When Mr. Pryce personally handed him the response letter, Ben, head spinning, had expected a reply as much as he expected the sun to turn bright green at noon. He thanked the postman, tucked the letter into the waistline of his knickerbockers, and continued on with his work. He moved cautiously to not damage it.

The handwriting, alone, stunned him further, only describable as beautiful; it curved and looped so enviously that embarrassment at the thought of J. Byrd reading his own letter grew in him. Under the moonlight in the general store that night, he read the letter over and over. How Ben envied the writer’s handwriting, so clearly careful and delicate and every stroke of ink drawn meaningful; it reminded him of the efforts the girls in his class took to make their sentences perfect, each loop exact, each word stunning. There was something so intimate-feeling about receiving a letter like this. It made him breathless. Giddy, even. It was his.

‘Should I write back?’ he wondered while sitting, back straight, in the pews of the church the next day. Ben kept his eyes down; his stare glossed over in thought. Father Michaels’ continued speaking, yet the words muffled in Ben’s ears into an indistinguishable mess of sound. He moved through the motions; he did not engage anymore.

He could not shake the vacantness in his eyes, catching himself gazing at several people that day, only for him to turn away and prayed they could forgive his lapse. He did have questions, but would it be seen as bothersome? That thought hung heavy on his mind for several days; every time he compelled himself to write back, that thought burned itself away in shame, stopping him.

He resolved, too tired to wrestle with himself anymore, to make the mistake and accept the consequences. Sneaking from the house again, Benjamin Price sat down at the desk by the register and worked, penning his reply carefully. It was given to Mr. Pryce directly the next day.

January 28, 1894

Dear J. Byrd,

Please forgive my writing again, though your point on whether I had questions concerning the scholarship interested me. I do still have the paperwork to reference, but there are some gaps that the Academic Scholarship Society outlines but does not go into detail on.

Now that I have been accepted into the program, what specifically would the Society be looking for in terms of a graduate? What fields of study would be most beneficial to myself to consider?

While I realize these questions are probably more person-specific, you did offer the invitation to ask questions. If what I asked above does not have a clear answer, I do apologize for wasting your time. Please do not feel the need to write back unless absolutely necessary.

I do apologize if none of my questions have made sense. Please disregard them if you do not understand them.

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Sincerely,
B. Price