Two Coins: A Biographical Novel (Women of Determination and Courage)

Mr. Gasper calls Monomohini Wheeler to the witness box. We were at Normal School together. Her father’s a minister, and she married a missionary. Now she’s Inspectress of Schools, from which perch she passes judgment on those of us without family connections. She stands with perfect posture. Nothing good will come of her testimony. She disapproves of my teachers, my properties, and me. She went to Mr. Hastie with her complaints, and he’s kept them up his sleeve until now.

Mr. Gasper greets her politely and gets right to the point. “When you visited the Female Mission, did you observe anything regarding the cleanliness of the place and the clothing of the children?”

Mrs. Wheeler adopts an expression of delicate distain and says she had to pick her way through bits of food and clothing as she passed through the veranda.