the Little Old Woman, "we will have them all
over again. The speakers will read slowly, so that the papers will go
further."

"Oh, please don't on my account!" cried Miss Muffet, all in a tremble.
"Don't let me interfere with your adjourning. I know that must be
important business."

The Little Old Woman said that it was the most important business of the
meeting.

"Does it take long?" asked Miss Muffet.

"Not if you know how to do it," said the Little Old Woman.

"Then I will just sit down and watch it."

The Little Old Woman rapped upon the table with a huge button-hook, and
went about the business so briskly that before Miss Muffet knew what had
happened, the meeting had adjourned.

"Were the papers so quick?" she asked.

"No, they weren't; papers are never that way."

"What were they about?"

"The white ones were about 'Child Study,' and the yellow ones were about
'Obedience to Parents' and 'Not Losing Your Thimble.' The yellow ones
were the ones I knew best; I used to have them when I was a little
girl."

"Then the white ones must be harder. Is Child Study harder than
Arithmetic?"

"There are two kinds. One kind is where you take the children you are
acquainted with and tell what you know about them. That kind isn't so
good to make papers out of. It's too short. The other kind is where you
get at 'the Contents of the Child's Mind.' I can't say that it's harder
than Arithmetic, for it is Arithmetic, only it's further on than you've
got. It's percentage. You take eleven hundred little girls in blue
dresses and make them fill out blanks. You ask them which they like
best, chocolate caramels or peppermint drops."

"Which _do_ they like best?" asked Miss Muffet, who had often thought
about that question herself.

"You can't tell," answered the Little Old Woman; "all you know is the
answers: they depend on which words the little girls can spell easiest.
The chief thing is to get the percentage. Then you write a paper. If it
doesn't come out right, you ask eleven hundred little girls in pink
dresses and they answer differently. Then you have a Problem."

"What is a Problem?" asked Miss Muffet.

"It's something to discuss," said the Little Old Woman.

"Why don't they ask their mothers?"

"The mothers are too busy. Besides, their children are all exceptions.
You can't make anything out of exceptions,--there are too many of them.
If you let them in, it just musses up the Science. The best way is to
k