it was), there was no rush of takers. Here
was poor old Terry fondly imagining that at last he was free to stray in
"a rosebud garden of girls"--and behold! the rosebuds were all with keen
appraising eye, studying us.

They were interested, profoundly interested, but it was not the kind of
interest we were looking for.

To get an idea of their attitude you have to hold in mind their
extremely high sense of solidarity. They were not each choosing a
lover; they hadn't the faintest idea of love--sex-love, that is. These
girls--to each of whom motherhood was a lodestar, and that motherhood
exalted above a mere personal function, looked forward to as the highest
social service, as the sacrament of a lifetime--were now confronted with
an opportunity to make the great step of changing their whole status, of
reverting to their earlier bi-sexual order of nature.

Beside this underlying consideration there was the limitless interest
and curiosity in our civilization, purely impersonal, and held by an
order of mind beside which we were like--schoolboys.

It was small wonder that our lectures were not a success; and none at
all that our, or at least Terry's, advances were so ill received. The
reason for my own comparative success was at first far from pleasing to
my pride.

"We like you the best," Somel told me, "because you seem more like us."

"More like a lot of women!" I thought to myself disgustedly, and then
remembered how little like "women," in our derogatory sense, they were.
She was smiling at me, reading my thought.

"We can quite see that we do not seem like--women--to you. Of course,
in a bi-sexual race the distinctive feature of each sex must be
intensified. But surely there are characteristics enough which belong
to People, aren't there? That's what I mean about you being more like
us--more like People. We feel at ease with you."

Jeff's difficulty was his exalted gallantry. He idealized women, and
was always looking for a chance to "protect" or to "serve" them. These
needed neither protection nor service. They were living in peace and
power and plenty; we were their guests, their prisoners, absolutely
dependent.

Of course we could promise whatsoever we might of advantages, if they
would come to our country; but the more we knew of theirs, the less we
boasted.

Terry's jewels and trinkets they prized as curios; handed them about,
asking questions as to workmanship, not in the least as to value; and
dis