SILAS: Yes, mother, and I'm glad I did, for I learned to read there, and
liked the geography globe. It made the earth so nice to think about. And
one day the teacher told us all about the stars, and I had that to think
of when I was driving at night. The other boys didn't believe it was so.
But I knew it was so! But I mean school--the way Mr Fejevary went to
school. He went to universities. In his own countries--in other
countries. All the things men have found out, the wisest and finest
things men have thought since first they began to think--all that was
put before them.
FEJEVARY: (_with a gentle smile_) I fear I left a good deal of it
untouched.
SILAS: You took a plenty. Tell in your eyes you've thought lots about
what's been thought. And that's what I was setting out to say. It makes
something of men--learning. A house that's full of books makes a
different kind of people. Oh, of course, if the books aren't there just
to show off.
GRANDMOTHER: Like in Mary Baldwin's new house.
SILAS: (_trying hard to see it_) It's not the learning itself--it's the
life that grows up from learning. Learning's like soil. Like--like
fertilizer. Get richer. See more. Feel more. You believe that?
FEJEVARY: Culture should do it.
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