"I don't see why. Why not send Sam with him?'"
"Madam, is it necessary to explain to you that Dan is the property—property—"
"I know all about that. But they are too much like companions, and will study together."
He looked hard at her. "Study together? And what of that?"
"I don't want a child of mine studying with a negro. He has no business to study. He knows enough already! Educate him and he will be of no account on the face of the earth. I never knew it to fail. Mason had an educated negro, and what became of him? He ran away and went north and told a pack of lies about the people in this State, about the cruelties he had suffered, and the abolition papers are still harping on it."
"Yes, that's all true enough," said Old Master, "but in Dan's case it will be different. He is not likely to pick up much learning, and besides he's grateful. He'll never run away."
"I have been thinking," she said, "that we might—"
"Might do what?" Master snapped before she had finished.
"Well, you know how much the doctor desires that boy. Why not let him—"