ed to conquer the difficulties of the speeding
course. This proved to be the pleasanter part of our work, and, after
having spent five months with our teacher in this way, and having
passed the final examination, you see here to-night all who have been
victorious in the battle.

We came before our leader total strangers to him and to each other,
and many happy days have we spent since first we saw his face, and
every day has deepened our regard for him for having been so patient
with us. When we have been on the brink of despair, he has consoled us
with the assurance that better times were coming, and that, if we did
not give up but would push ahead and persevere, we would surely
succeed.

The "unwearied sun" has performed his daily circuit, sometimes
visible, and sometimes hidden by the vapor laden clouds, but right
onward, whether seen or unseen, has he gone, and time, that never
lingers, has rolled on rapidly and in its flight has brought us to
this hour, ere we were aware, and lo! it has already begun to
snap the threads which have held us together for the last eight
months. Our lives have been speeding with the moments into the
never-to-be-forgotten past; but the tie which binds our hearts
in Christian love and fellowship death itself cannot sever.

The seeds of stenography, which were cast into our minds at the
beginning of our lessons, made their appearance as young and tender
shoots when we arrived at the speeding course, and have not only begun
to blossom, but also to bear fruit, inasmuch as eight of our number
are already holding positions as stenographers and typewriters, and we
hope they will soon arrive at full maturity when we have all become
experienced shorthand writers. These little plants need the tenderest
care and most watchful guidance, for, if neglected ere they are larger
grown, and the weeds of careless habits are not rooted out, they will
be a source of great trouble and annoyance in the acquiring of speed.
How important then that they should be wisely directed!

We have now arrived at the completion of our course here in the
capacity of learners; but only to enter an enlarged sphere of action
and there employ what we have here been enabled to acquire. Not only
have we been learning stenography but have been benefited in a number
of other ways; each lesson in its turn had some moral to convey and
some new thought to suggest, which, while teaching us some new form of
work, and suggesting new