er went on with
his work and the whole school was in an uproar.

When the girls' teacher heard the suggestion that perhaps some of her
pupils might be guilty, she was very much vexed. But ordering all
books put aside, she gave them a serious lecture on the trouble that
had been made by that mischief, and then called upon the guilty one,
if she were there, to rise and receive her sentence, and save the
small boy sobbing in the next room from a punishment that he did not
deserve.

Upon this, sixty girls--the whole room full--rose together as one
girl.

The teacher was amazed--almost in consternation. She first made one
of them tell the story, when it came out that it was the prank of one
of their number--whose name she would not give.

* * * * *

"Who was it?" interrupted Kristy eagerly; "was it Bessie?"

"No," answered her mother, "not alone; but it was her cousin Helen who
was full of such foolish jokes, seconded by Bessie. She had asked the
organ-grinder how much he would charge to play under the school
windows an hour, and when he said sixty cents, she had gone around
among the girls and got a penny from each so that all should be
guilty."

* * * * *

The teacher's next thought was how to punish sixty girls, but she was
quick-witted, and bidding them resume their seats, she gave them
another lecture, and then said: "Since you are all guilty, you shall
all be punished."

She then ordered text-books to be laid aside and slates and pencils to
be brought out--for this happened before quiet paper had taken the
place of noisy slates.

Each girl produced from her desk a large slate, and waited further
orders. Then the teacher wrote in large letters on the blackboard
these words:--

I LOVE TO HEAR THE ORGAN-GRINDER PLAY

and ordered each girl to write that upon her slate over and over and
over again for one hour.

This seemed like a very easy punishment, and then began a vigorous
scratching of pencils, with shy laughing glances between the culprits,
while the teacher took a book and began to read, keeping, however, a
sharp eye on the pupils to see that no one shirked her work. When one
announced that her slate was full, she was told to sponge it off and
begin again.

Never was an hour so long! The lively scratching of pencils soon began
to lag, and the teacher had to spur them on again, and now and then
she walked down between th