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66
THE BOND

point of view! You will end by being sorry for that creature, because he makes a beast of himself! Don't lend yourself to such weakness, I implore you! Any person who wants to be decent can be so. … Teresa, I wish you had more women friends. You don't see enough of women. It would be a wholesome corrective to your ideas. It is a very bad thing to associate almost exclusively with men——"

"They are more interesting," said Teresa, in a melancholy minor.

"They seem so now, doubtless, because you are very young. I once thought so myself, before I married your uncle. But you will change your mind, Teresa, and perhaps you will find some day, as I have, the keenest interest in identifying yourself with the cause of Woman."

"Aunt Sophy, you've been making a speech at the club."

"Certainly I have. We had a very successful meeting—several enthusiastic speeches, and six new members joined. We appointed a delegation to go to Washington next month, to see our senators and congressmen, and interview the President."

"And are you one of them?"

"Yes, I was unanimously elected spokesman."

"That's because you're so handsome, Aunt Sophy. They depend on you to impress the flinty legislatorial bosom."