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Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963

"The Quest of the Silver Fleece A Novel"

Sometimes I lies," she reflected pensively, "and sometimes I
don't--it depends."
Miss Taylor forgot her collar, and fingered the pin on the desk. She
felt at once a desperate desire to know this girl better and to
establish her own authority. Yet how should she do it? She kept toying
with the pin, and Zora watched her. Then Miss Taylor said, absently:
"Zora, what do you propose to do when you grow up?"
Zora considered.
"Think and walk--and rest," she concluded.
"I mean, what work?"
"Work? Oh, I sha'n't work. I don't like work--do you?"
Miss Taylor winced, wondering if the girl were lying again. She said
quickly:
"Why, yes--that is, I like some kinds of work."
"What kinds?"
But Miss Taylor refused to have the matter made personal, as Zora had a
disconcerting way of pointing all their discussions.
"Everybody likes some kinds of work," she insisted.
"If you likes it, it ain't work," declared Zora; but Mary Taylor
proceeded around her circumscribed circle:
"You might make a good cook, or a maid."
"I hate cooking. What's a maid?"
"Why, a woman who helps others."
"Helps folks that they love? I'd like that."
"It is not a question of affection," said Miss Taylor, firmly: "one is
paid for it."
"I wouldn't work for pay."
"But you'll have to, child; you'll have to earn a living.


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