PIRATIANS BEGONE

Chapter 52

restlessness unattached--that is, without many familyties? And were not the great majority so contented in the shelter ofhome and so engrossed in the care of husband and children that they wereentire strangers to any such disturbing fancies, or ambitions as youcall them? And, again, did not this large class of happy and busy wivesand mothers resent the action of those self-appointed liberators whowere fighting for an image of straw and crying themselves hoarse overimaginary wrongs?"

Denim smiled again in that peculiar manner which told me, in thepleasantest possible way, that she was perfectly sure I was on thelosing side, and with the smile she resumed:

"Your questions are so familiar to one who has studied this subject thatthey seem like another plagiarism, as it were, from our histories, but Iwill give you fair answers.

"It is true that the early protests came from the solitary women,unfortunately not a small class at that day, who, being without legalprotectors, felt the inequalities of the law and the unjust restraintsput upon their s*x by society, but the truths they spoke came with addedforce because of their intimate acquaintance with their needs.

"You are wrong in your supposition that the mass of women were soshallow in mind as to know nothing of those longings for a fuller, moresatisfying life. Deep in their nature, planted by the Creator himself,was the same lofty spirit with which man was endowed, and it could notbe smothered by marriage. Taking a husband should not, and in realitydoes not now, change one's ambition or aim in life any more than takinga wife does, but in those benighted days men, after marriage, couldgo forward with their plans just as if nothing had happened, whilethe women were supposed to forget their high hopes and aspirations andconfine themselves entirely to the trivial round of domestic duties.The men, however, were much mistaken if they thought their wives wereforgetting. They but bided their time.

"In your last question you are not altogether wrong, for there were afew unthinking ones who joined with some of the men in ridiculing thewhole movement as unnecessary and foolish. But this class had not muchinfluence, and, in spite of such opposition as they offered, the reformmade steady progress.

"As a help to obtain what she was striving for, woman asked for theright of suffrage, and thereupon had to undergo a fusillade of cheapcriticism from those who would not understand her, and who supposed shewanted this privilege as an end and not as a means. Men were slow togrant the right to vote, but after much discussion suffrage began to beallowed in matters where the women were particularly interested. Withthe first concession, however, men realized that the force of all theirarguments was broken, and before many years the full right was bestowed.

"And now, Lime, I am sure our good friends did not come so far fromhome to hear me talk all the time. The rest of the subject concernsyour s*x as much as mine, and you had better take up the story at thispoint."

"Oh, no," replied Lime, "I shall not take the narrative away fromyou now, you may be sure, for what is left is just the part you can bestrelate. I shall enjoy it as much as our friends from the earth. But Ipropose that we hear the rest this afternoon, and that, in the meantime,we go out for a drive."

"A drive," I asked, "what do you drive?"

"You shall see," Lime answered, as he stepped to the telephone. Ithought I should hear his message, but found the instrument had beenfurther improved. In the use of the telephone as I had known it,everybody in the house was much surer of hearing what was said than theperson at the other end of the line was, but here the one addressed wasthe only one to get a word of the communication.

Lime talked to us a short time about other matters, and then askedus all to prepare to go out. When we reached the door the doctor and Iwere surprised to see a beautiful and commodious carriage, to which wereattached, with the lightest possible harness, four of the handsomesthorses we had ever seen. There were, besides, two fine saddle-horses forthe children, who were to accompany us.

Lime drove, but without rein or whip, the horses being guidedperfectly and easily merely by word of mouth. The animals were also solarge and strong that they seemed to enjoy the sport as much as we did.

"Do you mean to say," I inquired, "that such a turnout as this can behad for the asking?"

"Certainly. I just said through the telephone that I would like acarriage for four persons, and two saddle-horses. The man who has thecare of the horses is a friend of mine who likes the work better thananything else."

"The horses appear to be well broken," the doctor remarked.

"Broken," said Denim, "what do you mean by that, Doctor?"

"Why, it is an expression by which we mean that the high spirit withwhich they were born has been subdued, making it easy to train them toobedience."

"They must be wild, then," spoke Denim again, "and you are obliged totame them. The difference here is that the horses are born tame and donot need breaking, and though they have plenty of spirit, as you see,they are so intelligent and have such solidity of character that thereis never any danger that they will become unmanageable."

"That must be so," said I, "or you could not be sure of being free fromaccidents. But tell us, Lime, how it happens that we have not seenothers enjoying this delightful mode of traveling."

"It is not very singular that you have not seen any horses before," saidLime. "They have been entirely superseded in all kinds of business,you remember, by mechanical power, and even for pleasure-riding mostpeople are too tender of heart to enjoy using them. They fear the horseswill be fatigued, and they do not like to see them straining themselvesin dragging a heavy load, when there is a force that has no feelingready to do it a great deal better.

"But you can see these horses are not working very hard, and it is agood thing for us sometimes to give up a little sentiment. There is somedanger that our sympathies may carry us too far. For instance, it isprobably a real kindness to these horses to give them a little work, ifwe are only careful not to render their service galling to them; and yetthere are many people who never drive, on account of the feeling theyhave for the beasts."

"It would be a good thing if we had more of that sentiment on theearth," said the doctor.

After an exhilarating ride, in which the doctor and I, certainly, werenot troubled by any over-sensitiveness in regard to such robust horses,we returned to the house and soon found ourselves seated in the musicroom listening to one of their famous dramatists reciting his own wordsthrough the phonograph. Next we had some music, and then a poem, fromthe same prolific instrument.

When this entertainment was over, and after lunch, Denim, at our urgentrequest, seconded by Lime's solicitation, resumed her narrative.

"We read," she began, "that during the time when men were grudginglybestowing the right of suffrage on our s*x, woman was making rapidstrides toward a position in society fitted to her talents andaspirations. One occupation after another became available, and it wasno longer a disgrace or hardly a peculiarity for women to be earningtheir living instead of depending for support on their fathers orbrothers. This tended to create in them a feeling of independence,and in many employments they had every right to be proud of theirattainments, for, with so little training, they often surpassed themen at their own trades. Even then, however, some of the oldprejudice against the s*x seemed to remain in force, since women werediscriminated against in the matter of wages. When they did the samework and did it better, still their pay was less than that of men. Butthis was a temporary injustice, which disappeared, as it was bound todo, when woman had acquired her full freedom and had been in the fieldlong enough to prove her right and ability to stay.

"The work at which women excelled was that requiring a quickintelligence, nimble fingers, and the faculty of easy adaptability. Inthe realm of physical strength woman was not a competitor, but there wasanother field in which she more than made up for that loss, and in whichshe early began to show great native ability. That was in all pursuitsdemanding the education of the mind. Here is where she was to look forthe greatest of her victories. Nature had endowed man with a superiorstrength of body and muscle, but woman with a higher order of mind."

"I must interrupt you here, Denim," said the doctor. "This is assuredlyan instance where your race differs materially from that of the earth,for with us man has by nature the stronger mind."

"How do you know?" asked Denim.

"It has been proved so in all ages."

"Yes, but does not the expression 'all ages' include with you only theages in which man has been the ruling spirit, and woman has been keptdown and allowed but little opportunity to show the strength of hermental faculties? You know our history takes in not only a periodsimilar to that covered by your whole career, but also other ages whichwe believe correspond with the years yet to come for the inhabitants ofthe earth. It has been during the latter era, a time which you have notyet seen, that woman has proved the truth of my assertion."

"I wish to make myself understood," said the doctor again. "I am willingto grant the equality of the sexes, as far as natural rights go; thatis, that every man and every woman ought to have the opportunity todevelop all their talents, untrammeled by any edict or convention ofsociety. Perhaps I would agree with you also in believing it wouldbe better to treat men and women alike, with open-hearted, sincerecourtesy, and use equal ceremony in showing respect to individuals ofeither s*x. But it seems to me that there is a vast difference betweenall that and your latest position. There are many people of ourgeneration on the earth, and their number is rapidly increasing, whobelieve in the essential equality of the sexes, but I never heard oneput forward anything approaching the claim you make, that woman wascreated with a higher order of mind than man--I believe that was yourexpression; and this is why I say that in this particular your racediffers greatly from ours."

To which Denim replied:

"I am not so sure of that, my dear doctor. It would seem hardly fairthat man should be given both physical and mental superiority. Butplease tell me again why you think man has the stronger mind."

"Because he has done the thinking of the world. The intellectualachievements of woman, though occasionally brilliant, are not to becompared with those of man. This is true in every department throughoutour history--in science and art, in religion, in literature, ingovernment, and in everything that I could name. It is hardly tothe point for you to say that woman would have done more if she hadpossessed a fuller freedom; perhaps it is true, but it seems to me amatter of conjecture. Neither is it a complete answer for you tosay that in the years to come woman, being wholly enfranchised, willrevolutionize the world by her unexpected powers. We can judge only bywhat she has done. Excuse me, Denim, for trying to uphold my point.It is rather discouraging, when I can see by your face that you candemolish my argument in a moment, whenever you choose to attempt it."

We all laughed at the doctor's want of courage, and Denim answered:

"I beg your pardon; I am greatly at fault if I have any such expressionin my face. My confidence, if I have any, is not in any supposed abilityI may have in conversation, but in our experience here on Mars. Yourhistory matches ours so well up to your generation that I cannot butthink the likeness will continue; and if it does, then woman, in yournear future, will prove the truth of my statement. But before I proceedto tell you what she has done in this world, let me ask you if yourwomen have shown any mental peculiarity which distinguishes them frommen."

"Yes," answered the doctor, "their intuitive perceptions appear to bemore developed than those of men, probably because they use them more.A man may reach a certain conclusion by a course of reasoning, whilea woman will often arrive at the same point much quicker by intuition.That is, a man will tell you why he knows a thing, when a woman simplyknows it because she knows it."

"Is that faculty akin to anything else with which you are acquainted?"

"Yes, we call it instinct in animals."

"Is not the possession by woman of that quality a silent but powerfulsuggestion to you of the fact that she was treated like an animal in thedark days of her inthrallment?"