in the Land of the Free and the home of the brave. Is it fair‚ÅÝ‚Äîto the children?‚Äù
“Yes, it is!” he cried vehemently. “The more to take up the fight, the surer the victory.”
She laughed at his earnestness.
“You are refreshing,” she said. “Well, we’ll dine next Tuesday, and we’ll have the cream of our world to meet you.”
He knew that this was a great triumph. It flattered his vanity. After all, he was entering this higher dark world whose existence had piqued and puzzled him so long. He glanced at Miss Wynn beside him there in the dimly lighted parlor: she looked so aloof and unapproachable, so handsome and so elegant. He thought how she would complete a house‚ÅÝ‚Äîsuch a home as his prospective four or six thousand dollars a year could easily purchase. She saw him surveying her, and she smiled at him.
“I find but one fault with you,” she said.
He stammered for a pretty speech, but did not find it before she continued:
‚ÄúYes‚ÅÝ‚Äîyou are so delightfully primitive; you will not use the world as it is but insist on acting as if it were something else.‚Äù
“I am not sure I understand.”
“Well, there is the wife of my Judge: she is a fact in my world; in yours she is a problem to be stated, straightened, and solved. If she had come to you, as