Hoo-blinking-rah!' It was the happiest moment of my life."

Sydney took a different line. Her cue was the sound of a stage kiss.
Boldly she walked on, and the stage lovers glared at her, for she
arrived before the kiss was finished or rather properly begun. The
audience chuckled. At the next performance she determined to be less
punctual. She heard the smack of the kiss, but she did not move. As
she waited she heard the audience roaring with laughter, and then she
realised that the poor lovers had been standing kissing each other for
a full five minutes.

I must write to these dear old children to ask if they kept their
essays.

* * * * *

Duncan was in to-night, and he told a school story that was new to me.

In a certain council school it was the custom for teachers to write
down on the blackboard any instructions they might have for the janitor
before they left at night. One night he came in and read the words:
Find the L.C.M.

"Good gracious!" he growled, "has that dam thing gone and got lost
again?"

That version was new to me. My own version ran thus:--

Little Willie is doing his home lessons, and he asks his father to help
him with a sum. The father takes the slate in his hand and reads the
words: Find the G.C.M.

"Good heavens!" he cries, "haven't they found that blamed thing yet?
They were hunting for it when I was at school."

I think both versions are very good.

* * * * *

I have a strong Montessori complex. I find myself being critical of
her system, and I have often wondered why. I used to think that my
dislike of Montessori was a projection: I disliked a lady who raved
about Montessori, and I fancied that I had transferred my dislike of
the lady to poor Montessori. But now I refuse to accept that
explanation; it is not good enough for me; there must be something
deeper. I shall try to discover that something deeper.

When I first read Montessori's books I said to myself: "She is devoid
of humour." This to me suggests a limitation in art, and I feel that
Montessori is always a scientist but never an artist. Her system is
highly intellectual, but sadly lacking in emotionalism. This is seen
in her attitude to phantasy. She would probably argue that phantasy is
bad for a child, but it is a fact that much of a child's life is lived
in phantasy. Phantasy is a means of gratifying an unfulfilled wish.
The kitchen-maid in her