s
child's play for those profound educators to work out a painfully
accurate estimate of our conditions--in some lines. When a given line of
observation seemed to lead to some very dreadful inference they always
gave us the benefit of the doubt, leaving it open to further knowledge.
Some of the things we had grown to accept as perfectly natural, or
as belonging to our human limitations, they literally could not have
believed; and, as I have said, we had all of us joined in a tacit
endeavor to conceal much of the social status at home.

"Confound their grandmotherly minds!" Terry said. "Of course they can't
understand a Man's World! They aren't human--they're just a pack of
Fe-Fe-Females!" This was after he had to admit their parthenogenesis.

"I wish our grandfatherly minds had managed as well," said Jeff. "Do you
really think it's to our credit that we have muddled along with all our
poverty and disease and the like? They have peace and plenty, wealth and
beauty, goodness and intellect. Pretty good people, I think!"

"You'll find they have their faults too," Terry insisted; and partly in
self-defense, we all three began to look for those faults of theirs.
We had been very strong on this subject before we got there--in those
baseless speculations of ours.

"Suppose there is a country of women only," Jeff had put it, over and
over. "What'll they be like?"

And we had been cocksure as to the inevitable limitations, the faults
and vices, of a lot of women. We had expected them to be given over to
what we called "feminine vanity"--"frills and furbelows," and we found
they had evolved a costume more perfect than the Chinese dress, richly
beautiful when so desired, always useful, of unfailing dignity and good
taste.

We had expected a dull submissive monotony, and found a daring social
inventiveness far beyond our own, and a mechanical and scientific
development fully equal to ours.

We had expected pettiness, and found a social consciousness besides
which our nations looked like quarreling children--feebleminded ones at
that.

We had expected jealousy, and found a broad sisterly affection, a
fair-minded intelligence, to which we could produce no parallel.

We had expected hysteria, and found a standard of health and vigor, a
calmness of temper, to which the habit of profanity, for instance, was
impossible to explain--we tried it.

All these things even Terry had to admit, but he still insisted that we
should fin