like that?"

And Philip remarked gloomily:

"I'd pull its tail."

"And what do the rest of you think? I hope you are not as cruel as
that little boy."

A jealous desire to share Philip's success prompted the quick response:

"I'd pull it too."

Now, the reason of the total failure of this story was the inability
to draw any real response from the children, partly because of the
hopeless vagueness of the questions, partly because, there being no
time for reflection, children say the first thing that comes into
their heads without any reference to their real thoughts on the subject.

I cannot imagine anything less like the enlightened methods of the
best kindergarten teaching. Had Mrs. R. B. Smith been a real, and not
a fictional, person, it would certainly have been her last appearance
as a raconteuse in this educational institution.

5. _The difficulty of gauging the effect of a story upon the
audience_ rises from lack of observation and experience; it is the
want of these qualities which leads to the adoption of such a method
as I have just presented. We learn in time that want of expression on
the faces of the audience and want of any kind of external response do
not always mean either lack of interest or attention. There is often