says‚ÅÝ‚Äîshe is tired and nervous. You join the others and don‚Äôt wait for me and I will be along directly.‚Äù
Mrs. ¬ÝGrey was only too glad to escape and Mr. ¬ÝBocombe got a chance to talk. He drew out his notebook.
‚ÄúAwfully interesting,‚Äù he said, ‚Äúawfully. Now‚ÅÝ‚Äîer‚ÅÝ‚Äîlet‚Äôs see‚ÅÝ‚Äîoh, yes.
Did you notice how unhealthy the children looked? Race is undoubtedly dying out; fact. No hope. Weak. No spontaneity either‚ÅÝ‚Äîrather languid, did you notice? Yes, and their heads‚ÅÝ‚Äîsmall and narrow‚ÅÝ‚Äîno brain capacity. They can‚Äôt concentrate; notice how some slept when Dr. ¬ÝBoldish was speaking?
Mr. ¬ÝCresswell says they own almost no land here; think of it? This land was worth only ten dollars an acre a decade ago, he says. Negroes might have bought all and been rich. Very shiftless‚ÅÝ‚Äîand that singing. Now, I wonder where they got the music? Imitation, of course.‚Äù
And so he rattled on, noting not the silence of the others.
As the carriage drove off Mary turned to Miss Smith.
‚ÄúNow, Miss Smith,‚Äù she began‚ÅÝ‚Äîbut Miss Smith looked at her, and said sternly, ‚ÄúSit down.‚Äù
Mary Taylor sat down. She had been so used to lecturing the older woman that the sudden summoning of her well known sternness against herself took her breath, and she sat awkwardly like the school girl that she was waiting for Miss Smith to speak. She felt suddenly very young and very helpless‚ÅÝ‚Äîshe who had so jauntily set out to solve this mighty problem by a waving of her wand. She saw with a swelling of pity the drawn and stricken face of her old friend and she started up.