think it is only practising bandaging and having
picnics in the country," said Miss Tempest, in her first address to the
members. "What is needed is the principle of learning to give willing
aid to others, and wishing to be of service. In Japan, when a child is
born, a paper sign of a doll or a fish is put up outside the house, to
signify whether the baby is a girl or a boy--the boy being destined to
swim against the stream and make his own way in the world, and the girl
being a doll to be played with. This idea does not meet our present-day
standards in England. We do not want our girls to grow up dolls, but
helpful comrades and worthy citizens of the Empire. It is terrible to me
to think of girls, after their schooldays are over, leading aimless,
idle, profitless lives, when there is plenty of good work waiting to be
done in the world. 'To whom much is committed, of the same shall much be
required', and the education you receive here should be a trust to hand
on to others who have not had your advantages. There is nobody who
cannot make some little corner of the world better by her presence, and
be of use to her poorer neighbours, and I hope the Guild may lead to
many other schemes. For the present, I want every member to promise to
make one garment a year as her contribution to our charity basket. The
clothes will be sent to the Ragged School Mission in the town, and
distributed to those who badly need them."
Each member of the Guild signed her name on a scroll, pledged herself to
observe the rules, and received the badge, a little shield bearing the
motto: "As one that serveth".
"I feel almost like a Crusader!" laughed Dorothy, as she pinned on her
badge.
"It's a part of the greatest of all crusades," said Grace Russell
gravely.
Everybody was delighted with the ambulance classes. They were considered
the utmost fun, and the girls looked forward to them from week to week.
They were held in the gymnasium, the members practising upon one
another. Any stranger suddenly entering the room would have been amazed
to see rows of girls lying prostrate on the floor, while amateur nurses
knelt by their sides, placing their legs in splints contrived out of
hockey sticks, binding up their jaws, or lifting them tenderly and
carrying them on improvised stretchers with a swinging "step both
together" motion. It was amusing when at a certain signal the nurses and
patients changed places; by an apparent miracle the latter kick
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