“Because of the unevenness of the contest: me against the whole educational system.”
“Or the educational system and society against you?” said Spindem with lifted eyebrows.
“Either way you want it,” said Montgomery.
“And is there anything else you have determined from looking into this Mirror?”
“Yes. I found out why I didn’t have more courage and gumption to stand on my hind legs and protest people like Carling and his kind. There are other people who have made more of a stand than I have, as is obvious to you. But I simply knuckled under.”
“Why?”
Montgomery told then of his long experience with the Mirror that day, the sensation of death and an enemy with whom he compromised to save his life. Spindem listened with interest.
“Have you dreamed previously in this same manner?” he asked as the major finished.
“It was no dream,” said Montgomery. “I was wide-awake.”
“Of course. In the case of this afternoon’s experience — but I would think the same symbolism had probably occurred frequently in dreams during your lifetime. Unless it were induced wholly by the Mirror.”