Christian teaching and modern ways broke down the barrier in Korea.  The young Korean women took keenly to the new mode of life.  The girls in the schools, particularly in the Government schools, led the way in the demand for the restoration of their national life.  There were many quaint and touching incidents.  In the missionary schools, the chief fear of the girls was lest they should bring trouble on their American teachers.  The head mistress of one of these schools noticed for some days that her girls were unusually excited.  She heard them asking one another, “Have you enrolled?” and imagined that some new girlish league was being formed.  This was before the great day.  One morning the head mistress came down to discover the place empty.  On her desk was a paper signed by all the girls, resigning their places in the school.  They thought that by this device they would show that their beloved head mistress was not responsible.

Soon there came a call from the Chief of Police.  The mistress was wanted at the police office at once.  All the girls from her school were demonstrating and had stirred up the whole town.  Would the mistress come and disperse them?

The mistress hurried off.  Sure enough, here were the girls in the street, wearing national badges, waving national flags, calling on the police to come and take them.  The men had gathered and were shouting “Mansei!” also.

The worried Chief of Police, who was a much more decent kind than many of his fellows, begged the mistress to do something.  “I cannot arrest them all,” he said.  “I have only one little cell here.  It would only hold a few of them,” The mistress went out to talk to the girls.  They would not listen, even to her.  They cheered her, and when she begged them to go home, shouted “Mansei!” all the louder.

The mistress went back to the Chief.  “The only thing for you to do is to arrest me,” she said.

The Chief was horrified at the idea, “I will go out and tell the girls that you are going to arrest me if they do not go,” she said.  “We will see what that will do.  But mind you, if they do not disperse, you must arrest me.”

She went out again.  “Girls,” she called, “the Chief of Police is going to arrest me if you do not go to your homes.  I am your teacher, and it must be the fault of my teaching that you will not obey.”

“No, teacher, no,” the girls shouted.  “It is not your fault.  You have nothing to do with it.  We are doing this.”  And some of them rushed up, as though they would rescue her by force of arms.

In the end, she persuaded the girls to go home, in order to save her.  “Well,” said the leaders of the girls, “it’s all right now.  We have done all we wanted.  We have stirred up the men.  They were sheep and wanted women to make a start.  Now they will go on.”