TothecircleatBennington，aletterfromBearCreekwasalwaysawelcomesummonstogatherandhearofdoingsverystrangetoVermont。Andwhenthetaleofthechangedbabiesarriveddulybythepost，itcreatedamorethanusualsensation，andwasreadtoalargenumberofpleasedandscandalizedneighbors。“Ihatehertobewheresuchthingscanhappen，“saidMrs。Wood。“IwishI
couldhavebeenthere，“saidherson-in-law，AndrewBell。“Shedoesnotmentionwhoplayedthetrick，“saidMrs。AndrewBell。
“Weshouldn’tbeanywiserifshedid，“saidMrs。Wood。“I’dliketomeettheperpetrator，“saidAndrew。“Oh，no！“saidMrs。Wood。
“They’reallhorrible。“Andshewroteatonce，beggingherdaughtertotakegoodcareofherself，andtoseeasmuchofMrs。
Balaamaspossible。“Andofanyotherladiesthatarenearyou。
Foryouseemtometobeinacommunityofroughs。Iwishyouwouldgiveitallup。Didyouexpectmetolaughaboutthebabies？“
Mrs。Flynt，whenthisstorywasrepeatedtoher(shehadnotbeeninvitedintoheartheletter)，remarkedthatshehadalwaysfeltthatMollyWoodmustbealittlevulgar，eversinceshebegantogoaboutgivingmusiclessonslikeanyordinaryGerman。
ButMrs。Woodwasconsiderablyrelievedwhenthenextletterarrived。Itcontainednothinghorribleaboutbarbecuesorbabies。
Itmentionedthegreatbeautyoftheweather，andhowwellandstrongthefineairwasmakingthewriterfeel。Anditaskedthatbooksmightbesent，manybooksofallsorts，novels，poetry，allthegoodoldbooksandanygoodnewonesthatcouldbespared。
Cheapeditions，ofcourse。“Indeedsheshallhavethem！“saidMrs。Wood。“Howhermindmustbestarvinginthatdreadfulplace！“Theletterwasnotalongone，and，besidesthebooks，spokeoflittleelseexceptthefineweatherandthechancesforoutdoorexercisethatthisgave。“Youhavenoidea，“itsaid，“howdelightfulitistoride，especiallyonaspiritedhorse，whichIcandonowquitewell。“
“Hownicethatis！“saidMrs。Wood，puttingdowntheletter。“I
hopethehorseisnottoospirited。“——“Whodoesshegoridingwith？“askedMrs。Bell。“Shedoesn’tsay，Sarah。Why？“——“Nothing。
Shehasaqueerwayofnotmentioningthings，nowandthen。“——“Sarah！“exclaimedMrs。Wood，reproachfully。“Oh，well，mother，youknowjustaswellasIdothatshecanbeveryindependentandunconventional。“——“Yes；butnotinthatway。Shewouldn’tridewithpoorSamBannett，andafterallheisasuitableperson。“
Nevertheless，inhernextletter，Mrs。WoodcautionedherdaughterabouttrustingherselfwithanyoneofwhomMrs。Balaamdidnotthoroughlyapprove。ThegoodladycouldnevergraspthatMrs。Balaamlivedalongday’sjourneyfromBearCreek，andthatMollysawheraboutonceeverythreemonths。“Wehavesentyourbooks，“themotherwrote；“everybodyhascontributedfromtheirstore，——Shakespeare，Tennyson，Browning，Longfellow；andanumberofnovelsbyScott，Thackeray，GeorgeEliot，Hawthorne，andlesserwriters；somevolumesofEmerson；andJaneAustencomplete，becauseyouadmirehersoparticularly。“
ThisconsignmentofliteraturereachedBearCreekaboutaweekbeforeChristmastime。
ByNewYear’sDay，theVirginianhadbegunhiseducation。
“Well，Ihavemanagedtogetthrough’em，“hesaid，asheenteredMolly’scabininFebruary。Andhelaidtwovolumesuponhertable。
“Andwhatdoyouthinkofthem？“sheinquired。
“IthinkthatI’vecert’nlyearnedagoodlongrideto-day。“
“GeorgieTaylorhassprainedhisankle。“
“No，Idon’tmeanthatkindofaride。I’veearnedaridewithjustustwoalone。I’vereadeverywordofbothof’em，yu’
know。“
“I’llthinkaboutit。Didyoulikethem？“
“No。Notmuch。IfI’dknowedthatonewasadetectivestory，I’dhavegotyu’totrysomethingelseonme。Canyouguessthemurderer，oristheauthortoosmartforyu’？That’salltheyamountto。Well，hewastoosmartformethistime，butthatdidn’tdistressmeany。Thatotherbooktalkstoomuch。“
Mollywasscandalized，andshetoldhimitwasagreatwork。
“Oh，yes，yes。Afinebook。Butitwillkeepupitstalkin’。
Don’tletyoualone。“
“Didn’tyoufeelsorryforpoorMaggieTulliver？“
“Hmp。Yes。Sorryforher，andforTawmmy，too。Butthemandidrighttodrownd’emboth。“
“Itwasn’taman。Awomanwrotethat。“
“Awomandid！Well，then，o’courseshetalkstoomuch。“
“I’llnotgoridingwithyou！“shriekedMolly。
Butshedid。AndhereturnedtoSunkCreek，notwithadetectivestory，butthistimewithaRussiannovel。
ItwasalmostAprilwhenhebroughtitbacktoher——andaheavysleetstormlostthemtheirride。Sohespenthistimeindoorswithher，notspeakingasyllableoflove。Whenhecametotakehisdeparture，heaskedherforsomeotherbookbythissameRussian。Butshehadnomore。
“Iwishyouhad，“hesaid。“I’veneversawabookcouldtellthetruthlikethatonedoes。“
“Why，whatdoyoulikeaboutit？“sheexclaimed。Toherithadbeendistasteful。
“Everything，“heanswered。“Thatyoungcome-outer，andhisfam’lythatcan’tunderstandhim——forheisbroadgauge，yu’see，andtheyarenarro’gauge。“TheVirginianlookedatMollyamomentalmostshyly。“Doyouknow，“hesaid，andablushspreadoverhisface，“Iprettynearcriedwhenthatyoungcome-outerwasdyin’，andsaidabouthimself，’Iwasagiant。’Lifemadehimbroadgauge，yu’see，andthentookhischanceaway。“
MollylikedtheVirginianforhisblush。Itmadehimveryhandsome。Butshethoughtthatitcamefromhisconfessionabout“prettynearcrying。“Thedeepercauseshefailedtodivine，——thathe，likethedyingherointhenovel，felthimselftobeagiantwhomlifehadmade“broadgauge，“anddeniedopportunity。Fecundnaturebegetsandsquandersthousandsoftheserichseedsinthewildernessoflife。
HetookawaywithhimavolumeofShakespeare。“I’vesawgoodplaysofhis，“heremarked。
KindMrs。Taylorinhercabinnextdoorwatchedhimrideoffinthesleet，boundforthelonelymountaintrail。
“Ifthatgirldon’tgetreadytotakehimprettysoon，“sheobservedtoherhusband，“I’llgiveherapieceofmymind。“
Taylorwasastonished。“Ishethinkingofher？“heinquired。
“Lord，Mr。Taylor，andwhyshouldn’the？“
Mr。Taylorscratchedhisheadandreturnedtohisnewspaper。
Itwaswarm——warmandbeautifuluponBearCreek。SnowshoneuponthepeaksoftheBowLegrange；lowerontheirslopesthepineswerestirringwithagentlesong；andflowersbloomedacrossthewideplainsattheirfeet。
MollyandherVirginiansatatacertainspringwherehehadoftenriddenwithher。OnthisdayhewasbiddingherfarewellbeforeundertakingthemostimportanttrustwhichJudgeHenryhadasyetgivenhim。ForthisjourneyshehadprovidedhimwithSirWalterScott’sKenilworth。Shakespearehehadreturnedtoher。HehadboughtShakespeareforhimself。“AssoonasIgotusedtoreadin’it，“hehadtoldher，“IknowedforcertainthatIlikedreadin’forenjoyment“
Butitwasnotofbooksthathehadspokenmuchto-day。Hehadnotspokenatall。Hehadbadeherlistentothemeadow-lark，whenitssongfelluponthesilencelikebeadeddropsofmusic。
Hehadshowedherwhereacoveyofyoungwillow-grousewerehidingastheirhorsespassed。Andthen，withoutwarning，astheysatbythespring，hehadspokenpotentlyofhislove。
Shedidnotinterrupthim。Shewaiteduntilhewaswhollyfinished。
“Iamnotthesortofwifeyouwant，“shesaid，withanattemptofairiness。
Heansweredroughly，“Iamthejudgeofthat。“Andhisroughnesswasapleasuretoher，yetitmadeherafraidofherself。Whenhewasabsentfromher，andshecouldsitinhercabinandlookatGrandmotherStark，andreadhomeletters，theninimaginationshefounditeasytoplaythepartwhichshehadarrangedtoplayregardinghim——thepartoftheguide，andsuperior，andindulgentcompanion。Butwhenhewasbyherside，thatpartbecameadifficultone。Herwoman’sfortresswasshakenbyaforceunknowntoherbefore。SamBannettdidnothaveitinhimtolookasthismancouldlook，whenthecoldlustreofhiseyesgrewhotwithinternalfire。Whatcolortheywerebaffledherstill。“Canitpossiblychange？“shewondered。Itseemedtoherthatsometimeswhenshehadbeenlookingfromarockstraightdownintoclearseawater，thissamecolorhadlurkedinitsdepths。“Isitgreen，orisitgray？“sheaskedherself，butdidnotturnjustnowtosee。Shekeptherfacetowardthelandscape。
“Allmenarebornequal，“henowremarkedslowly。
“Yes，“shequicklyanswered，withacombativeflash。“Well？“
“Maybethatdon’tincludewomen？“hesuggested。
“Ithinkitdoes。“
“Doyu’tellthekidsso？“
“OfcourseIteachthemwhatIbelieve！“
Hepondered。“IusedtohavetolearnabouttheDeclarationofIndependence。IhatedbooksandtruckwhenIwasakid。“
“Butyoudon’tanymore。“
“No。Icert’nlydon’t。ButIusedtogetkep’inatrecessforbein’sodumb。Iwasmostalwaysatthetailendoftheclass。Mybrother，he’dbeheadsometimes。“
“LittleGeorgeTaylorismyprizescholar，“saidMolly。
“Knowshistasks，doeshe？“
“Always。AndHenryDowcomesnext。“
“Who’slast？“
“PoorBobCarmody。Ispendmoretimeonhimthanonalltherestputtogether。“
“My！“saidtheVirginian。“Ain’tthatstrange！“
Shelookedathim，puzzledbyhistone。“It’snotstrangewhenyouknowBob，“shesaid。
“It’sverystrange，“drawledtheVirginian。“Knowin’Bobdon’thelpitany。“
“Idon’tthinkthatIunderstandyou，“saidMolly，sticky。
“Well，itismightyconfusin’。GeorgeTaylor，he’syourbestscholar，andpoorBob，he’syourworst，andthere’salotinthemiddle——andyoutellmewe’reallbornequal！“
Mollycouldonlysitgigglinginthistraphehadsoingeniouslylaidforher。
“I’lltellyouwhat，“pursuedthecow-puncher，withslowandgrowingintensity，“equalityisagreatbigbluff。It’seasycalled。“
“Ididn’tmean——“beganMolly。
“Wait，andletmesaywhatImean。“Hehadmadeanimperiousgesturewithhishand。“Iknowamanthatmostlywinsatcyards。
Iknowamanthatmostlyloses。Hesaysitishisluck。Allright。Callithisluck。Iknowamanthatworkshardandhe’sgettin’rich，andIknowanotherthatworkshardandisgettin’
poor。Hesaysitishisluck。Allright。Callithisluck。IlookaroundandIseefolksmovin’upormovin’down，winnersorloserseverywhere。Allluck，ofcourse。Butsincefolkscanbebornthatdifferentintheirluck，where’syourequality？No，seh！callyourfailureluck，orcallitlaziness，wanderaroundthewords，prospectallyu’mindto，andyu’llcomeoutthesameoldtrailofinequality。“Hepausedamomentandlookedather。
“Someholdsfouraces，“hewenton，“andsomeholdsnothin’，andsomepoorfello’getstheacesandnoshowtoplay’em；butamanhasgottoprovehimselfmyequalbeforeI’llbelievehim。“
Mollysatgazingathim，silent。
“Iknowwhatyu’meant，“hetoldhernow，“bysayin’you’renotthewifeI’dwant。ButIamthekindthatmovesup。Iamgoin’tobeyourbestscholar。“Heturnedtowardher，andthatfortresswithinherbegantoshake。
“Don’t，“shemurmured。“Don’t，please。“
“Don’twhat？“
“Why——spoilthis。“
“Spoilit？“
“Theserides——Idon’tloveyou——Ican’t——buttheseridesare——“
“Whatarethey？“
