"On principle, my dear. For one reason, because I have such sympathy with
women who toil, and for another, I believe the time has come when women
must no longer be slaves, they must assert themselves, become
individuals, independent."

"But you?" exclaimed Janet.

Mrs. Brocklehurst continued to smile encouragingly, and murmured "Yes?"

"You are not a slave."

A delicate pink, like the inside of a conch shell, spread over Mrs.
Brocklehurst's cheeks.

"We're all slaves," she declared with a touch of passion. "It's hard for
you to realize, I know, about those of us who seem more fortunate than
our sisters. But it's true. The men give us jewels and automobiles and
clothes, but they refuse to give us what every real woman craves
--liberty."

Janet had become genuinely interested.

"But what kind of liberty?"

"Liberty to have a voice, to take part in the government of our country,
to help make the laws, especially those concerning working-women and
children, what they ought to be."

Here was altruism, truly! Here were words that should have inspired