The Wife Of His Youth And Other Stories Of The Color Line, And Selected Essays

Mr. Ryder was going to give a ball. There were several reasons why this was an opportune time for such an event. Mr. Ryder might aptly be called the dean of the Blue Veins. The original Blue Veins were a little society of colored persons organized in a certain Northern city shortly after the war.

Its purpose was to establish and maintain correct social standards among a people whose social condition presented almost unlimited room for improvement.