but little, now it seemed to mean everything; then it meant disappointment to a score of ragged urchins, now it meant two hundred boys and girls, the spirits of a thousand gone before and the hopes of thousands to come. In her imagination the significance of these half dozen gleaming buildings perched aloft seemed portentous‚ÅÝ‚Äîbig with the destiny not simply of a county and a State, but of a race‚ÅÝ‚Äîa nation‚ÅÝ‚Äîa world. It was God‚Äôs own cause, and yet‚ÅÝ‚Äî
Bang! bang! bang! again went the hard knuckles down there at the front.
Miss Smith slowly arose, shivering a bit and wondering who could possibly be rapping at that time in the morning. She sniffed the chilling air and was sure she caught some lingering perfume from Mrs. ¬ÝVanderpool‚Äôs gown. She had brought this rich and rare-apparelled lady up here yesterday, because it was more private, and here she had poured forth her needs. She had talked long and in deadly earnest. She had not spoken of the endowment for which she had hoped so desperately during a quarter of a century‚ÅÝ‚Äîno, only for the five thousand dollars to buy the long needed new land. It was so little‚ÅÝ‚Äîso little beside what this woman squandered‚ÅÝ‚Äî
The insistent knocking was repeated louder than before.
“Sakes alive,” cried Miss Smith, throwing a shawl about her and leaning out the window. “Who is it, and what do you want?”
“Please, ma’am. I’ve come to school,” answered a tall black boy with a bundle.
“Well, why don’t you go to the office?” Then she saw his face and hesitated. She felt again the old motherly instinct to be the first to welcome the new pupil; a luxury which, in later years, the endless push of details had denied her.
“Wait!” she cried shortly, and began to dress.