nursery bondage, in prostitution bondage? Is what I say true, or isn't
it true? I ask you, I ask any person who has got such a thing as a clear
brain and is not simply a mushy sentimentalist, is what I say true?"

Again I tried to answer, but again she cut me short and rushed on in a
blaze of excitement.

"So it has been through all the pitiful history of women, until a few
years ago, the poor, foolish creatures began to wake up. At last women
are getting rid of their delusions and emerging from their slavery--why?
Because they have begun to imitate men, and go straight after the thing
they want, the thing that is worth while, _by using their power as
women_, and not depending upon the power of love or the power of God or
any other power. Believe me, the greatest power in the world is the
power of women _as women_, and we may as well use it to the limit, just
as men would. We can get anything we want out of men by learning to use
this power, and, I tell you, Pen, there isn't anything better in this
good old United States than money. So far men have had the money,
they've ground it out of the poor and the ignorant, especially women,
but now women are going after money and getting it, just like the men.
Why not? If I want a sable coat and a limousine and a nice duplex
apartment, why shouldn't I have them, if I can get them without breaking
the law? And I _can_ get them; so can you, Pen, if you'll play the cards
you hold in your hand. Haven't I done it? You don't see me eating in
Childs restaurants to any great extent these days, do you? And I'm not
worrying about clothes, or about paying my rent."

The poison of her words was stealing into Penelope's soul and defiling
it, yet I was powerless to restrain her.

"Listen to this, child, and remember it, women are the equals of men
today in every line, and they're going to have their full share of the
good things of life. They're going to have freedom, and that means the
right to do as they please without asking the permission of any man.
Women are going to have their own latch keys and their own bank
accounts. They're going to cut off their hair and put pockets in their
skirts, and have babies, if they feel like it, or not have them, if they
don't feel like it. The greatest revolution the world has ever known is
going on now, it's the revolution of women. Let the men open their eyes!
How did women get the suffrage? Was it by praying for it? Was it by the
power of love? Wa