“No, but you can’t always help seeing and meeting it,” laughed Miss Taylor.
“Certainly not. I don’t try; I court the meeting and seeing. It is the only way.”
‚ÄúWell, perhaps, for us‚ÅÝ‚Äîbut not for a boy like Bles, and a girl like Zora.‚Äù
‚ÄúTrue; men and women must exercise judgment in their intercourse and‚Äù‚ÅÝ‚Äîshe glanced sharply at Miss Taylor‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äúmy dear, you yourself must not forget that Bles Alwyn is a man.‚Äù
Far up the road came a low, long, musical shouting; then with creaking and straining of wagons, four great black mules dashed into sight with twelve bursting bales of yellowish cotton looming and swaying behind. The drivers and helpers were lolling and laughing and singing, but Miss Taylor did not hear nor see. She had sat suddenly upright; her face had flamed crimson, and then went dead white.
‚ÄúMiss‚ÅÝ‚ÄîMiss Smith!‚Äù she gasped, overwhelmed with dismay, a picture of wounded pride and consternation.
Miss Smith turned around very methodically and took her hand; but while she spoke the girl merely stared at her in stony silence.
“Now, dear, don’t mean more than I do. I’m an old woman, and I’ve seen many things. This is but a little corner of the world, and yet many people pass here in thirty years. The trouble with new teachers who come is, that like you, they cannot see black folk as human. All to them are either impossible Zoras, or else lovable Blessings. They forget that Zora is not to be annihilated, but studied and understood, and that Bles is a young man of eighteen and not a clod.”
‚ÄúBut that he should dare‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù Mary began breathlessly.