ionary schools, the chief fear of the girls
was lest they should bring trouble on their American teachers. The head
mistress of one of these schools noticed for some days that her girls were
unusually excited. She heard them asking one another, "Have you enrolled?"
and imagined that some new girlish league was being formed. This was before
the great day. One morning the head mistress came down to discover the
place empty. On her desk was a paper signed by all the girls, resigning
their places in the school. They thought that by this device they would
show that their beloved head mistress was not responsible.

Soon there came a call from the Chief of Police. The mistress was wanted at
the police office at once. All the girls from her school were demonstrating
and had stirred up the whole town. Would the mistress come and disperse
them?

The mistress hurried off. Sure enough, here were the girls in the street,
wearing national badges, waving national flags, calling on the police to
come and take them. The men had gathered and were shouting "Mansei!" also.

The worried Chief of Police, who was a much more decent kind than many of
his fellows, begged the mistress to do something. "I cannot arrest them
all," he said. "I have only one little cell here. It would only hold a few
of them," The mistress went out to talk to the girls. They would not
listen, even to her. They cheered her, and when she begged them to go home,
shouted "Mansei!" all the louder.

The mistress went back to the Chief. "The only thing for you to do is to
arrest me," she said.

The Chief was horrified at the idea, "I will go out and tell the girls that
you are going to arrest me if they do not go," she said. "We will see what
that will do. But mind you, if they do not disperse, you must arrest me."

She went out again. "Girls," she called, "the Chief of Police is going to
arrest me if you do not go to your homes. I am your teacher, and it must be
the fault of my teaching that you will not obey."

"No, teacher, no," the girls shouted. "It is not your fault. You have
nothing to do with it. We are doing this." And some of them rushed up, as
though they would rescue her by force of arms.

In the end, she persuaded the girls to go home, in order to save her.
"Well," said the leaders of the girls, "it's all right now. We have done
all we wanted. We have stirred up the men. They were sheep and wanted women
to make a start. Now they will go on."

The poli