‚ÄúI should have shown her‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù Bles tried to interject.
“Nothing of the sort. You would have tried to show her and would have failed miserably. She hasn’t learned anything in twenty years.”
“But surely you didn’t join her in advocating that ten million people be menials?”
“Oh, no; I simply listened.”
“Well, there was no harm in that; I believe in silence at times.”
“Ah! but I did not listen like a log, but positively and eloquently; with a nod, a half-formed word, a comment begun, which she finished.”
Bles frowned.
“As a result,” continued Miss Wynn, “I have a check for five hundred dollars to finish our cooking-school and buy a cast of Minerva for the assembly-room. More than that, I have now a wealthy friend. She thinks me an unusually clever person who, by a process of thought not unlike her own, has arrived at very similar conclusions.”
‚ÄúBut‚ÅÝ‚Äîbut,‚Äù objected Bles, ‚Äúif the time spent cajoling fools were used in convincing the honest and upright, think how much we would gain.‚Äù
‚ÄúVery little. The honest and upright are a sad minority. Most of these white folk‚ÅÝ‚Äîbelieve me, boy,‚Äù she said caressingly‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äúare fools and knaves: they don‚Äôt want truth or progress; they want to keep niggers down.‚Äù