The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1909-11-24

The three years which had elapsed
had made q vast change in the rela-
tons between the man and the woman
In the beginning and for long time
hers had been the dominant position
So absolutely had she ruled that to
him she had been as a god. So en-
tirely had he obeyed that to her he
had been a devotee. Once she discov-
cred his ductility and had begun to
teach him, the relationships had COM
menced to change. Gradually each had
recognized the humanity of the other
Together students they had naturally
approached common level. Every
new knowledge she impaired to him
was an abdication of some of her su-
premacy. Every new knowledge he &C.
CURED was an inspiration to her high
level.
Three years is a short time in the
educational life of a human being,
but she brought to her side Of what
was slowly developing into an equa-
ton the highest training, a natural
ability to impart what she knew, an
an entire freedom from other interests.
So fascinating had the experiment
been that she had scarcely missed the
rest Of the world. l wonder If he had
been a woman instead of a man II
that absorption would have resulted
from their intercourse?
On his part. he brought to bear upon
the problem of learning, 1t was soon
developed. an intellect which although
entirely unframed was unusually
acute, faculty Of acquiring knowl-
edge as great as was her ability to i'm
part 1t and reasoning capacity which
kept pace with his other qualities. In
deed, the main thing with which she
had to contend at first was his lack of
application. But SO soon as he had
learned enough to enable him to rea-
lie the Importance of learning more
she had no trouble on that score. It
was as II a mature mind had been
brought to bear upon the problems Of
adolescence. He grappled with things
In that way. Whatever she taught him,
he learned. he mastered all; and the
mastery inspired him to learn more.
His mnemonic ability was prodigious;
Tor all the years of his life he had not
been storing up the Insignificant, the
immaterial, the unnecessary, in his
brain cells. He remembered all that
she taught him with unvarying accu-
racy. His was . powerful, vigorous
mentality which had known nothing
and upon which she wrote what she
pleased. To the judgment Of a man
he added the receptivity and ductility
of child.
She had taught him first of all to
speak and then to read; then rudi-
mentary mathematics such as he could
do in his head. There was nothing
that she could devise that was prac-
ticable for writing. There was no
slate on the island, the rock was not
suitable. Therefore he had never
learned to write, although he knew
what writing was, for she had ex-
planned 1t to him, and had made shift
to teach him the Arabic letters. She
also taught him geography, astronomy.
natural sciences, and above all, his
tory. She unfolded the kingdoms of
this world and the glory of them be-
fore his vision, touching lightly, as has
been the fashion of such unfolders,
upon the misery and the shams. His
was a singular knowledge indeed.
There were some things about which
she was reticent, being woman, and
some things she could not tell him at
all; but being man, with magma
ton quickened, he thought of these
things the more-for these were some
Of the deeper things of life and ma
ture!
But the change In the relations be-
tween the two were not greater than
the change In the woman herself. She
WAS no longer q philosopher. That
which she had disdained, she admired;
that which she had abhorred. she loved;
that which she had refused. she &C.
copied. She was . Christian In belief
a. last. Alone. or practically so. face
to face with God in his world, God in
His Book, God in humanity, her spe-
cious ideas Of life and her relationship
to it had broken down. She had
learned to kneel beside that man and
pray. She had learned to seek else
where than in herself for power to
enable her to live her life and fulfill
her tasks.
She had not wished to be a Chris
tian. She had fought against it, strug-
gled with it, agonized over it, but g
compelling necessity was upon her.
The convictions of her conversion tore
the veil from before her face. dispelled
the mist that hung about her. She
saw herself as she was, a woman who
under the influence of wrong ideas,
false conceptions, had branded herself
| forever. No, not in the eyes of that
/ God whom she had learned to fear,
not in the eyes that Christ whom
she had learned to love, but In the
| eyes Of men; yet she was a woman
who was pure in heart. Perhaps these
thoughts and this consciousness had
more to do with keeping her content
even that her intense pre-occupation