They were thus trained to wait upon themselves, and so one deeply
rooted evil of Oriental life was corrected. This practice also
relieved the school of the bad influence of domestics, while it
prepared the pupils for lives of contented usefulness among a people
so poor as the Nestorians. Besides, in this way they acquired habits
of regularity and punctuality such as they never saw in their own
homes.
But while these Western habits were inculcated, such of their own
customs as were harmless were left untouched. They were carefully
taught to do things in their own way, so as naturally and easily to
fall into their proper place at home.
At first, in their daily reports, Miss Fiske dared not ask any
question the answer to which she could not ascertain for herself.
The earliest she ventured to put was, whether they had combed their
hair that day. The pupils all stood up, and those who had attended
to this duty were asked to sit down. The faithful ones were
delighted to comply. The others, mortified and ashamed, remained
standing; but if one of them tried to sit down, a glance of the eye
detected her.
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