This was not accepted. Mr. Herbert’s generous sweetness of nature, his love for the writer, and his belief that she was the one person needed in the hospitals, and was doing wonders there, led him to write a very noble and humble reply, saying that _he_ had made a mistake—which, indeed, was true enough—in taking his well-meant step without consulting her. She yielded her point in so far as to remain at her post, now that Miss Stanley and her staff had moved on to Therapia and Smyrna, and were doing real good there, Miss Stanley having given up all her own plans, to remain and look after the nurses who had come under her escort. But, apart from the fact that it would have been a great hindrance to discipline to have forty-six women on her hands who had _not_ promised obedience to her, as had her own nurses, a little sidelight is thrown upon it all by these words in one of Miss Stanley’s own letters, speaking of the nurses under her guardianship:— “The first night there was great dissatisfaction among them, and a strong inclination to strike work. ‘We are not come out to be cooks, housemaids, and washerwomen,’ and they dwelt considerably on Mr. Herbert’s words about equality. _They are like troublesome children._” Though our sympathy goes out to Miss Stanley, it is not impossible that Miss Nightingale’s decision may have saved Scutari from unavoidable confusions of authority which would have been very unseemly, and from more than a possibility of defeat in the experiment she was making, in the eyes of all Europe, as to how far women could be wisely admitted into military hospitals. Such confusion might have arisen, not from any fault in Miss Nightingale or Miss Stanley, but from the special work of reorganization which had to be done at Scutari, and the special code of obedience by which Miss Nightingale’s staff had been prepared for it. She did not want for such work any “troublesome children.” CHAPTER XV. _The busy nursing hive—M. Soyer and his memories—Miss Nightingale’s complete triumph over prejudice—The memories of Sister Aloysius._ Meanwhile Miss Stanley’s letters give us a very interesting informal glimpse of the work that was going on and of Miss Nightingale herself. Here is one in which she describes her visit to her in the hospital at Scutari:—