88 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



writer, asked if she had a hat with a long white feather, if she had a 

 gold bracelet, if she played on the piano, and had a door-jDlate on her 

 door; and the latter, as she sorrowfully shook her head, felt the degra- 

 dation involved in the admission. 



Once in a while one of these little ones is stubborn, and, refusing 

 to be taught, closes his eyes. This, of course, throws the teacher upon 

 his mercy ; there is nothing more effective he can do. 



In cases of great rage, one child indicates, by practical illustration, 

 that its opponent has a father who drinks and a mother who is fat. In- 

 sult among them can go no further than this, and the teacher is sum- 

 moned by the wail of the accused. 



Their misfortune keeps them, in a large measure, from understand- 

 ing the distinctions of rich and 2)oor, differences it is so sad to see, 

 made sometimes by childi-en as soon as they can stand alone. The 

 little dainty daughter of a house whose one great cross is this child's 

 deprivation, admires with loving touch the golden hair of her school- 

 friend whose shoes are worn at the toes, and whose dress tells its own 

 story of the mother's poverty and overwork. 



We must not turn from this interesting youngest class, without 

 mentioning the pretty, sensitive little girl of four years, who described 

 a ride which a gentleman had given her ; standing as she did upon a 

 chair with her audience around her, she made quick gestures with her 

 fingers, her eyes turned brightly upon each face before her, but, as she 

 proceeded, her remembrances went beyond her power in signs, and 

 with intent, serious face she traced, with her forefinger in the air, 

 sketches of the rest she had seen. We did not understand what she 

 meant to tell us, but almost a feeling of awe fell upon us as we looked 

 on at this dumb intelligence which was being led by the mind that is 

 greater than ours. 



Nor should the boy a little older be forgotten, a pale, sickly child, 

 who goes regularly to church on Sundays, and seems to enjoy it. One 

 day, when a copy of the " Madonna and Child " was shown, and one 

 of the other children was puzzled by the subject, this boy told his com- 

 panion the story of the Saviour from his babyhood to his cross in 

 these natural signs, not dreaming that his teacher had seen it all. 



For a long time after children enter the school they think their 

 fathers and mothers and teachers are all like themselves, and have 

 learned to speak in the same way as they are being taught. This de- 

 lusion lasts for some time, but generally fades out gradually. Once 

 in a while, however, it comes as a shock. One of the younger puj^ils 

 who still had this idea, as she sat watching her teacher and a visitor, 

 noticed apparently that the teacher sometimes spoke to the new-comer 

 without looking at her, and that she answered in the same way. It 

 struck her for the first time, evidently, that these were not dependent 

 upon the movements of the lips. As the visitor departed, the child 

 went up to her teacher, and, pointing after her, laid her finger on her 



