She ran into the other room and plunged into her trunk; beneath the clothes, beneath the beauty of the Silver Fleece, till her fingers clutched and tore the envelope. A little choking cry burst from her throat, her knees trembled so that she was obliged to sit down.
In her fingers fluttered a check for‚ÅÝ‚Äî ten thousand dollars!
It was not until the next day that the two women were sufficiently composed to talk matters over sanely.
“What is your plan?” asked Zora.
“To put the money in a Northern savings bank at three percent interest; to supply the rest of the interest, and the deficit in the running expenses, from our balance, and to send you North to beg.”
Zora shook her head. “It won’t do,” she objected. “I’d make a poor beggar; I don’t know human nature well enough, and I can’t talk to rich white folks the way they expect us to talk.”
‚ÄúIt wouldn‚Äôt be hypocrisy, Zora; you would be serving in a great cause. If you don‚Äôt go, I‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù
‚ÄúWait! You shan‚Äôt go. If anyone goes it must be me. But let‚Äôs think it out: we pay off the mortgage, we get enough to run the school as it has been run. Then what? There will still be slavery and oppression all around us. The children will be kept in the cotton fields; the men will be cheated, and the women‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù Zora paused and her eyes grew hard.
She began again rapidly: ‚ÄúWe must have land‚ÅÝ‚Äîour own farm with our own tenants‚ÅÝ‚Äîto be the beginning of a free community.‚Äù
Miss Smith threw up her hands impatiently.
“But sakes alive! Where, Zora? Where can we get land, with Cresswell owning every inch and bound to destroy us?”