and steps hitherto
unknown--full swing upon a London floor. And upon the delighted but
somewhat dazed confession of the instructor, we saw it perfect in
execution to the least particular. Perfect, yet in a different order of
perfection from that attainable by men. It may be noted here and now by
all who have to do with the instruction of girls in the Morris, that the
feminine temperament inevitably robs the dance of something of its
sturdiness. It is nothing to lament; for what is lost in vigour is
assuredly more than made good in gracefulness. At any rate, there was
Bean-setting, perfect in its kind. No wonder Jack-and-the-Beanstalk came
to mind and stayed there with the memory of this evening.

It was even so with all the other dances: to see them shown was to see
them learned. And the Folk-songs had prepared us for what followed: here
was no mere fugitive delight and curiosity, as of a child with a new toy.
We had given back to these children of the city no less than a birthright
long mislaid.

The Morris-men came in October. In the following February, 1906, the
songs and dances were performed before a company of friends. The
audience, if very friendly, was also very critical; and there was
represented in it, literally, every element in contemporary society. And
every element, or representatives of each, exhorted us to give our
performance in public, since it was so good that the world in general
must know of it.

In April, 1906, we did so. The performance was given very nearly in the
height of the concert season; in no announcement of it was any mention
made of charity, or any lack or need of funds: the entertainment was run
as a public affair. And the public responded so that we filled the hall
to the doors and were reluctantly constrained to refuse admittance to a
host beside. The entertainment has since then been repeated several
times; and every repetition brought substantial evidence of continually
increasing public interest.

It should be mentioned here that Miss Mary Neal, of the Esperance Working
Girls' Club, not only made the venture possible in the beginning, but,
with her powers of help and organization, gave it a reach and strength
that neither of us could have given.

But outside appreciation did not end here--one might really say that it
only began. Inquiries poured in from every quarter of the Kingdom, from
every class and kind of person. They all wanted to know how they also
might be shown the