A broad, happy smile spread over his face, and his eyes danced with delight.

He had, in his boyish heart, dreamed of the equality of the races and sighed and hoped for it; but here, he beheld it in reality.

Though he, as a rule, shut his eyes when prayer was being offered, he kept them open that morning, and peeped through his fingers at that thrilling sight,--a colored man on equal terms with the white college professors.
Just before the classes were dismissed to their respective class rooms, the teachers came together in a group to discuss some matter, in an informal way.

The colored teacher was in the center of the group and discussed the matter as freely as any; and he was listened to with every mark of respect.

Belton kept a keen watch on the conference and began rubbing his hands and chuckling to himself with delight at seeing the colored teacher participating on equal terms with the other teachers.
The colored teacher's views seemed about to prevail, and as one after another the teachers seemed to fall in line with him Belton could not contain himself longer, but clapped his hands and gave a loud, joyful, "Ha! ha!" The eyes of the whole school were on him in an instant, and the faculty turned around to discover the source and cause of the disorder.