THE FRUITS OF PATIENCE
The next morning Norman asked Barbara to take breakfast alone with him
in the little rose bower on the lawn where she had first announced her
choice of work so oddly and charmingly.
She entered with a timid hesitation and a half-frightened look he was
quick to note. He was sure from the expression of her eyes that she
had not slept.
"You did not sleep well?" he asked.
"I didn't sleep at all," she confessed.
He attempted to take her hand and she drew back trembling.
"Now, you _are_ afraid of me?"
"Yes. I'm afraid I am," she stammered.
"Why of me? The one man of all men on earth--the man who loves you?"
"Perhaps that's just why I'm afraid of you," she said, with an effort
to smile. "But, to tell you the truth, I think it's just because you
are a man. Last night I lay awake thinking it all over. I'm quite sure
that I shall always be afraid of men. I like you better than any man
I've ever known, but now that you've told me you love me I'm uneasy
when I'm near you. I think you'd better give me up at once. I'm sure
I'm hopeless as a sweet-heart. I know I could never marry. The
domestic instinct seems utterly missing in my nature. I love man in
the abstract, but I can never surrender to any particular man. It
seems like suicide. I want to be myself. I hate the idea of losing
myself in another's being--I can't endure it, and if you make love to
me any more I shall be very unhappy--and--I'll have to keep out of
your way. You won't do this any more will you? Promise me, and we will
be our old selves again--just comrades."
Norman bowed with a smile.
"I promise never to speak another word of love to you until you tell
me that you love me!"
"Honestly?" she laughed.
"On my word of honour," he answered, gravely.
"Then I shall be happy again," she cried.
"You will not try to avoid me?"
"No."
"You will help and cheer me in the work I've planned?"
"Every day," she promised.
"Then I shall bide my time." He drew the deeds to the island from his
pocket and handed them to her.
"The title to a kingdom which I joyfully deliver by order of the
queen-regent!"
"You are sure you do this because I asked you?"
"Do you really doubt it?"
"No," was the candid reply. "And I'll be frank enough to confess that
I feel very proud of my power. You flattered my vanity as never
before. You have put me under a sense of gratitude for which I fear I
can never reward you."
"I have my reward in your approval."
She smiled and lifted her finger in warning.
"I'll not forget my promise," he said. "From to-day we understand each
other perfectly. I am permitted to love you in silence. You graciously
permit this as long as I am silent. In my wounded pride I have vowed
that you yourself shall break this silence or it shall remain unbroken
forever. This is our compact?"
"Yes," she answered extending her hand. He felt it tremble at his
first touch and then rest contentedly and confidently in his strong
grasp for a moment before they parted.
* * * * *
When once his decision was made, Norman threw every doubt to the winds
and devoted himself with tireless zeal to establishing the
Brotherhood on the vast scale he had originally planned.
In every step of the expanding life of the colony Barbara was his
constant companion and silent inspiration.
The transfer of the property was duly made under Wolf's keen gray
eyes, with every detail of the law carefully guarded.
A second colony of two thousand enthusiasts was landed and established
in the new building. Under Norman's inspiring leadership their work
was quickly organized.
A new central administrative colony of five thousand was planned, and
the foundation of its buildings laid with inspiring ceremonies. The
huge structure was formed in the shape of a quadrangle covering ten
acres of ground. In the centre of the court rose the house of the
regents, in reality a palace of imposing splendour. The assembly hall
was located in the regents' palace and formed the dining-room of their
colony. At one end of the magnificent room was placed on an elevated
platform the table at which the board of governors would sit, while at
each end of the table stood the gilded chairs of state to be occupied
by the regent and his consort.
The scheme of imposing grandeur was suggested by Wolf. Norman objected
at first, but yielded at last, convinced by his past experiences that
a central authority of undisputed power was essential to the existence
of any state founded on the socialistic ideal.
At each corner of the quadrangle a public building was placed
connected by the dormitories; on one corner was placed a theatre, on
another a music hall, on another a school and nursery, on the other a
lyceum to be used for public gatherings of all kinds, religious,
social, or political. Each section of the outer buildings was
connected with the regent's palace in the centre of the court by
covered walk ways.
The entire force of the four thousand members of the Brotherhood
(except the farmers) were placed at work to complete this structure at
the earliest possible moment.
A day before the annual meeting of the Brotherhood at which the board
of governors and the two regents were to be elected for the term of
four years, Norman established a daily newspaper, _The New Era_, and
the event was celebrated in the evening by a banquet and ball.
As he walked among the joyous throngs of the Brotherhood as they moved
through the brilliantly lighted ball-room he began to feel for the
first time the conscious joy of a great achievement.
Beyond a doubt the Brotherhood was an accomplished fact. Its fame was
stirring the world beyond their little island. Pictures of the future
flashed through his imagination, and always in greater and more
alluring splendour.
He saw himself becoming more and more the guiding spirit of the great
enterprise. If men opposed his plans he would mould their wills in
his.
Gradually he meant to remove the hard and painful elements of force on
which the efficiency of the colony now rested. The discipline of an
army with its stern laws of physical violence back of its clock-like
precision was not to his liking. He winced at the thought of that grim
relic of barbarism, the whipping-post, which they had found necessary
to temporarily revive. The jail, guard-house, and penal colony were
thorns in his flesh which he would remove at the earliest possible
moment. The one excuse for their existence was the inheritance of evil
in man's nature due to his wrongs and suffering under the system of
capitalism. They would outgrow them.
Again and again he encountered Wolf and Catherine in the highest
spirits, laughing, joking, chatting, shaking hands with each one they
met.
Suddenly it struck him for the first time that he had a poor memory
for names and faces. He wondered how Wolf could remember the name of
the most obscure member of the colony without an effort. He had been
so absorbed in the big problems of the Brotherhood that he had given
little or no time to cultivating the personal acquaintance of its
individual members. The arts of the politician were foreign to his
nature. He had never stooped in his thoughts even to consider them. He
had always lived in a different world.
Never for a moment had the idea occurred to him that he might have to
fight for his position as leader of the colony which he had created,
yet when he took his seat beside Barbara the following night to
preside over the annual meeting, he was conscious instantly that
through the crowd of eager faces before him there ran a strong current
of personal hostility.
It was a disagreeable surprise. But as he recalled the many unpopular
decisions he had been called on to make during the past year it seemed
but natural there should be a lingering soreness in some minds. It was
not until he saw Wolf in deep consultation with Diggs's glasses, and
Catherine whispering to the smooth, gray-haired woman who had demanded
the expulsion of Blanche, that he knew an organized plot had been
formed to depose him from power.
His first impulse was one of blind rage. He recalled now with
lightning flashes of memory the long hours Wolf and his wife had
spent in soothing the anger of rebellious and troublesome members. At
every public meeting he recalled their smiling faces at the door or
moving through the hall. The whole scheme was plain, its low
chicanery, its shallow hypocrisy, its fawning acceptance of his
leadership! They had been patiently waiting for him to finish the work
of strong, legal, invincible, powerful organization to step in and
take the reins from his hands.
And they had done it with such consummate skill, such infinite care
and patience, that not one of his own personal followers had
discovered the plot.
When the smooth, gray-haired woman rose to nominate candidates for
regent he knew, before she spoke, the names she would pronounce. He
looked at her with a feeling of contempt and to save his life he
couldn't recall her name.
She repeated her address to the chair with angry emphasis:
"Comrade Chairman!"
"I beg your pardon," Norman answered, "but I could not for the moment
recall your name. The comrade on my right (the woman without a soul,
he added in low tones) has the floor."
Barbara started at his tone of anger and whispered:
"How could you be so rude--what is wrong?"
"We are about to retire from office."
"What!" Barbara gasped as the little woman began to speak.
"Listen--you will understand," he said, with a sudden curve of his
lip.
"Comrades," the deep, calm voice began, "I place in nomination for the
office of regents for the four ensuing years the names of a man and
woman whom every member of the old colony entitled to vote to-night
has learned to love and honour--a man and woman whose ripe experience,
whose sound judgment, whose sense of right, whose powers of reasoning,
whose executive genius will give to us all the guarantee of perfect
justice and perfect order----"
"You bet they will, old girl," Tom cried with enthusiasm, waving his
hand admiringly toward Norman and Barbara.
The speaker paused, regarded Tom a moment with quiet scorn, and
continued:
"I have the honour to name for the highest honour in the gift of the
Brotherhood for the regency of the new State of Ventura Comrades
Herman and Catherine Wolf."
"What's that you say?" old Tom yelled with anger, leaping to his feet,
and glaring around the room in a dazed surprise.
The old miner was too shrewd a politician to doubt now for a moment
the situation. He made the only possible attack on the programme that
promised results.
"In view of the fact, feller comrades," he shouted, "that half the
present members er this here Brotherhood have not been here long
enough to vote, I move that in justice to the new members we postpone
this election for six months."
Joe seconded the motion, and the chairman asked:
"Are there any remarks on the motion?"
The Bard moved as if to rise, when Diggs snatched him back into his
seat.
Amid a silence that was ominous the chairman put the question:
"All in favour of postponing this election for six months that our new
members may be able to vote will say 'Aye.'"
The response was feeble. Tom and Joe yelled very loudly, but their
effort was obvious.
"All in favour say 'No.'"
The whole audience seemed to shout in solid trained chorus "No!"
Tom hastened to nominate Norman and Barbara. The old miner's speech
was couched in plain, uncouth words, but they came from the heart and
their rugged eloquence stirred the crowd with surprising power. Diggs
glanced over the audience through his flashing glasses, and his
perpetual smile faded into a look of uneasiness as a round of applause
swept the house.
He tiptoed to Wolf's side and whispered:
"Any danger?"
"Not the slightest. I want him to get some votes. It's better so."
The programme went through without a hitch. Wolf and Catherine were
elected regents by an overwhelming majority and a new board of
governors chosen with not a single one whom Norman knew personally.
The young leader sat in sullen silence, and watched the proceedings
with contempt. Barbara looked on in increasing wonder and pain.
When the result was announced and the cheering had died away she bent
her beautiful head close to his and whispered:
"This is a complete surprise. You believe me?"
"Yes," he quickly answered, "and one touch of your hand will rob
defeat of its sting."
She pressed his hand with lingering tenderness and sought Catherine
with a flash of anger in her brown eyes that boded trouble for the
house of Wolf.