BY L. H. M. SOULSBY. STRAY THOUGHTS. Cloth, 2s. 6d. net each; or in ornamental leather, FOR GIRLS. FOR MOTHERS AND TEACHERS. ON READING. ON CHARACTER. IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH. On Education. The Religious Side of Secular Teaching. 2d. net. Two Aspects of Education. 4d. net. Use of Leisure. 4d. net. Record of a Year's Reading. 6d. net. On the Spiritual Life. A Friend. id. net. The Gate of Life. 2d. net. Thoughts for Lent. 2d. net. Sunday. 2d. net. Courtesy. 2d. net. Short Prayers. 6d. net. Self-Examination Questions. 2d. net. Suggestions on Prayer. Paper, 6d. net; cloth, rs. net. Suggestions on Bible Reading, Paper, 6d.net; cloth, is.net. Chapter and Verse. A Daily Text-Book. 6d. net. A Year's Bible Readings. Paper, 6d. net.; cloth, is. net. Week by Week. 6d. net. On the Deliciousness of our Employment. The Power of His Resurrection. id. net. The Joy of Living. 3d. net. Happiness. 3d.net. One Called Help. 4d. net. Wings and Spurs. Cloth, Is. net; rexine, 2s. 6d. net. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1910 All rights reserved BUHR/GRAD BJ 1651 566 1910 DEDICATED TO GIRLS AT THE "AWKWARD AGE." "AN unlessoned girl, unschool'd, unpractis'd, Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn." BUHR IGRAD GIFT 9115106 PREFACE HAT is the awkward age? WHAT Certainly not any special number of years. It is most frequently found between the ages of thirteen and twenty-seven, but some girls never go through it, and some never emerge from it! I should be inclined to define it as the age during which girls are asked—and cannot answer -varying forms of the question which so embarrassed the Ugly Duckling: "Can you purr-can you lay eggs?" Most girls on growing up pass through an uncomfortable stage like this, in which neither they nor their friends quite know what niche in life they can best fill-sometimes, because of their own undisciplined characters; sometimes, because the niche itself seems to be lacking. Whether this stage be their misfortune or their |