measles! Men women and children are trying to learn, and when we go
out to walk I almost have convulsions at the elderly couples we pass
earnestly trying to catch the step!

I was so encouraged by this success that I taught the girls all sorts
of steps and figures, even going so far as to teach them the
_quadrille_! But my ambition led me a little too far. One day I
came to class with a brand new step, which I had invented myself. It
_was_ rather giddy, but a splendid exercise. Well I headed the
line and after the girls had followed me around the room twice I saw
that they were convulsed with laughter! When I asked what was the
matter, they explained between gasps that the step was the principal
movement in the heathen dance given during festivals to the God of
Beauty! My saints! Wouldn't some of my dear brethren do a turn if
they knew!

Every afternoon I take about forty of the girls out for a walk. Our
favorite stroll is along the moat that surrounds the old castle. It is
almost always spilling over with lotus blossoms. The maidens,
trotting demurely along in their rain-bow kimonos and little clicking
sandals make a pretty picture. We have to pass the parade grounds of
the barracks where 20,000 soldiers are stationed, and I do wish you
could see them trying to be modest, and yet peeping out of the corners
of their little almond eyes in a way which is not peculiar to any
particular country.

And the way they imitate me makes me afraid to breathe naturally. This
thing of being a shining example is more than I bargained for. It is
one of the few things in my checkered career that I have hitherto
escaped.