"He said, 'Any idiot can rule by martial law.'"
"Yes, of course, that theory is all right, but--"
"If a theory is all right, it ought to be acted upon."
Professor Marshall cried out in exasperation, "But see here,
Barbara--here is a concrete fact--our daughter--our precious
Sylvia--is making a horrible mistake--and because of a theory we
mustn't reach out a hand to pull her back."
"We _can't_ pull her back by force," said his wife. "She's eighteen
years old, and she has the habit of independent thought. We can't go
back on that now."
"We don't seem to be pulling her back by force or in any other way! We
seem to be just weakly sitting back and letting her do exactly as she
pleases."
"If during all these years we've had her under our influence we
haven't given her standards that--" began the mother.
"You heard how utterly she repudiated our influence and our standards
and--"
"Oh, what she _says_--it's what she's made of that'll count--that's
the _only_ thing that'll count when a crisis comes--"
Professor Marshall interrupted hastily: "When a crisis! What do you
call _this_ but a crisis--she's like a child about to put her hand
into the fire."
"I trust in the training she's had to give her firm enough nerves to
pull it out again when she feels the heat," said her mother steadily.
Professor Marshall sprang up, with clenched hands, tall, powerful,
helpless.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256