Naturally at present the most prominent person at 'The Moorings' was Miss
Mitchell. Hers was a task which required a combination of a number of
very high qualities. It needed force of character and tact, initiative
and patience, energy and experience. To reorganise an old school is a far
more difficult matter than to start an entirely new one, especially when
those responsible for the former _regime_ have not absolutely
retired. To a certain extent the Misses Pollard had given their teacher a
free hand, but she realised that at first it would be wise to go slowly
and not make the changes too drastic. She did not yet know what stuff she
had to work upon, the characters or capacities of her pupils, or their
readiness to adopt her ideas. While leading the school, she wished it to
be self-developing, that is to say, she thought it better to give the
girls a few general directions, and allow them to run their own
societies, than to arrange all such matters for them.

"Never mind if they make a few mistakes," she said to Miss Fanny, who
held up her hands in horror at some of the names chosen to serve on
committees. "If a secretary proves inefficient, the others will very soon
call her a 'slacker,' and she will have to reform or resign. It will be a
question of public opinion. A girl may shirk her lessons in school and
her classmates don't much care, but if she shirks the work she has
undertaken to do for a society they will be very indignant. These clubs
are an elementary object-lesson in community life, and will teach that
each individual must do something for the general good. The girls must
'feel their feet' before they can run; they'll probably have difficulties
but they'll learn by experience, and in the meantime they'll be shaping
their own traditions."