Although this story is about Jo's boys, her girls cannot beneglected, because they held a high place in this little republic,and especial care was taken to fit them to play their parts worthilyin the great republic which offered them wider opportunities and moreserious duties. To many the social influence was the better part ofthe training they received; for education is not confined to books,and the finest characters often graduate from no college, but makeexperience their master, and life their book. Others cared only forthe mental culture, and were in danger of over-studying, under thedelusion which pervades New England that learning must be had at allcosts, forgetting that health and real wisdom are better. A thirdclass of ambitious girls hardly knew what they wanted, but werehungry for whatever could fit them to face the world and earn aliving, being driven by necessity, the urgency of some half-conscioustalent, or the restlessness of strong young natures to break awayfrom the narrow life which no longer satisfied.

At Plumfield all found something to help them; for the growinginstitution had not yet made its rules as fixed as the laws of theMedes and Persians, and believed so heartily in the right of allsexes, colours, creeds, and ranks to education, that there was roomfor everyone who knocked, and a welcome to the shabby youths from upcountry, the eager girls from the West, the awkward freedman or womanfrom the South, or the well-born student whose poverty made thiscollege a possibility when other doors were barred. There still wasprejudice, ridicule, neglect in high places, and prophecies offailure to contend against; but the Faculty was composed of cheerful,hopeful men and women who had seen greater reforms spring fromsmaller roots, and after stormy seasons blossom beautifully, to addprosperity and honour to the nation. So they worked on steadily andbided their time, full of increasing faith in their attempt as yearafter year their numbers grew, their plans succeeded, and the senseof usefulness in this most vital of all professions blessed them withits sweet rewards.

Among the various customs which had very naturally sprung up was oneespecially useful and interesting to 'the girls', as the young womenliked to be called. It all grew out of the old sewing hour still keptup by the three sisters long after the little work-boxes had expandedinto big baskets full of household mending. They were busy women, yeton Saturdays they tried to meet in one of the three sewing-rooms; foreven classic Parnassus had its nook where Mrs Amy often sat among herservants, teaching them to make and mend, thereby giving them arespect for economy, since the rich lady did not scorn to darn herhose, and sew on buttons. In these household retreats, with books andwork, and their daughters by them, they read and sewed and talked inthe sweet privacy that domestic women love, and can make so helpfulby a wise mixture of cooks and chemistry, table linen and theology,prosaic duties and good poetry.

Mrs Meg was the first to propose enlarging this little circle; for asshe went her motherly rounds among the young women she found a sadlack of order, skill, and industry in this branch of education.Latin, Greek, the higher mathematics, and science of all sortsprospered finely; but the dust gathered on the work-baskets, frayedelbows went unheeded, and some of the blue stockings sadly neededmending. Anxious lest the usual sneer at learned women should applyto 'our girls', she gently lured two or three of the most untidy toher house, and made the hour so pleasant, the lesson so kindly, thatthey took the hint, were grateful for the favour, and asked to comeagain. Others soon begged to make the detested weekly duty lighter byjoining the party, and soon it was a privilege so much desired thatthe old museum was refitted with sewing-machines, tables,rocking-chair, and a cheerful fireplace, so that, rain or shine, theneedles might go on undisturbed.

Here Mrs Meg was in her glory, and stood wielding her big shears likea queen as she cut out white work, fitted dresses, and directedDaisy, her special aide, about the trimming of hats, and completingthe lace and ribbon trifles which add grace to the simplest costumeand save poor or busy girls so much money and time. Mrs Amycontributed taste, and decided the great question of colours andcomplexions; for few women, even the most learned, are without thatdesire to look well which makes many a plain face comely, as well asmany a pretty one ugly for want of skill and knowledge of the fitnessof things. She also took her turn to provide books for the readings,and as art was her forte she gave them selections from Ruskin,Hamerton, and Mrs Jameson, who is never old. Bess read these aloud asher contribution, and Josie took her turn at the romances, poetry,and plays her uncles recommended. Mrs Jo gave little lectures onhealth, religion, politics, and the various questions in which allshould be interested, with copious extracts from Miss Cobbe's Dutiesof Women, Miss Brackett's Education of American Girls, Mrs Duffy's NoSex in Education, Mrs Woolson's Dress Reform, and many of the otherexcellent books wise women write for their sisters, now that they arewaking up and asking: 'What shall we do?'

It was curious to see the prejudices melt away as ignorance wasenlightened, indifference change to interest, and intelligent mindsset thinking, while quick wits and lively tongues added spice to thediscussions which inevitably followed. So the feet that wore theneatly mended hose carried wiser heads than before, the pretty gownscovered hearts warmed with higher purposes, and the hands thatdropped the thimbles for pens, lexicons, and celestial globes, werebetter fitted for life's work, whether to rock cradles, tend thesick, or help on the great work of the world.

One day a brisk discussion arose concerning careers for women. MrsJo had read something on the subject and asked each of the dozengirls sitting about the room, what she intended to do on leavingcollege. The answers were as usual: 'I shall teach, help mother,study medicine, art,' etc.; but nearly all ended with:

'Till I marry.'

'But if you don't marry, what then?' asked Mrs Jo, feeling like agirl again as she listened to the answers, and watched thethoughtful, gay, or eager faces.

'Be old maids, I suppose. Horrid, but inevitable, since there are somany superfluous women,' answered a lively lass, too pretty to fearsingle blessedness unless she chose it.

'It is well to consider that fact, and fit yourselves to be useful,not superfluous women. That class, by the way, is largely made up ofwidows, I find; so don't consider it a slur on maidenhood.'

'That's a comfort! Old maids aren't sneered at half as much as theyused to be, since some of them have grown famous and proved thatwoman isn't a half but a whole human being, and can stand alone.'

'Don't like it all the same. We can't all be like Miss Nightingale, Miss Phelps, and the rest.'

So what can we do but sit in a corner and look on?' asked a plaingirl with a dissatisfied expression.

'Cultivate cheerfulness and content, if nothing else. But there areso many little odd jobs waiting to be done that nobody need "sit idleand look on", unless she chooses,' said Mrs Meg, with a smile, layingon the girl's head the new hat she had just trimmed.

'Thank you very much. Yes, Mrs Brooke, I see; it's a little job, butit makes me neat and happy - and grateful,' she added, looking up withbrighter eyes as she accepted the labour of love and the lesson assweetly as they were given.

'One of the best and most beloved women I know has been doing oddjobs for the Lord for years, and will keep at it till her dear handsare folded in her coffin. All sorts of things she does - picks upneglected children and puts them in safe homes, saves lost girls,nurses poor women in trouble, sews, knits, trots, begs, works for thepoor day after day with no reward but the thanks of the needy, thelove and honour of the rich who make Saint Matilda their almoner.That's a life worth living; and I think that quiet little woman willget a higher seat in Heaven than many of those of whom the world hasheard.'

'I know it's lovely, Mrs Bhaer; but it's dull for young folks. We dowant a little fun before we buckle to,' said a Western girl with awide-awake face.

'Have your fun, my dear; but if you must earn your bread, try to makeit sweet with cheerfulness, not bitter with the daily regret that itisn't cake. I used to think mine was a very hard fate because I hadto amuse a somewhat fretful old lady; but the books I read in thatlonely library have been of immense use to me since, and the dear oldsoul bequeathed me Plumfield for my "cheerful service andaffectionate care". I didn't deserve it, but I did use to try to bejolly and kind, and get as much honey out of duty as I could, thanksto my dear mother's help and advice.'

'Gracious! if I could earn a place like this, I'd sing all day and bean angel; but you have to take your chance, and get nothing for yourpains, perhaps. I never do,' said the Westerner, who had a hard timewith small means and large aspirations.

'Don't do it for the reward; but be sure it will come, though not inthe shape you expect. I worked hard for fame and money one winter;but I got neither, and was much disappointed. A year afterwards Ifound I had earned two prizes: skill with my pen, and ProfessorBhaer.'

Mrs Jo's laugh was echoed blithely by the girls, who liked to havethese conversations enlivened by illustrations from life.

'You are a very lucky woman,' began the discontented damsel, whosesoul soared above new hats, welcome as they were, but did not quiteknow where to steer.

'Yet her name used to be "Luckless Jo", and she never had what shewanted till she had given up hoping for it,' said Mrs Meg.

'I'll give up hoping, then, right away, and see if my wishes willcome. I only want to help my folks, and get a good school.'

'Take this proverb for your guide: "Get the distaff ready, and theLord will send the flax",' answered Mrs Jo.

'We'd better all do that, if we are to be spinsters,' said the prettyone, adding gaily, 'I think I should like it, on the whole - they areso independent. My Aunt Jenny can do just what she likes, and ask noone's leave; but Ma has to consult Pa about everything. Yes, I'llgive you my chance, Sally, and be a "superfluum", as Mr Plock says.'

'You'll be one of the first to go into bondage, see if you aren't.Much obliged, all the same.'

'Well, I'll get my distaff ready, and take whatever flax the Fatessend - single, or double-twisted, as the powers please.'

'That is the right spirit, Nelly. Keep it up, and see how happy lifewill be with a brave heart, a willing hand, and plenty to do.'

'No one objects to plenty of domestic work or fashionable pleasure, Ifind; but the minute we begin to study, people tell us we can't bearit, and warn us to be very careful. I've tried the other things, andgot so tired I came to college; though my people predict nervousexhaustion and an early death. Do you think there is any danger?'asked a stately girl, with an anxious glance at the blooming facereflected in the mirror opposite.

'Are you stronger or weaker than when you came two years ago, MissWinthrop?'

'Stronger in body, and much happier in mind. I think I was dying ofennui; but the doctors called it inherited delicacy of constitution.That is why mamma is so anxious, and I wish not to go too fast.'

'Don't worry, my dear; that active brain of yours was starving forgood food; it has plenty now, and plain living suits you better thanluxury and dissipation. It is all nonsense about girls not being ableto study as well as boys. Neither can bear cramming; but with propercare both are better for it; so enjoy the life your instinct led youto, and we will prove that wise headwork is a better cure for thatsort of delicacy than tonics, and novels on the sofa, where far toomany of our girls go to wreck nowadays. They burn the candle at bothends; and when they break down they blame the books, not the balls.'

'Dr Nan was telling me about a patient of hers who thought she hadheart-complaint, till Nan made her take off her corsets, stopped hercoffee and dancing all night, and made her eat, sleep, walk, and liveregularly for a time; and now she's a brilliant cure. Common senseversus custom, Nan said.'

'I've had no headaches since I came here, and can do twice as muchstudying as I did at home. It's the air, I think, and the fun ofgoing ahead of the boys,' said another girl, tapping her big foreheadwith her thimble, as if the lively brain inside was in good workingorder and enjoyed the daily gymnastics she gave it.

'Quality, not quantity, wins the day, you know. Our brains may besmaller, but I don't see that they fall short of what is required ofthem; and if I'm not mistaken, the largest-headed man in our class isthe dullest,' said Nelly, with a solemn air which produced a gale ofmerriment; for all knew that the young Goliath she mentioned had beenmetaphorically slain by this quick-witted David on many abattle-field, to the great disgust of himself and his mates.

'Mrs Brooke, do I gauge on the right or the wrong side?' asked thebest Greek scholar of her class, eyeing a black silk apron with alost expression.

'The right, Miss Pierson; and leave a space between the tucks; itlooks prettier so.'

'I'll never make another; but it will save my dresses fromink-stains, so I'm glad I've got it'; and the erudite Miss Piersonlaboured on, finding it a harder task than any Greek root she everdug up.

'We paper-stainers must learn how to make shields, or we are lost.I'll give you a pattern of the pinafore I used to wear in my"blood-and-thunder days", as we call them,' said Mrs Jo, trying toremember what became of the old tin-kitchen which used to hold herworks.

'Speaking of writers reminds me that my ambition is to be a GeorgeEliot, and thrill the world! It must be so splendid to know that onehas such power, and to hear people own that one possesses a"masculine intellect"! I don't care for most women's novels, but hersare immense; don't you think so, Mrs Bhaer?' asked the girl with thebig forehead, and torn braid on her skirt.

'Yes; but they don't thrill me as little Charlotte Bronte's books do.The brain is there, but the heart seems left out. I admire, but Idon't love, George Eliot; and her life is far sadder to me than MissBronte's, because, in spite of the genius, love, and fame, she missedthe light without which no soul is truly great, good, or happy.'

'Yes'm, I know; but still it's so romantic and sort of new andmysterious, and she was great in one sense. Her nerves and dyspepsiado rather destroy the illusion; but I adore famous people and mean togo and see all I can scare up in London some day.'

'You will find some of the best of them busy about just the work Irecommend to you; and if you want to see a great lady, I'll tell youthat Mrs Laurence means to bring one here today. Lady Abercrombie islunching with her, and after seeing the college is to call on us. Sheespecially wanted to see our sewing-school, as she is interested inthings of this sort, and gets them up at home.'

'Bless me! I always imagined lords and ladies did nothing but rideround in a coach and six, go to balls, and be presented to the Queenin cocked hats, and trains and feathers,' exclaimed an artless youngperson from the wilds of Maine, whither an illustrated paperoccasionally wandered.

'Not at all; Lord Abercrombie is over here studying up our Americanprison system, and my lady is busy with the schools - both veryhigh-born, but the simplest and most sensible people I've met thislong time. They are neither of them young nor handsome, and dressplainly; so don't expect anything splendid. Mr Laurence was tellingme last night about a friend of his who met my lord in the hall, andowing to a rough greatcoat and a red face, mistook him for acoachman, and said: "Now, my man, what do you want here?" LordAbercrombie mildly mentioned who he was, and that he had come todinner. And the poor host was much afflicted, saying afterward: "Whydidn't he wear his stars and garters? then a fellow would know he wasa lord."'

The girls laughed again, and a general rustle betrayed that each wasprinking a bit before the titled guest arrived. Even Mrs Jo settledher collar, and Mrs Meg felt if her cap was right, while Bess shookout her curls and Josie boldly consulted the glass; for they werewomen, in spite of philosophy and philanthropy.

'Shall we all rise?' asked one girl, deeply impressed by theimpending honour.

'It would be courteous.'

'Shall we shake hands?'

'No, I'll present you en masse, and your pleasant faces will beintroduction enough.'

'I wish I'd worn my best dress. Ought to have told us,' whisperedSally.

'Won't my folks be surprised when I tell them we have had a real ladyto call on us?' said another.

'Don't look as if you'd never seen a gentlewoman before, Milly. Weare not all fresh from the wilderness,' added the stately damsel who,having Mayflower ancestors, felt that she was the equal of all thecrowned heads of Europe.

'Hush, she's coming! Oh, my heart, what a bonnet!' cried the gay girlin a stage whisper; and every eye was demurely fixed upon the busyhands as the door opened to admit Mrs Laurence and her guest.

It was rather a shock to find, after the general introduction wasover, that this daughter of a hundred earls was a stout lady in aplain gown, and a rather weather-beaten bonnet, with a bag of papersin one hand and a note-book in the other. But the face was full ofbenevolence, the sonorous voice very kind, the genial manners verywinning, and about the whole person an indescribable air of highbreeding which made beauty of no consequence, costume soon forgotten,and the moment memorable to the keen-eyed girls whom nothing escaped.

A little chat about the rise, growth, and success of this particularclass, and then Mrs Jo led the conversation to the English lady'swork, anxious to show her pupils how rank dignifies labour, andcharity blesses wealth.

It was good for these girls to hear of the evening-schools supportedand taught by women whom they knew and honoured; of Miss Cobbe'seloquent protest winning the protection of the law for abused wives;Mrs Butler saving the lost; Mrs Taylor, who devoted one room in herhistoric house to a library for the servants; Lord Shaftesbury, busywith his new tenement-houses in the slums of London; of prisonreforms; and all the brave work being done in God's name by the richand great for the humble and the poor. It impressed them more thanmany quiet home lectures would have done, and roused an ambition tohelp when their time should come, well knowing that even in gloriousAmerica there is still plenty to be done before she is what sheshould be - truly just, and free, and great. They were also quick tosee that Lady Abercrombie treated all there as her equals, fromstately Mrs Laurence, to little Josie, taking notes of everything andprivately resolving to have some thick-soled English boots as soon aspossible. No one would have guessed that she had a big house inLondon, a castle in Wales, and a grand country seat in Scotland, asshe spoke of Parnassus with admiration, Plumfield as a 'dear oldhome', and the college as an honour to all concerned in it. At that,of course, every head went up a little, and when my lady left, everyhand was ready for the hearty shake the noble Englishwoman gave them,with words they long remembered:

'I am very pleased to see this much-neglected branch of a woman'seducation so well conducted here, and I have to thank my friend MrsLaurence for one of the most charming pictures I've seen inAmerica - Penelope among her maids.'

A group of smiling faces watched the stout boots trudge away,respectful glances followed the shabby bonnet till it was out ofsight, and the girls felt a truer respect for their titled guest thanif she had come in the coach and six, with all her diamonds on.

'I feel better about the "odd jobs" now. I only wish I could do themas well as Lady Abercrombie does,' said one.

'I thanked my stars my buttonholes were nice, for she looked at themand said: "Quite workmanlike, upon my word," added another, feelingthat her gingham gown had come to honour.

'Her manners were as sweet and kind as Mrs Brooke's. Not a bit stiffor condescending, as I expected. I see now what you meant, Mrs Bhaer,when you said once that well-bred people were the same all the worldover.'

Mrs Meg bowed her thanks for the compliment, and Mrs Bhaer said:

'I know them when I see them, but never shall be a model ofdeportment myself. I'm glad you enjoyed the little visit. Now, if youyoung people don't want England to get ahead of us in many ways, youmust bestir yourselves and keep abreast; for our sisters are inearnest, you see, and don't waste time worrying about their sphere,but make it wherever duty calls them.'

'We will do our best, ma'am,' answered the girls heartily, andtrooped away with their work-baskets, feeling that though they mightnever be Harriet Martineaus, Elizabeth Brownings, or George Eliots,they might become noble, useful, and independent women, and earn forthemselves some sweet title from the grateful lips of the poor,better than any a queen could bestow.