Some said they could not be obtained for
even one year, and not one of them would remain to complete the
three. Even Priest Abraham said, "I cannot bear the reproach of
having my daughter live with you." At that time, scarcely a girl
twelve years old could be found who was not betrothed; and years
were devoted to the preparation of a coarse kind of embroidery, a
certain amount of which must be ready for the wedding.
One day in August, Mar Yohanan said to Miss Fiske, "You get ready,
and I find girls." She devoted that month and the next to
preparation for her expected charge. But the day came for opening
the school, and not one pupil had been obtained. The teacher was
feeling somewhat anxious, when, from her window in the second story,
she saw Mar Yohanan crossing the court, with a girl in either hand.
One of them was his own niece, Selby, of Gavalan, seven years of
age; the other, Hanee, of Geog Tapa, about three years older. They
were not very inviting in outward appearance; but it did not take
Miss Fiske long to reach the door, where the bishop met her, and
placing their little hands in hers, said, in his broken English,
"They be your daughters; no man take them from your hand.
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