and paralyzed in an armor of prejudice and sectionalisms. Plain-speaking was the only course, and Mary, if a little complacent perhaps in her frankness, was sincere in her purpose.
‚ÄúI think, Miss Smith, you are making a very grave mistake. I regard Zora as a very undesirable person from every point of view. I look upon Mr. ¬ÝCresswell‚Äôs visit today as almost providential. He came offering an olive branch from the white aristocracy to this work; to bespeak his appreciation and safeguard the future. Moreover,‚Äù and Miss Taylor‚Äôs voice gathered firmness despite Miss Smith‚Äôs inscrutable eye, ‚Äúmoreover, I have reason to know that the disposition‚ÅÝ‚Äîindeed, the plan‚ÅÝ‚Äîin certain quarters to help this work materially depends very largely on your willingness to meet the advances of the Southern whites halfway.‚Äù
She paused for a reply or a question. Receiving neither, she walked with dignity up the stairs. From her window she could see Cresswell‚Äôs straight shoulders, as he rode toward town, and beyond him a black speck in the road. But she could not see the smile on Mr. ¬ÝCresswell‚Äôs lips, nor did she hear him remark twice, with seeming irrelevance, ‚ÄúThe devil!‚Äù
The rider, being closer to it, recognized in Mary Taylor’s “black speck” Bles Alwyn walking toward him rapidly with axe and hoe on shoulder, whistling merrily. They saw each other almost at the same moment and whistle and smile faded.
Mr. ¬ÝCresswell knew the Negro by sight and disliked him. He belonged in his mind to that younger class of half-educated blacks who were impudent and disrespectful toward their superiors, not even touching his hat when he met a white man. Moreover, he was sure that it was Miss Taylor with whom this boy had been talking so long and familiarly in the cotton-field last Spring‚ÅÝ‚Äîan offence doubly heinous now that he had seen Miss Taylor.