scheme of general well-being. Neither could the race make great
strides without her. After everything in the world had been done to
make her as harmless as possible, she still remained non-ignorable.
Two courses were open to her; and she has always used whichever of the
two was necessary at the time. She could be so sweet and beguiling, so
full of blandishments, that man rushed out to bring her all and more
than she had been prohibited from having. Or she could terrify him,
both by her temper and her biological superiority, into stopping his
entire precious machinery against her, and thanking his stars that he
could get off with a whole skin.

Of course these things have not always worked out just so. There have
been the tragic mischances. But in the main, an oppressed people learn
how to outsmile or outsnarl the oppressor. The Eighteenth Amendment
may yet live to wish it was dead. Mr. Volstead seems to have believed
that the nonsenseorship game was new and exciting, and could be
trusted to carry itself by storm. Not while the ancient wisdom of
long-borne bans and communicadoes looked out of the female eye. There
was a body of experts in existence of whom, apparently, he had never
even heard.

He never once thought how the twentieth century was to become known as
the Century of The Home, with the home brew, and the subscription
editions, and the sagacities of women. If he should complain that
there is no honor and fine living in all of this, we shall have to
agree with him. But we can answer that by guile we have preserved our
joys, and cleared our way out from the shadows of his big totem pole.
If we have but little magnificence, we have as much as anybody can
ever have who is hounded by the legal virtues. And if we may keep a
little gaiety for life, by that much do we make him bite the dust. It