Into the Wilderness Read Online Free PDF

he recognized too well. Then he shrugged his shoulders. "Well,
sister," said Julian. "I guess you'll have your work cut out for
you."
    This
was a shock, but
Elizabeth
took it well. She lifted an eyebrow toward her father and waited.
    The
judge cleared his throat expansively. "Well, maybe not technically, not
yet, but there will be."
    "Father,"
she began slowly. "You wrote to me that you would provide me with
everything necessary to hold school here for any children willing to
attend—"
    "So
I did," he interrupted, glancing at the doctor. "So I did. And I will
see to it you have what you need. A schoolhouse will be built."
    "And
right smart, too, by the look of it," said Hawkeye.
    "Or
Lizzie will have something to say," added Julian.
    "In
the meantime perhaps there is some other building which can be of use,"
Elizabeth
said.
"Perhaps the church. On weekdays, of course."
    "It's
difficult to heat," said the judge. "It would be very
uncomfortable."
    "Well,
then, there must be some other solution,"
Elizabeth
said. "One way or another
there will be school on the first day of the new year." She turned to Dr.
Todd.
    "How
many children are there in the village, aged fourteen or less?"
    He
thought for a moment. "I would say there are a dozen or more.Not all of
them will come to school, though."
    "And
why not?"
    "Some
of them ain't free," he said, not meeting her eyes.
    "Surely
their parents can spare them for a few hours in the winter when there is little
farm work,"
Elizabeth
said. She looked around the table with growing irritation. "Surely the
parents want their children to learn to read and write," she continued.
    She
felt Nathaniel's gaze intensify and she glanced up at him; on his face
Elizabeth
saw something
unexpected: revelation, and some astonishment. She addressed him.
    "Mr.
Bonner," she began.
    "Nathaniel,"
he corrected her once again.
    She
looked around the table once again.
    "Surely
the parents would like to have a school for their children?"
    He
nodded. "The parents might," he said. "But some of the owners
ain't about to allow it."
    "Come
now, don't upset yourself," the judge said, pursing his lips. "I
can't think of more than three slave children who would be of the right age
anyway."
    Richard
Todd shifted uneasily in his seat as she drew herself up and turned her
attention to her father, incredulous.
    He
anticipated her question. "
Elizabeth
,
I have never owned slaves."
    "But
you allow men in the village to hold slaves?"
    Agitated,
the judge flushed."That is not something that I can determine
personally," he said. "Because I own land does not mean I control the
legislature. And beyond that,
Elizabeth
,
you must know that some slave owners are fair—minded people, good people,"
he said feebly.
    "How
do you know that?" she demanded. "How can you know that? How can you
find anything fair or good in slavery?"
    Richard
Todd spoke up. "Because your father knows me, and I have two slaves,"
he said. "But they have no children to send to your school," he
added.
    Elizabeth
's
face drained of color; she addressed her father without acknowledging Dr. Todd.
    "I
will approach each of the slave owners, then, and ask for permission."
    "No
slave owner in
Paradise
is going to send his
slaves to your school, Elizabeth," Nathaniel said quietly. She turned to
him, and saw that he did not mean to offend her, but that he also was unwilling
to spare her the truth.
    "And
if he did, then he wouldn't send his own children."
    She
squared her shoulders. "Then I will offer to teach them individually. In
their homes."
    The
men looked at each other.
    "I
must try, at any rate,"
Elizabeth
said. "In my school, any child is welcome." She felt suddenly
deflated, and very tired. "Now if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I beg
your leave to retire."
    "But
Elizabeth," her father protested. "You have hardly eaten
anything."
    She
stood, smoothing her skirt as she did so, sent her father one long but silent
look, and took her leave of the