“I saw him on the lawn.” There was a suspicious lack of warmth in this brief affirmation.
“He was so gracious and kindly, and he knows my brother. And oh, Miss Smith! we’ve got to send that Zora right away.”
‚ÄúIndeed‚Äù‚ÅÝ‚Äîthe observation was not even interrogatory. The preceptress of the struggling school for Negro children merely evinced patience for the younger woman‚Äôs fervency.
“Yes; he says she’s utterly depraved.”
“Said that, did he?” Miss Smith watched her with tranquil regard. Miss Taylor paused.
“Of course, we cannot think of keeping her.”
Miss Smith pursed her lips, offering her first expression of opinion.
“I guess we’ll worry along with her a little while anyhow,” she said.
The girl stared at Miss Smith in honest, if unpardonable, amazement.
‚ÄúDo you mean to say that you are going to keep in this school a girl who not only lies and steals but is positively‚ÅÝ‚Äî immoral ?‚Äù
Miss Smith smiled, wholly unmoved.
‚ÄúNo; but I mean that I am here to learn from those whose ideas of right do not agree with mine, to discover why they differ, and to let them learn of me‚ÅÝ‚Äîso far as I am worthy.‚Äù
Mary Taylor was not unappreciative of Miss Smith’s stern high-mindedness, but her heart hardened at this, to her, misdirected zeal. Echo of the spirit of an older day, Miss Smith seemed, to her, to be cramped