ything in it; it was as inscrutable as a
wooden Indian's. When every one of them had had his say, I called upon
Dr. Washington to respond to the speakers who had unburdened
themselves. Dr. Washington rose slowly, and with a slip of paper in
his hand, said:

"'Gentlemen, I want to tell you about what we are doing at Tuskegee
Institute in the Black Belt of Alabama.'

"For more than a half-hour he told them of the needs and the work
without once alluding to anything that had been said in heat and anger
by those to whom he spoke. He held them close to him by his simple
recital, with here and there a small blaze of eloquence, and then
thanking them for the candor with which they had spoken, sat down.
They were all disappointed, as they expected that he would attempt to
excuse himself for the things they had complained of."

At the time of Mr. Washington's death, the same William H. Lewis, who
told him at this time to go back to the South and attend to his work
and "leave to us the matters political affecting the race," said of
him:

"Words, like tears, are vain and idle things to express the great
anguish I feel at the untimely death of Booker Washington. He was my
friend who understood me and believed in me. I did not always believe
in him because I did not understand him. I first saw and heard him
when a junior at Amherst in the early 90's, when he spoke at Old John
Brown's church in Springfield, where I journeyed to hear him. I could
not then appreciate his love for the Southern people and his gospel of
work. I even doubted his loyalty to his race. When I came to Boston I
joined in with his most violent and bitterest critics. The one thing
that I am so thankful for is that I early saw the light and came to
appreciate and understand the great work of Booker T. Washington.

"I have just finished reading an old letter from him, date, October 1,
1901, in which he said: 'The main point of this letter is to say I
believe that both you and I are going to be in a position in the
future to serve the race effectually, and while it is very probable
that we shall always differ as to detailed methods of lifting up the
race, it seems to me that if we agree in each doing our best to lift
it up the main point will have been gained, and I am sure that in our
anxiety to better the condition of the race there is no difference
between us, and I shall be delighted to work in hearty cooperation
with you.'

"Since then, I have known him