“Exactly. You loathe the sight of a school-room. You do the task they set you because your father's a clergyman and can't support his big family. You're waiting and longing for the day of your deliverance--isn't it so?” “Perhaps.” “And that day of deliverance?” “Will come when I meet my Fate!” “You'll meet him, too!” “I will----” Jane Anderson shook her fine head. “And may the Lord have mercy on your poor little soul when you do!” “And why, pray?” “Because you're the most helpless and defenseless of all the things He created.” Mary smiled. “I've managed to take pretty good care of myself so far.” “And you will--until the thunderbolt falls.” “The thunderbolt?” “Until you meet your Fate.” “I'll have someone to look after me then.” “We'll hope so anyhow,” was the quick retort. “But can't you see, Jane dear, that we look at life from such utterly different angles. You glory in your work. It's your inspiration--the breath you breathe. I don't believe in women working for money. I don't believe God ever meant us to work when He made us women. He made us women for something more wonderful. I don't see anything good or glorious in the fact that half the torrent of humanity you see down there pouring through the street from those factories and offices is made up of women. They are wage-earners--so much the worse. They are forcing the scale of wages for men lower and lower. They are paying for it in weakened bodies and sickly, hopeless children. We should not shout for joy; we should cry. God never meant for woman to be a wage-earner!” A sob caught her voice and she paused. The artist watched her emotion with keen interest. “Neither do I believe that God means to force woman at last to do the tasks of man. But she's doing them, dear--and it must be so until a brighter day dawns for humanity. The new world that opens before us will never abolish marriage, but it has opened our eyes to know what it means. You refuse to open yours. You refuse to see this new world about you. I've begged you to join one of my clubs. You refuse. I beg you to meet and know such men of genius as Gordon----” “As an artist's model!”