"Yes."
Romney laughed. Bamban waited for him to speak.
"You keep them behind lattices. You do not give them the breath of life. You feel that they belong to a man's weakness rather than his strength. You do not see that the girl is equal to the boy; that the two are one so far as the future is concerned. You think that all women are wanton, unless they are repressed."
"We do not consider that women belong to the larger affairs of man's life," said Bamban.
Romney laughed again.
"That's why as a nation, the Chinese Empire is ninety-seven hundredths putrified," said he.
There was not a look in Bamban's clearly-formed face to denote if the depth and delicacy of his regard were shaken.
"You are the messenger of our country," he said.
"Hardly that—a messenger of the remaining three per cent," said Romney.
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