ngratulate you more for
being the child of my little girl of the long ago who at sixteen could
write, 'I want most of all to be a fine, noble woman and some day to be a
real mother.' To her you owe much. Inspire the girls of the town if you
plan for great men. A self-made man needs a real mother to build the
foundations of his character. There is no other way."

Then the speaker sat down and there was silence in the banqueting hall.

ON THE ROAD TO WOMANHOOD

In their hands the girls carried a scroll; on their backs they carried a
bundle, and they were five in number--five girls with rosy cheeks and
healthy bodies. But now their cheeks were browned by the sun and their
shoulders drooped as they walked by the way.

For they had walked and walked and walked as the morning had turned into
noon, and now the afternoon shadows were already falling on the way. Then
as the search seemed almost useless, they saw her--the one for whom they
had come; the one into whose hands they wished to place their scrolls.
Eagerly they watched her as she came slowly toward them dressed in shining
white--the Angel Who Rights Things.

When she smiled, they found courage to speak.

"We have come to search for you but we thought we should never find you,"
said the oldest of the girls. "We can never grow strong and beautiful if
we carry these heavy burdens on our backs. They are much too large for us
and we do not like them. We have come to ask you to take them away and
make us free. Lo! we have written it all here in our scrolls."

But the Fairy Who Rights Things drew back as the five handed to her the
scrolls which they carried.

"Take away the burdens!" said she. "Oh, no, I could never do that. He that
carrieth no burden gaineth no strength. All must carry if they would
grow."

"But we do not like them. If we must have a burden, might we not exchange
them? Surely all our friends do not have burdens to carry. We have
watched them and we know they have none," said another girl.

"You are quite mistaken," said the fairy. "All have burdens to carry. But
I can let you choose if you will exchange your own. Let me see what you
have brought."

"Well," said the first. "Here is mine. I have to go to school. Now father
has plenty of money and I shall never have to work. Why should I study and
do all the hard work of the school? I hate it all and I want to be free
from it. I want to live at home and read, and play, and do as I like."