“Well, are you getting things in shape so as to enter school early next year?”
Robert looked embarrassed.
‚ÄúThat‚Äôs what I came to tell you, Miss Smith. Mr. ¬ÝCresswell has offered me forty acres of good land.‚Äù
Miss Smith looked disheartened.
‚ÄúRobert, here you are almost finished, and my heart is set on your going to Atlanta University and finishing college. With your fine voice and talent for drawing‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù
A dogged look settled on Robert’s young bright face, and the speaker paused.
‚ÄúWhat‚Äôs the use, Miss Smith‚ÅÝ‚Äîwhat opening is there for a‚ÅÝ‚Äîa nigger with an education?‚Äù
Miss Smith was shocked.
‚ÄúWhy‚ÅÝ‚Äîwhy, every chance,‚Äù she protested, ‚Äúand where there‚Äôs none make a chance!‚Äù
‚ÄúMiss Taylor says‚Äù‚ÅÝ‚ÄîMiss Smith‚Äôs heart sank; how often had she heard that deadening phrase in the last year!‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äúthat there‚Äôs no use. That farming is the only thing we ought to try to do, and I reckon she thinks there ain‚Äôt much chance even there.‚Äù
“Robert, farming is a noble calling. Whether you’re suited to it or not, I don’t yet know, but I’d like nothing better than to see you settled here in a decent home with a family, running a farm. But, Robert, farming doesn’t call for less intelligence than other things; it calls for more. It is because the world thinks any training good enough for a