d, always courteously and with free choice on our par

we handed him the shears and told him to please himself. We began to rather prize those beards of ours; they were almost our sole distinction among those tall and sturdy women, with their cropped hair and sexless

mbroidered tunic with its broad, loose girdle with quite a Henry V air. Jeff looked more like-well, like a Huguenot Lover; and I don't know what I looked like, only t

knew; but they were not to be seen. Just a multitude of girls:

cared to, a sort of synopsis of world hi

ut for ourselves, just the brain work of one small half-country; and you, we gather, have helped one another all over the

a further

a sort of digest of what we have learned from you, and it has been eagerly

ace of knowledge, had seemed on the plane of children, or of savages. What we had been forced to admit, with growing acquaintance, was

each them. The memorable fact is what they taught us, or some faint glimpse of it. And at pre

g faces; crowding questions, and, I regret to say, an inc

ided in clarifying a question or, oftener, an answer, noticed this ef

you," Somel suggested, "to talk with y

ne's face. Even then, with all those eager young things waiting to talk to us, a sudden question

nt. But I was a little chilled by that last thought of mine, and kept my eyes open. I found time to watch Jeff, even while I was surrounded by an eager group of questioners-as we all wer

rful approach seemed to irritate them; his too-intimate glances were vaguely resented, his compliments puzzled and annoyed. Sometimes a girl would flush, not with drooped eyelids and inviting timidi

was making a strong impression; but, finally, casting

ood ones, but they were friends-nothing else. Also they were of somewhat the same clan, not popula

the impression we made. Jeff had a following, if I may call it that, of the more sentimental-though that's not th

uiring minds, not overly sensitive, the very kind he liked least;

about it. We could

evening was over and we were by our

all them," said Jeff, his b

all them?" I m

ndoffish, disagreeable lot at that. Critica

t like, he changed his manner somewhat and got on better. He had to. For, in spite of his criticism, they were girls,

timent and measureless perfection of his Celis; and Terry-Terry made so many false starts and met so many rebuffs, that by the time he really settled down to win Alima, he was considerably wiser. At that, it was not smooth sa

ven in that race of strong women, with a proud head and sweeping level brows th

m but best of all with Ellador, long bef

eely with me, I learned at last something of

ntented, when the booming buzz of o

es, word flashed all over the country, and

their rapid d

f much valuable knowledge. May be dangerous. Catch them if possible; tame and train th

ely to be afraid of three young men. We thought of them as "Women," and therefore timid; but it was two thousand years

our pick of them. They thought-very cautiously

analyzed us, prepared reports about us, and this in

ere hard to answer. But I am sorry to say, when we were at last brought out and-exhibited (I hate to call it that, but that's what it was), there was no rush of takers. Here

interested, but it was not the ki

ove, that is. These girls-to each of whom motherhood was a lodestar, and that motherhood exalted above a mere personal function, looked forward to as the highest social service, as

terest and curiosity in our civilization, purely impersonal, an

that our, or at least Terry's, advances were so ill received. The reason

Somel told me, "becaus

and then remembered how little like "women," in our derogator

ature of each sex must be intensified. But surely there are characteristics enough which belong to People,

hance to "protect" or to "serve" them. These needed neither protection nor service. They were l

advantages, if they would come to our country; b

out, asking questions as to workmanship, not in the least as to v

s dependent wholly on his personal attrac

lity of making the Great Change; and the degree of p

nal experience with those three fleet forest

rily pleasant-and then you find rich farmland, and then gardens, gorgeous gardens, and then palaces full of r

friend when we met for the third time, and continued the acquaintance. While Jeff's ultra-devotion rather puzzled Celis, really put

I had not understood. Through her sympathetic intelligence I became more and more comprehending of the spirit

d, as I traveled farther and farther, exploring the rich, sweet soul of her, my sense of pleasant friendship became but a broad f

ery much for women, nor they for

o woman-worshipper like Jeff. I just liked that girl "as a friend," as we say. That friendship grew like a tree. She was SUCH a good sport! We did all

an talented. She was a forester-one of the best-but it was not that gift I mean. When I say GREAT, I mean great-big, all through. If I had known more of those wom

. Then this deeper recognition came and grew. I felt my own soul rise and lift its wings, as it were. Life got bigger. It seemed as if I unde

r the far dim forestland below, talking of heaven and earth and human life, and

ll help me

rested in mine and her hands too-then suddenly there blazed out between us a

or was brown: hair dark and soft, like a seal coat; clear brown skin with a healthy red in it; br

the land even before our first exploring flight. They had watched our landing, flitted t

e for a day or two, and been there at the last, as described. They felt a special claim on us-called us "their men"-and wh

t we should have chosen the

run smooth"; this period of courtship w

d and, later, in my own land, I can now understand and philosophize abo

riage, there is either the establishment of a slow-growing, widely based friendship, the deepest, tenderest, sweetest of relations, all lit and warmed b

ousand years' disuse had left very little of the instinct; also we must remember that those who h

ction remains also; and who shall say what long-forgotten feeling, vague

he lack of any sex-tradition. There was no accepted

?" with the frankest amazement. He could not look that fleet-footed, deep-chested young forester in the face and s

y, that women were no

l out of large stones; looked back at the nearest town with its woman-built houses; down at

. "Are the women in your country so weak tha

me that motherhood is a sufficient burd

eling!" she said, he

swift way. "Do all men in all countries

ily. "Why aren't you willing to be wors

have us do it to

she said, "Why is it?" he quite sulked, refer

rience of it when the real miracle time came. Also, between us, we made

. He wanted to take her by stor

a foreground of unspoken hope and interest all centering upon the one Event; and who has, furthermore, absolutely no other hope or interest worthy of the name-why, it is a comparatively easy matter to

approach of flattery she dismissed with laughter, gifts and such "attentions" we could not bring to

ully as did Celis and Ellador theirs. He had hurt a

ling which made Terry more possible to her than to others; and that

g, and solemnly faced what was to them a step of measureless importance,

bringing them to our country for the religious and the civ

ly. "Wait a bit, boys. We've got to take 'em on their own terms-i

. "These women have never been mastered, you

value your chances," I told him seriously; but he

g with him. He had to

h at sea in our wooing, we found ourselves still

as deep an acquaintance with their culture as I could

that, only traditions of the harem. They had no exact analogue for

exquisite and unbroken friendships, and broadening to a devotion to their

s, a dishonesty, a cold indifference to the suffering of millions. Patriotism is largel

sure itself by-save the few poor savages

as a workshop, proud of their record of ever-increasing efficiency; they had made a pleasant garden of it, a very practical littl

keynote of the whole dis

others, all up the ascending line, they had this dominant

these women put into their country and race. All the loyalty and service men e

death, disease, or barrenness, and even by the mere growth of the children, leaving the mother alone in her empty nest-all this feeling with them flo

y had studied and overcome the "disease

ldren grew up as naturally as young trees; learning through every sense; t

took, when half grown up, under experts. Then the eager young minds fairly flung themselves on thei

e pressure of that "forcible feeding" of the min