It had been an exciting day, but the homecoming of the members of the Harriet Oleson School for the Blind had tired everyone out, and Nels and Harriet were happy to retreat to their bedroom that night.
Still, neither one was quite tired enough to fall asleep. Nels smiled at his wife as she got into her side of the bed.
"What?" she said, somewhat caught off guard by Nels's impish look.
"I was just thinking of the way you stood up to Larabee today," said Nels. "You did a good thing."
"He's a hateful man," said Harriet with venom in her voice. "Some people will never change," she muttered.
"I don't know about that," said Nels. "You did."
"What do you mean?" she responded.
"The way you treated Joe Kagan, Mrs. Terhune, and the black children, and how you stood up for them. You never would have done that before."
"Well," said Harriet shifting on her pillow. "I suppose I have changed. It's not unusual."
"No," agreed Nels. "But what changed you? What made you feel differently about black people?"
Harriet sighed, and closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. "Well," she began, "do you know who Sampson is?" Nels nodded. "One night during the trip, I overheard Sampson and Mr. Kagan talking. Do you know what Sampson was asking Nels? He was asking Mr. Kagan why I didn't like him."
Nels nodded patiently. "Go on," he urged gently.
"Mr. Kagan replied that it was because Sampson was black and I was white, and to some people skin color mattered. You see," Harriet was twisting the quilt on the bed, "Sampson didn't understand the difference in skin color. Nels, he's never had eyesight. Can you imagine never knowing what color looks like?"
"No," said Nels.
"Well, because of that, Sampson didn't understand how color could make so much difference between people. To him, people were just people." Harriet stopped for a moment. "Nels, when I heard that, and stopped to think about it, I realized that little boy was right." Nels had a hint of a smile on his face. "It's the person's character that's important, not the color."
Nels squeezed her hand, and Harriet looked at him.
"I'm proud of you, Harriet."
"You are?"
"Yes."
"Well believe it or not, I'm proud of myself."
"Oh, I believe that," said Nels. They shared a chuckle.
"I have missed you, Harriet," said Nels.
"And I've missed you," she replied. "But I wouldn't change a thing. I'm glad I went on the trip," she declared. "Even if it was dirty, hot, long, and two perfectly good pairs of shoes were ruined!"
Nels grinned. "I guess you haven't changed too much," he said.
"No," agreed Harriet shuddering at the thought of losing another good pair of shoes.