THE STEADFAST HEART
I’d of run away if you hadn’t been there.” Here, unconsciously, he stated one of the great ingredients of heroic action—that man is more afraid of being seen to run away than he is to face his danger. Fear of ridicule has made many a man a hero.
“You won’t ever run again,” she said with conviction.
“Is other things besides not runnin’ standin’ up for yourself?” She considered carefully. “Yes,” she said after a moment, “I guess lots of different things.”
“Is goin’ away to school?”
It required a minute for her to make up her mind. Then she nodded. “Yes. It isn’t standin’ up for yourself to be ig’orant. Folks that’s ig’orant is just as bad as runnin’ away.”
He sighed.
“But if it was goin’ away—if it was leavin’ him?”
Lydia had been much with adults; perhaps some of her perceptions were in advance of her years. “They want you should go away to school?” she asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Why don’t you go to school here?”
He hesitated, blushed. “It’s—like playin’ with
105
