vation they soon saw that their visitor was none other than little
Habeeba of last year, who during the summer had blossomed out into a
woman by donning all the trappings of a Harem lady, and she was truly
"hidden," for not a speck of her face showed except one bright eye. She
could not stay away from her beloved school, she said, so had begged
special permission to come and spend an hour with her friends.

The seclusion of the Harem is more or less rigid according to the
caprice of some exacting husband or mother-in-law. As far as the younger
married women's experience goes it is mother-in-law rule literally, for
seldom is a man permitted to take his wife to a home of his own. The
sons and even the grandsons must bring their brides home to the father's
house and all be subject to the mother. A household of fifty is no
uncommon thing. Much of the freedom of the younger women depends upon
what the old mother-in-law or grandmother-in-law thinks proper. Often
she rules with a hand of iron, probably to make up for her own hard life
in her younger days, intermixed with an honest desire to preserve and
promote the honor and dignity of her house. For the honor, dignity, and
aristocracy of a family are often estimated according to the rigor of
the seclusion of its women-folk.

Thousands of Egyptian women never step over their own thresholds and
many of them never make complaint, only saying, "Oh, you know our men
love us very much; that is the reason they imprison us. They do it to
protect us."

Among the strictest people a young woman is not permitted to be seen by
even her father-in-law. Nor is it allowable for her to be seen by any
male servants except eunuchs. Under such conditions it might be
wondered how a woman could keep her domestic machinery in running order,
but as one woman said, who had never seen the face of her cook although
he had been employed in her house for thirteen years, when asked the
question, "How do you tell him what you want for dinner?" "Oh, he knows
my wants, but when I wish to give a particular order, I tell the maid
servant, she tells the little boy servant, and he conveys the message to
the cook!"

It seems like the irony of fate that these women who are kept in such
strict seclusion should be so extravagantly fond of society. They
welcome in the most hospitable manner any visitors of their own sex. It
is pitiful to see how they love to have glimpses of the outside world. A
missionary lady te