... AND THIS IS THE STORY I TOLD YOU THROUGH THE SEVERAL NIGHTS: OF THE MAN WHO CAME UP THROUGH THE DARK AND THE FIGHTING (OFTEN IN SUCH A RUCK OF FIGHTING THAT HE COULDN’T HEAR VOICES); HOW HE WAS PUNISHED BY MEN, BROKEN BY SELF, AND HEALED BY A WOMAN; INDEED, BUT FOR HER, HE MIGHT HAVE CHOSEN THE LONG WAY OF THE BRUTE TO PUT ON HIS POWERS AND ATTAIN THE CERTAIN ROYALTY OF THE HUMAN ADULT IN THIS YEAR OF OUR LORD. SHE PAID THE PRICE; SHE WAS THE MAN-MAKER; SHE SAW THE WORLD-MAN SHINING AHEAD.... IT IS A STORY OF THE PATH AT OUR FEET, OF THE COMPASSIONATES WHO DRAW NEAR TO SPEAK, WHEN WE ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO LISTEN, OF THE WOMEN WHO WALK BESIDE US. A TALE OF THE ROAD AS WE GO—MANY ARE AHEAD, MANY BEHIND—BUT WE DO NOT TRAVEL THIS STRETCH AGAIN.
—W. L. C.