"
"Now, please don't talk that way. Let us get back to where we were. You
were saying that all lands were in need of the doctrine of gentleness. I
suppose it is true, but this land needs only the doctrine while there
are others that are in need of the lash--I might say, the sword. I am
not as high in the social world as you may suppose, but what I know of
society leads me to believe that we polish a barbarism and call it a
brilliant grace. Politeness is charming to look at and to hear, but it
is the art of telling and acting a lie. Among these hills we hear a
laugh and we know that some one is amused. In society we see a smile and
we feel that some one is a hypocrite."
"I hope it ain't that bad, ma'm."
"But it is that bad."
"When Uncle Jasper asked you if yo' husband was dead, you said worse
than that--divorced. Was he very mean to you, ma'am?"
"He was a brute, Mr. Reverend."
"Did anybody knock him down for you?"
"Oh, no."
"Is he livin'?"
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Do you want him knocked down?"
"Why, Mr.
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