And so one evening, late, he was to go to her.  He waited a little long, before he went to her.  He was afraid, in himself, to-night, he would surely hurt her.  He never wanted to go when he might quarrel with her.

Melanctha sat there looking very angry, when he came in to her.  Jeff took off his hat and coat and then sat down by the fire with her.

“If you come in much later to me just now, Jeff Campbell, I certainly never would have seen you no more never to speak to you, ’thout your apologising real humble to me.”  “Apologising Melanctha,” and Jeff laughed and was scornful to her, “Apologising, Melanctha, I ain’t proud that kind of way, Melanctha, I don’t mind apologising to you, Melanctha, all I mind, Melanctha is to be doing of things wrong, to you.”  “That’s easy, to say things that way, Jeff to me.  But you never was very proud Jeff, to be courageous to me.”  “I don’t know about that Melanctha.  I got courage to say some things hard, when I mean them, to you.”  “Oh, yes, Jeff, I know all about that, Jeff, to me.  But I mean real courage, to run around and not care nothing about what happens, and always to be game in any kind of trouble.  That’s what I mean by real courage, to me, Jeff, if you want to know it.”  “Oh, yes, Melanctha, I know all that kind of courage.  I see plenty of it all the time with some kinds of colored men and with some girls like you Melanctha, and Jane Harden.  I know all about how you are always making a fuss to be proud because you don’t holler so much when you run in to where you ain’t got any business to be, and so you get hurt, the way you ought to.  And then, you kind of people are very brave then, sure, with all your kinds of suffering, but the way I see it, going round with all my patients, that kind of courage makes all kind of trouble, for them who ain’t so noble with their courage, and then they got it, always to be bearing it, when the end comes, to be hurt the hardest.  It’s like running around and being game to spend all your money always, and then a man’s wife and children are the ones do all the starving and they don’t ever get a name for being brave, and they don’t ever want to be doing all that suffering, and they got to stand it and say nothing.  That’s the way I see it a good deal now with all that kind of braveness in some of the colored people.  They always make a lot of noise to show they are so brave not to holler, when they got so much suffering they always bring all on themselves, just by doing things they got no business to be doing.  I don’t say, never, Melanctha, they ain’t got good courage not to holler, but I never did see much in looking for that kind of trouble just to show you ain’t going to holler.  No its all right being brave every day, just living regular and not having new ways all the time just to get excitements, the way I hate to see it in all the colored people.  No I don’t see much, Melanctha, in being brave just to get it good, where you’ve got no business.