ew where to send girls; He knew who would be good to them," Mrs.
Stone assured the neighbours who had come to condole with her on the birth
of a second daughter, and to remind her that "ten queenly daughters are not
worth as much as one son with a limp." Years before, when the baby's
father, one of the literati, had lost all his property in the Tai Ping
Rebellion, he had adopted the profession of teaching Chinese to the
missionaries, as the only dignified means by which one of his rank and
learning could earn a living. While he taught them Chinese characters, they
taught him about Christianity, and it was not long before he was in charge
of a Christian chapel in Kiukiang. So when this little daughter was born,
she was given the good old Bible name of Anna, and great plans were laid
for her future. While she was still a tiny baby her mother carried her to
the missionary in charge of the girls' boarding school, one of those to
whom her father had taught the Chinese language years before, and said to
her, "As soon as this baby is old enough, I want you to take her and train
her for Christian work."

If she was to fulfil her mother's ambition for her Anna must of course
receive an education, although a girl who could read or write even the
simplest sentence was then almost unknown in China. But Mrs. Stone knew
well that the more education Anna had, the more efficient a worker she
would be. She herself had never been taught at all, and after she had
become a Christian and was eager to tell other women of the good news which
she had learned, she had found herself sadly hampered because she could not
read the Bible. It was not so difficult when her husband was at home to
read it for her; but while he was away on his preaching tours, she had lost
many opportunities of teaching Christianity to the women who came to see
her, because of her inability to read the Book which told of the great new
truth she had learned. So, busy as she was with her babies and her
household cares, she determined to learn to read, and asked her husband to
teach her.

Pastor Stone, however, had still something to learn. He did not believe
that it was possible for the feminine mind, especially that of a woman
grown, to learn the difficult Chinese characters; and he told his wife
that, in his opinion, it was not worth while for her to attempt it. If
Mother Stone was discouraged she did not show it. Every night after the
rest of the family were asleep she