "Oh, most conscious! most conscious! You could not be more conscientious, I am sure, but you sometimes let a misdemeanor, such as occurred last night, go unpunished, and it establishes an unfortunate precedent, I fear." "Did you ever know me to punish any girl placed in my charge?" asked Miss Preston, a slight flush creeping over her face. "Certainly not! Certainly not!" cried Mrs. Stone, hastily, for she had touched upon a point which she knew to be a very sensitive one with her principal, and wished to smooth matters down a trifle. "I do not mean punishment in the generally accepted term, but do you think it wholly wise to let the girls feel that they can do such things and, in a measure, find them condoned?" "Do you think that forbidding them would put an end to them?" "Merely forbidding might not do so, but exacting some penalty for such disobedience would probably make them think twice before they disobeyed again." "Did they disobey this time?" Miss Preston asked quietly. Mrs. Stone looked a trifle disconcerted as she answered: "Possibly it was not direct disobedience, but it certainly savored of deceit." "I should be glad to have you ask any girl who has become a member of that comical C. C. C. if she thinks she has been guilty of deceit, and I'll venture to say that she will look you squarely in the eyes and say: 'Deceit! How could _that_ fun be deceitful?'" "Do you not think that it may lead to other undesirable lines of conduct?" "It may lead to other sorts of innocent fun," was the dry remark. "Mrs. Stone, were you ever young? Surely, you have not forgotten what the world looked like then. Wasn't it invariably the thing you were least expected to do that it gave you the most satisfaction to do? Listen to me one moment, for, while I appreciate your sincere interest in my work and myself, I cannot allow you to run off with the idea that I regard my girls as prone to deceitful actions. It is just fun, pure and simple, and the natural result of happy, healthy girlhood. Far better let it have a safe vent than try to suppress it, and take very strong chances of directing it into less desirable channels. At the worst, a deranged stomach can follow, and a glass of bi-carbonate of soda-water is a simple remedy, if no
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