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or some good manners we had neglected. Of course, we had to get used to school in what we considered our just holidays. It seemed at first most unfair, but the interesting lessons we received from Miss D. won us over, and in any case we knew that the Governess was declaring holidays very soon, although we had no prospect of being left alone during these holidays to enjoy ourselves as we used to in North London. We knew that we would be supervised like little children every moment of the day. I would say that Miss D. was a very kind person fundamentally, but some influenced by our aunt to instil old-fashioned manners and discipline her pupils. If it hadn't been for the silly pinafore, I would really have enjoyed school. Not that she could not be strict, and her cane on strap was frequently in evidence. I am not going to give a minute by minute description of our first days of settling into our aunt's household. It is said that you can get used to anything and I think that was true in our We were not badly used, but dealt with in an old-fashioned strictness in keeping with my aunt's philosophy that even at fifteen years of age we were but mere children and must be trained and treated accordingly. That the treatment was mentally more than physically cruel would not have 28

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occured to Aunt Louise, and even if it had, hen that children's philosophy would have made her say feelings were of no account and were not to be taken notice of.

So I shall just describe some of the humiliating punishments we had to endure; some of the painfully embarrassing clothes we had to wear; and some of the treatment designed to remind us that we were but little children and must be treated accordingly, in the best tradition of forty or so years ago!

The punishments were taken at random. For instance, Sis was one of the first to be punished with a treatment to fit the crime! One day after we had settled in she had picked a rose without asking permission, not realizing that this was a crime in the eyes of her aunt, whereas at home she had been allowed to pick flowers in the garden to decorate the house. What made it worse was the fact that Sis had a loving heart and had picked this one rose as an offering for her aunt. Aunt Louise accepted the offering, but said that she was sorry that Babs had broken a rule about picking flowers, and that children should do nothing without permission. She would have to be punished.

Down at the bottom of the garden was a shaded area through which a little brook ran, and as it

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