repeated it to me but once, I found it quite impossible
the next night to say it correctly. Of course, I was
compelled to go without my supper. This may seem a light
punishment to those who have enough to eat--who sit down
to a full table, and satisfy their appetite three times
per day, but to a nun, who is allowed only enough to
sustain life, it is quite a different thing. And especially
to a child, this mode of punishment is more severe, and
harder to bear than almost any other. I thought I would
take good care not to be punished in that way again; but
I little knew what was before me.

Before the Superior left us she assisted me into bed,
and bade me be very still until the second bell in the
morning. Then, I must rise and dress as quickly as
possible, and go to her room. Quietness, she enjoined
upon me as a virtue, while the least noise, or disturbance
of any kind, would be punished as a crime. She said I
must walk very softly indeed along the halls, and close
the doors so carefully that not a sound could be heard.
After giving me these first instructions in convent life,
she left me, and I was allowed to sleep the rest of the
night.

The next morning, I awoke at the ringing of the first
bell, but I did not dare to stir until the second bell,
when the other little girls arose in great haste. I then
dressed as quickly as possible, but not a word was spoken
--not a thought, and scarcely a look exchanged. I was
truly "alone amid a crowd," and I felt the utter loneliness