ly all attention was
concentrated on her pale intellectual face and dark shining eyes. She
possessed sufficient magnetic personality, apart from her office of
principal, to rivet the interest of her three hundred girls. With other
mistresses they might fidget or even whisper, but during her speeches or
classes the bond between teacher and pupil was absolute.

She began very quietly by welcoming them back to school, spoke a few
special words to newcomers, and read out the lists of the various forms,
their teachers, and the names of visiting masters and mistresses for
extra classes. These preliminaries settled, she "got to business", as
Kathleen afterwards expressed it.

"I have been thinking lately," she said, "that we might with advantage
try a new plan at school. You come here to be educated. Now, that does
not mean simply to be crammed with facts, but to be taught the very best
and highest possible way of self development. Certain facts must, of
course, be mastered, and to learn them is a good discipline for training
the mind, but the main point to be aimed at in education is to teach you
a real love of intellectual things. I realize that tastes differ very
much, and that what is an absorbing study for one girl may lack all
interest for another. Life is not long enough to give time to
everything, and it is better to concentrate our attention on certain
things that appeal to our particular temperaments than to have a
smattering of many 'ologies. I have decided, therefore, to set aside two
afternoons in the week for what I may call 'self-expression'. There will
be certain activities offered you, and you will each be allowed to
choose which you wish to follow. I consider that two sides of our
natures which need very careful training are the emotional and the
mental. I am going to give an afternoon to each.

"By our emotional nature I mean that side of us which takes delight in
art, music, and the drama. It shows itself early in very little
children, who will often try to draw, sing, and act almost as soon as
they can talk. If properly cultivated it is a most important part of
self-expression. On one afternoon I am arranging to organize meetings in
various branches of art, music, and acting. These are to be quite
different and apart from your ordinary drawing or music lessons. You
will work at what you wish, and in your own way, though an expert
teacher will be there whom you can consult in any difficulty. I make one
s