It was an important day for Francisco when he became old enough to go to the American school just as Maria and his two brothers had done. In the Philippines the hottest season of the year extends through March, April, May, and June; because of this, school begins about the tenth of June and closes the latter part of the following March. So it came about that on a certain sunshiny June morning Francisco put on his cleanest white trousers and his best pink sinamay shirt (which, like other boys of his age, he wore outside of his trousers), and started to school. His first teacher was Gregorio Nipas (Gre-go'-rio Ne?e'-pÄs), a Filipino boy who had been attending American schools for six or seven years, and could read, write, and speak English very well.

Francisco began his work in what is known as a barrio (bar'-rio) school. A Philippine town includes all the outlying villages for a distance of several miles around, and each of these villages is called a barrio. Every barrio has its own little bamboo schoolhouse where the elementary subjects are taught. As the boys and girls become farther advanced in their work, they go in to the central town, where there is a school doing work of a higher grade and having several teachers. All the barrio and town teachers of one district are under the charge of an older and more experienced supervisor,—in most cases an American,—who directs the work of the schools in his territory and visits the various barrios regularly. From time to time he meets with the town officials to discuss the needs of the schools, and as frequently as possible he calls all his teachers together to consult with them, and give them instructions regarding their work.

Filipino boys and girls do not buy their own books; the government furnishes the required texts and the pupils are allowed the use of them while they are attending school. Each child gives a receipt for all the books that are issued to him, and when school is over he returns them to his teacher and the receipt is destroyed. In case he has lost a book or has badly used it, he is required to pay for it.

When Francisco entered school he knew a few English words and sentences that he had learned from soldiers and from older boys who went to school. Such expressions as “Good morning,” “How are you?” and “Good-bye,” were familiar to him, but of course he could neither read nor write, and there were many children of his age who knew no English at all.

For the first lesson with these beginners the teacher called them up to his desk, and holding up a book so that all could see it, said very distinctly the word “book.” The children repeated it after him, and in a few minutes they could call the word as soon as he held up the book. Then he did the same thing with other articles such as pen, pencil, and paper, until in a little while they knew thoroughly several English words.

The next step was to form sentences. The teacher again held up the book, saying slowly and distinctly, “This is a book”; and the children carefully repeated “De?es e?es a book.” Filipinos have some trouble in making the sound of short “I” and of “th” in this, these, and those, usually saying “De?es,” “De?es?,” and “Dos?e.” Other articles whose names the children knew were used in the sentences, “This is a pen,” “This is a pencil.”

After these were learned, their teacher made sentences such as “I give you the book,” at the same time giving it to some child; then, “You give the book to Francisco,”—“Francisco, give the book to me,” until in a few days the children knew accurately a long list of English words which they were able to use in simple sentences. These sentences were written on the blackboard for them to read and copy, and thus they began to speak, read, and write the English language. They worked at copying these sentences while the teacher taught the other classes. Sometimes they sat and listened while the older children recited, and in this way they learned new words. English was the only language used in the schoolroom, and often the boys and girls spoke it among themselves for practice.

After Francisco had worked several weeks in this way and could recognize many words as soon as he saw them, he was given a primary reader,—an honor of which he was very proud. He asked his father to show him how to weave a grass cover for his precious book so that he would not soil it. He made rapid progress, enjoyed his school life greatly, and in course of time he completed the work of the barrio school and went to the school in town.

Here he found two new interests which he had not known in the barrio school. Mrs. Bond, the wife of the American supervising teacher, had charge of the town school. She was an excellent musician and taught the pupils many songs. Filipinos love music, learn songs readily, and sing with great enthusiasm. The older pupils were becoming able to read music and sing their different parts correctly, and Francisco entered into this new subject with all his energy. The padre (pÄ'-dra), or priest, was much interested in the children’s musical training, and he made frequent use of it in his church services.

The other interest that Francisco found when he entered the town school was manual training, which was begun in the upper grades. The boys began making simple things out of bamboo and coconut wood, such as paper cutters, ladles, dippers, spoons, cups, and ash trays. Later, however, the work was extended to larger and more useful articles, such as tables, bookcases, benches, and desks for their own and barrio schools.

Of course music and manual training took only a part of Francisco’s time; he was busy reading in more advanced books, and studying elementary English grammar, arithmetic, and geography. He was growing rapidly in body as well as in mind, and was learning some of the simple rules of health that he had been violating before this time because he knew no better. He was taking better care of his eyes, was more careful about the kind of water he drank and about eating overripe bananas. He knew now that it was better for him to keep the window of his sleeping room open at night instead of tightly closed as formerly, and he took some money that he had earned, by carrying a basket of fish to the market, to buy a mosquito netting for his bed.

At last he completed the course given in the town school and was ready to enter the provincial school, located in the town of Albay, several miles south of his home. A province in the Philippine Islands is similar to a county in the United States, and each one maintains a high school which any boy or girl living in the province may attend, after he has completed the work of the lower grades and has passed satisfactory examinations. Courses are offered in the history and government of the United States and the Philippine Islands, in literature, in grammar and composition, in mathematics, drawing, music, cooking, sewing, manual training, agriculture, and, when called for, Spanish and other subjects. The high school at Albay contained a very large assembly hall which was used for study when pupils were not in classes. We shall leave Francisco studying in this room, while we find out something of the history and government of these interesting islands.