“But you frighten me,” exclaimed Margaret aghast. “I haven’t the slightest idea how to drain it, and I am sure it will cost more than we can afford.”
“We are only examining possibilities. ‘Small fruits,’ a dozen ragged currant bushes, some straggling strawberry vines, grapes that have run riot, and a ‘delightful tangle,’ as Elsie says, of raspberry bushes. Common, too—no, Gregg if I am not mistaken. Ah! that is better. ‘Three acres of land’—not more than two and one-half that can yield anything. Now, Miss Margaret, if you and Elsie are ready we’ll interview the agent.”
“The place will not pay for the outlay upon it, I am afraid,” said Margaret despondently, as they went out of the gate.
“Not this season, certainly; but we can tell better when we have seen the agent and found out what we can do with him.”
“Well, if you had not insisted on coming with us I should have turned back in dismay. Somehow, when I can see a way through I am ready enough to act; but I become frightened when the wall is so high I cannot see over.”
“That is natural enough. Very few women have the courage to scale precipices; but those who undertake the problem of self-support must encounter all of a man’s difficulties. We are a chivalrous people here in America, but that chivalry usually consists in giving a woman a fair field and no quarter. If you seek to be one with us in opportunities, you must be one with us in conditions.”
“If I might always be sure of such fair consideration I shall not complain. A woman, however, cannot insure her own incompetency against the greed of those who are chivalrous enough to take advantage of it. She must always be more or less a victim.”
“So long as she remains incompetent. Experience, however, is the great moulder in her case as well as that of her brother. She demonstrates her capacity in proportion as she learns the same hard lessons. One of the first of these lessons is not to ask any more of the world because of her sex. When women cease clamoring for a man’s rights and a woman’s pre-eminence at one and the same time, then will the dogged opposition of those to whom she appeals be less noticeable.”
“Yet it is quite natural for the weak to ask a little extra standing-room of their more fortunate brothers.”
“It is one thing to ask by virtue of a common sympathy, and another to demand as a right. Mankind is a good deal like the pig that Paddy tried to drive to market. ‘Shure if ye iver git ’im there, ye must head ’im t’other way.’ It might be well to try the scheme on the agent of this place.”