"You must certainly be misinformed," responded Miss Jordan. "I know their
father--he has frequently been here. He is a Southerner, a thorough
gentleman in his manners; and, if ever a man was white, I am sure he is."
"Have you seen their mother?" asked Mrs. Stevens, significantly.
"No, I never have," replied Miss Jordan; "she is in poor health; but she
must unquestionably be a white woman--a glance at the children ought to
convince you of that."
"It might, if I had not seen her, and did not know her to be a coloured
woman. You see, my dear Miss Jordan," continued she, in her blandest tone,
"I am their next-door neighbour and have seen their mother twenty times and
more; she is a coloured woman beyond all doubt."
"I never could have dreamed of such a thing!" exclaimed Miss Jordan, as an
anxious look overspread her face; then, after a pause, she continued: "I do
not see what I am to do--it is really too unfortunate--I don't know how to
act. It seems unjust and unchristian to eject two such children from my
school, because their mother has the misfortune to have a few drops of
African blood in her veins. I cannot make up my mind to do it. Why, you
yourself must admit that they are as white as any children in the room."
"I am willing to acknowledge they are; but they have nigger blood in them,
notwithstanding; and they are, therefore, as much niggers as the blackest,
and have no more right to associate with white children than if they were
black as ink.
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