History was being taught in the second class; the teacher was a girl not much older than her pupils, with a face like painted china, and full of painfully stiff dignity.
She was examining the girls about the Seven Years' War, and utter strategic embarrassment was displayed. The Austrians were beaten at Rossbach, the French at Zorndorf. As regards the dates hopeless confusion prevailed, which was shared by the teacher, who was deprived of her self-possession by the visitors, and at last it was unanimously decided, with her silent consent, to transpose the peace of Hubertusburg to a period in which Frederick the Great was only preparing for war.
Fräulein Sohle considered it advisable to interfere so as to reduce Frederick the Great's affairs to something like order. However, she could not even provide any proper place for the battle of Kunersdorf, and wandered vainly from one date to another.
The third class was in a state of complete anarchy; the teacher had been obliged to send an apology for her absence on account of violent toothache, but that message had not reached Fräulein Sohle.
Miss Sourland, a little English girl, had assumed the lecturer's seat, and parodied the teacher's English in so comical a manner that all the girls crowded round her with peals of laughter; she was at that moment engaged in uttering some guttural tones when Fräulein Sohle's appearance interrupted the merry fun.
This lady inflicted some punishment task upon the class, but then let it return home.
Lori made a note of the name of the principal culprit; she considered a black book indispensable, so that the mistress of a school could at once detect the black sheep in every class.
At heart, nevertheless, she felt sympathy with the girl, and acknowledged to herself that in a similar case she should have been just as wild as the red-haired islander.
They inspected the lower classes, where the young curly-headed creatures were struggling with the alphabet and the four first rules of arithmetic, and at the same indulged in various surreptitious acts of naughtiness, which did not escape Lori's sharp vision. In the fifth they were alarmed by a window blind descending impetuously; the young teacher complained of this often recurring mishap, which was so trying to her nerves; Fräulein Sohle promised her intervention, but Lori had immediately perceived that it was owing to no chance but to some misdemeanour, and that the little wild creatures fastened the string so loosely before the commencement of the lesson, that by the least shake, the monster should rattle down with its heavy rod.
The head of the establishment expatiated upon all its advantages once more in the conference-room--she drew attention to the proper behaviour of the young ladies in the upper classes, which was peculiarly her work; all were fitted to appear at Court, and would pass brilliantly through the ordeal. Etiquette, indeed, was the principal thing; the whole world rests upon it; remove it, and we should see what is left. People would do away with the laced bodice--how foolish! Without it there would be no truly seemly carriage. She would not permit one of her young ladies to come without it. A sensation of control is necessary to all mankind, but especially to all young girls; it is the guarantee of propriety. Decorum is a species of control; it is much more comfortable not to be decorous; and also as to French, she still maintained the old views, although she was a good German. But girls are born without logic, they must learn to think in succinct manner. The French language teaches this, tolerating no fancifulness. Besides it is the language for what is unavoidable, for what in German would be a stumbling block can be glided over easily in French.