only she herself had it! But perhaps Zora was the chosen one. She reached up and took down a well-worn book.
‚ÄúZora,‚Äù she said slowly, ‚ÄúI‚Äôve been going to tell you ever since you came, but I hadn‚Äôt the courage. Zora,‚Äù Miss Smith hesitated and gripped the book with thin white fingers, ‚ÄúI‚Äôm afraid‚ÅÝ‚ÄîI almost know that this school is doomed.‚Äù
There lay a silence in the room while the two women stared into each other’s souls with startled eyes.
Swallowing hard, Miss Smith spoke.
‚ÄúWhen I thought the endowment sure, I mortgaged the school in order to buy Tolliver‚Äôs land. The endowment failed, as you know, because‚ÅÝ‚Äîperhaps I was too stubborn.‚Äù
But Zora’s eyes snapped “No!” and Miss Smith continued:
“I borrowed ten thousand dollars. Then I tried to get the land, but Tolliver kept putting me off, and finally I learned that Colonel Cresswell had bought it. It seems that Tolliver got caught tight in the cotton corner, and that Cresswell, through John Taylor, offered him twice what he had agreed to sell to me for, and he took it. I don’t suppose Taylor knew what he was doing; I hope he didn’t.
‚ÄúWell, there I was with ten thousand dollars idle on my hands, paying ten percent on it and getting less than three percent. I tried to get the bank to take the money back, but they refused. Then I was tempted‚ÅÝ‚Äîand fell.‚Äù She paused, and Zora took both her hands in her own.
“You see,” continued Miss Smith, “just as soon as the announcement of the prospective endowment was sent broadcast by the press, the donations from the North fell off. Letter after letter came from