The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-14

rock and deliver discourse on whatever subject he might choose. After one of these lectures he would descend from the pulpit and throw himself face down upon the ground in front of it, while the others discussed around him such ideas as were suggested by his oration.
 Since her interview with Westervelt Zenoba's inequalities of temper had been rather hard for her companions to bear. On the first Sunday after that incident, when Hollingsworth had clambered down from the pulpit, she broke forth into angry, passionate protest against the linn itations placed by the world upon women and upon the injustice which the world did to them by circumscribing their sphere of action and denying them equality with men in all things. Coverdale agreed with
 her almost entirely, even saying: T
 should love dearly to have all govern ment devolve upon women. I hate to be
 ruled by my own sex: 1t excites my jeal-
 ousy and hurts my pride. It is iron
 sway of bodily force which abases us.
 But how sweet the free, generous cour-
 tesy with which I would kneel before a
 woman ruler" Priscilla, listening at-
 tentively to the argument. turned to Hoi- llngsworth with, ''Is 1t all true-this which
 Zenobia and MT. Coverdale have been
 saying?'
 "No." replied Hollingsworth. neither
 of them has uttered a word of truth yet.
 Man is a wretch without woman, but
 woman Is monster without man as her
 acknowledged principal Were there any prospect of women taking the social stand
 which some of them-poor, miserable,
 abortive creatures, who only dream such
 dreams because they have missed won- ans peculiar happiness, or because nature made them neither man nor woman-if there were chance of these petticoated
 monstrosties attaining the end they have in view I would call upon my own sex to
 use physical force, that unmistalSeable
 evidence of sovereignty to scourge them back within their proper bounds. The heart of true womanhood knows where its own sphere is and never seeks to stray beyond it' Never was mortal blessed with glance of more entire acquiescence
 and unquestioning faith than that Pris- cilla unconsciously bestowed upon Hol- lingsworth.
 Coverdale looked at Zenobia expecting to see her face glow with indignation. But, to his surprise, she only looked humbed Some tears stood in her eyes,
 but they were wholly of grief. not anger.
 well, be it so," she said. How little did
 those two women regard the poet who
 had conceded everything to their sex.
 while Hollingsworth, by some necroman- cy of his horrible injustice, had brought them both to his feet. Women almost
 invariably behave thus" thought Cover dale. What does 1t mean? Is it their
 nature, or is it the result of ages of com
 pelled degradation? In either case will it ! be possible ever to redeem them?"
 As they left the grove Priscilla ran on
 before with the lghtness and activity of
 joyous bird. Never had she seemed so
 happy She skipped and could not help it from very lghtness of heart. Zenobia and Hollingsworth went next in close contiguity. Just as they passed the i'm pending boughs of birch tree Coverdale saw Zenobia suddenly seize Hollings- worth's hand, raise it. press 1t to her | bosom and let it fall again. The action ! angered Coverdale. He had long been convinced that Holingsworth intended to marry Zenobia, not because he loved her, but that he might employ her great |, wealth in the prosecution of his great idea Priscilla, through the medium of her eyes at least, could not have been aware of Zenobia's sudden, impassioned gesture. But at that very moment Gov erdale saw the girl droop--all her gayety | vanished Even the substance of her figure seemed to grow thin and gray. Her pace became so slow that Zenobia and IIollingsworth. passed her and the
 poet, coming up, said: "Do you feel sud-
 denly i'll, Priscilla? Pray take my arm"
 NO" replied the girl, 'I am not i'll, only very sad just now; know not why. Pray go on before. It pleases me to ! ,oiter alone. I do not walk as fast as vo,,." She made a little gesture of dis
 misal with her hand, and Coverdale went
 on leaving her alone, lingering in the
 shadow of the wood
 By the time autumn came Coverdale felt an overwhelming desire to go back to
 the real world. To live longer in the un-
 natural state which the philosophy he had