"Well," said Gilbert slowly, torn between his real convictions and his
wish to measure up to Anne's ideal, "there's something to be said on
both sides. I don't believe in whipping children MUCH. I think, as you
say, Anne, that there are better ways of managing as a rule, and that
corporal punishment should be a last resort. But on the other hand,
as Jane says, I believe there is an occasional child who can't be
influenced in any other way and who, in short, needs a whipping and
would be improved by it. Corporal punishment as a last resort is to be
my rule."

Gilbert, having tried to please both sides, succeeded, as is usual and
eminently right, in pleasing neither. Jane tossed her head.

"I'll whip my pupils when they're naughty. It's the shortest and easiest
way of convincing them."

Anne gave Gilbert a disappointed glance.

"I shall never whip a child," she repeated firmly. "I feel sure it isn't
either right or necessary."

"Suppose a boy sauced you back when you told him to do something?" said
Jane.

"I'd keep him in after school and talk kindly and firmly to him," said
Anne. "There is some good in every person if you can find it. It is
a teacher's duty to find and develop it. That is what our School
Management professor at Queen's told us, you know. Do you suppose you
could find any good in a child by whipping him? It's far more important