Produced by David Widger
GULMORE, THE BOSS.
By Frank Harris
The habits of the Gulmore household were in some respects primitive.
Though it was not yet seven o'clock two negro girls were clearing away
the breakfast things under the minute supervision of their mistress,
an angular, sharp-faced woman with a reedy voice, and nervously abrupt
movements. Near the table sat a girl of nineteen absorbed in a book. In
an easy-chair by the open bay-window a man with a cigar in his mouth
was reading a newspaper. Jonathan Byrne Gulmore, as he always signed
himself, was about fifty years of age; his heavy frame was muscular, and
the coarse dark hair and swarthy skin showed vigorous health. There was
both obstinacy and combative-ness in his face with its cocked nose, low
irregular forehead, thick eyebrows, and square jaw, but the deep-set
grey eyes gleamed at times with humorous comprehension, and the usual
expression of the countenance was far from ill-natured. As he laid the
paper on his knees and looked up, he drew the eye. His size and strength
seemed to be the physical equivalents of an extraordinary power of
character and will. When Mrs. Gulmore followed the servants out of the
room the girl rose from her chair and went towards the door. She was
stopped by her father's voice:
“Ida, I want a talk with you. You'll be able to go to your books
afterwards; I won't keep you long.” She sat down again and laid her book
on the table, while Mr. Gulmore continued:
“The election's next Monday week, and I've no time to lose.” A moment's
silence, and he let his question fall casually:
“You know this--Professor Roberts--don't you? He was at the University
when you were there--eh?” The girl flushed slightly as she assented.
“They say he's smart, an' he ken talk. I heard him the other night;
but I'd like to know what you think. Your judgment's generally worth
havin'.”
Forced to reply without time for reflection, Miss Gulmore said as little
as possible with a great show of frankness:
“Oh, yes; he's smart, and knows Greek and Latin and German, and a great
many things. The senior students used to say he knew more than all the
other professors put together, and he--he thinks so too, I imagine,” and
she laughed intentionally, for, on hearing her own strained laughter,
she blushed, and then stood up out of a nervous desire to conceal her
embarrassment. But her father was looking away from her at the glowing
end of his cigar; and, as she resumed her seat, he went on:
“I'm glad you seem to take no stock in him, Ida, for he's makin' himself
unpleasant. I'll have to give him a lesson, I reckon, not in Greek or
Latin or them things--I never had nothin' taught me beyond the 'Fourth
Reader,' in old Vermont, and I've forgotten some of what I learned
then--but in election work an' business I guess I ken give Professor
Roberts points, fifty in a hundred, every time. Did you know he's always
around with Lawyer Hutchin's?”
“Is he? That's because of May--May Hutch-ings. Oh, she deserves him;”
the girl spoke with sarcastic bitterness, “she gave herself trouble
enough to get him. It was just sickening the way she acted, blushing
every time he spoke to her, and looking up at him as if he were
everything. Some people have no pride in them.”
Her father listened impassively, and, after a pause, began his
explanation:
“Wall, Ida, anyway he means to help Hutchin's in this city election.
'Tain't the first time Hutchin's has run for mayor on the Democratic
ticket and come out at the little end of the horn, and I propose to whip
him again. But this Professor's runnin' him on a new track, and I want
some points about _him_. It's like this. At the Democratic meetin'
the other night, the Professor spoke, and spoke well. What he said was
popcorn; but it took with the Mugwumps--them that think themselves too
high-falutin' to work with either party, jest as if organization was no
good, an' a mob was as strong as an army. Wall, he talked for an hour
about purity an' patriotism, and when he had warmed 'em up he
went bald-headed for me. He told 'em--you ken read it all in the
'Tribune'--that this town was run by a ring, an' not run honestly;
contracts were given only to members of the Republican party; all
appointments were made by the ring, and never accordin' to ability--as
if sich a ring could last ten years. He ended up by saying, though he
was a Republican, as his father is, he intended to vote Democratic--he's
domiciled here--as a protest against the impure and corrupt Boss-system
which was disgracin' American political life. Twas baby talk. But it's
like this. The buildin' of the branch line South has brought a lot
of Irish here--they're all Democrats--and there's quite a number of
Mugwumps, an' if this Professor goes about workin' them all up--what
with the flannel-mouths and the rest--it might be a close finish. I'm
sure to win, but if I could get some information about him, it would
help me. His father's all right. We've got him down to a fine point.
Prentiss, the man I made editor of the 'Herald,' knows him well; ken
tell us why he left Kaintucky to come West. But I want to know somethin'
about the Professor, jest to teach him to mind his own business, and
leave other folk to attend to theirs. Ken you help me? Is he popular
with the students and professors?”
She thought intently, while the colour rose in her cheeks; she was eager
to help.
“With the students, yes. There's nothing to be done there. The
professors--I don't think they like him much; he is too clever. When he
came into the class-room and talked Latin to Johnson, the Professor
of Latin, and Johnson could only stammer out a word or two, I guess he
didn't make a friend;” and the girl laughed at the recollection.
“I don't know anything else that could be brought against him. They say
he is an Atheist. Would that be any use? He gave a lecture on 'Culture
as a Creed' about three months ago which made some folk mad. The other
professors are Christians, and, of course, all the preachers took it
up. He compared Buddha with Christ, and said--oh, I remember!--that
Shakespeare was the Old Testament of the English-speaking peoples. That
caused some talk; they all believe in the Bible. He said, too, that
'Shakespeare was inspired in a far higher sense than St. Paul, who was
thin and hard, a logic-loving bigot.' And President Campbell--he's a
Presbyterian--preached the Sunday afterwards upon St Paul as the great
missionary of Protestantism. I don't think the professors like him, but
I don't know that they can do anything, for all the students, the senior
ones, at least, are with him,” and the girl paused, and tried to find
out from her father's face whether what she had said was likely to be of
service.
“Wall! I don't go much on them things myself, but I guess somethin'
ken be done. I'll see Prentiss about it: send him to interview this
President Campbell, and wake him up to a sense of his duty. This is a
Christian country, I reckon,” the grey eyes twinkled, “and those who
teach the young should teach them Christian principles, or else--get
out. I guess it ken be worked. The University's a State institution. You
don't mind if he's fired out, do you?” And the searching eyes probed her
with a glance.
“Oh! I don't mind,” she said quickly, in a would-be careless tone,
rising and going towards him, “it has nothing to do with me. He belongs
to May Hutchings--let her help him, if she can. I think you're quite
right to give him a lesson--he needs one badly. What right has he to
come and attack you?” She had passed to her father's side, and was
leaning against his shoulder. Those grey eyes saw more than she cared to
reveal; they made her uncomfortable.
“Then I understand it's like this. You want him to get a real lesson? Is
that it? You ken talk straight to me, Ida. I'm with you every time. You
know that.”
The feminine instinct of concealment worked in her, but she knew this
father of hers would have plain speech, and some hidden feeling forced
her violent temper to an outburst of curiously mingled hatred of the
Professor and exultation in her power of injuring him.
“Why, father, it's all the same to me. I've no interest in it, except
to help you. You know I never said a word against him till you asked
me. But he has no business to come down and attack _you_,” and the voice
grew shrill. “It's shameful of him. If he were a man he'd never do it.
Yes--give him a _real_ lesson; teach him that those he despises are
stronger than he is. Let him lose his place and be thrown out of work,
then we'll see if May Hutchings,” and she laughed, “will go and help
him. We'll see who is--”
Her father interrupted her in the middle of a tirade which would have
been complete self-revelation; but it is not to be presumed that he did
this out of a delicate regard for his daughter's feelings. He had got
the information he required.
“That's all right, Ida. I guess he'll get the lesson. You ken count on
me. You've put me on the right track, I believe. I knew if any one could
help me, you'd be able to. Nobody knows what's in you better'n I do.
You're smarter'n any one I know, and I know a few who think they're real
smart--”
In this vein he continued soothing his daughter's pride, and yet
speaking in an even, impersonal tone, as if merely stating facts.
“Now I've got to go. Prentiss'll be waiting for me at the office.”
While driving to the office, Mr. Gulmore's thoughts, at first, were with
his daughter. “I don't know why, but I suspicioned that. That's why she
left the University before graduatin', an' talked of goin' East, and
makin' a name for herself on the stage. That Professor's foolish. Ida's
smart and pretty, and she'll have a heap of money some day. The ring
has a few contracts on hand still--he's a fool. How she talked: she
remembered all that lecture--every word; but she's young yet. She'd have
given herself away if I hadn't stopped her. I don't like any one to do
that; it's weak. But she means business every time, just as I do; she
means him to be fired right out, and then she'd probably go and cry over
him, and want me to put him back again. But no. I guess not. That's not
the way I work. I'd be willin' for him to stay away, and leave me alone,
but as she wants him punished, he shall be, and she mustn't interfere
at the end. It'll do her good to find out that things can't both be done
and undone, if she's that sort. But p'r'aps she won't want to undo
them. When their pride's hurt women are mighty hard--harder than men
by far.... I wonder how long it'll take to get this Campbell to move. I
must start right in; I hain't got much time.”
As soon as her father left her, Miss Ida hurried to her own room, in
order to recover from her agitation, and to remove all traces of it. She
was an only child, and had accordingly a sense of her own importance,
which happened to be uncorrected by physical deficiencies. Not that
she was astonishingly beautiful, but she was tall and just good-looking
enough to allow her to consider herself a beauty. Her chief attraction
was her form, which, if somewhat flat-chested, had a feline flexibility
rarer and more seductive than she imagined. She was content to believe
that nature had fashioned her to play the part in life which, she knew,
was hers of right. Her name, even, was most appropriate--dignified. Ida
should be queen-like, stately; the oval of her face should be long, and
not round, and her complexion should be pallid; colour in the cheeks
made one look common. Her dark hair, too, pleased her; everything, in
fact, save her eyes; they were of a nameless, agate-like hue, and she
would have preferred them to be violet That would have given her face
the charm of unexpectedness, which she acknowledged was in itself a
distinction. And Miss Ida loved everything that conduced to distinction,
everything that flattered her pride with a sense of her own superiority.
It seemed as if her mother's narrowness of nature had confined and shot,
so to speak, all the passions and powers of the father into this one
characteristic of the daughter. That her father had risen to influence
and riches by his own ability did not satisfy her. She had always felt
that the Hutchingses and the society to which they belonged, persons who
had been well educated for generations, and who had always been more or
less well off, formed a higher class. It was the longing to become one
of them that had impelled her to study with might and main. Even in
her school-days she had recognized that this was the road to social
eminence. The struggle had been arduous. In the Puritan surroundings of
middle-class life her want of religious training and belief had almost
made a pariah of the proud, high-tempered girl, and when as a clever
student of the University and a daughter of one of the richest and most
powerful men in the State, she came into a circle that cared as little
about Christian dogmas as she did, she attributed the comparative
coolness with which her companions treated her, to her father's want of
education, rather than to the true cause, her own domineering temper. As
she had hated her childish playmates, who, instructed by their mothers,
held aloof from the infidel, so she had grown to detest the associates
of her girlhood, whose parents seemed, by virtue of manners and
education, superior to hers. The aversion was acrid with envy, and had
fastened from the beginning on her competitor as a student and her rival
in beauty, Miss May Hutchings. Her animosity was intensified by the fact
that, when they entered the Sophomore class together, Miss May had made
her acquaintance, had tried to become friends with her, and then, for
some inscrutable reason, had drawn coldly away. By dint of working twice
as hard as May, Ida had managed to outstrip her, and to begin the Junior
year as the first of the class; but all the while she was conscious that
her success was due to labour, and not to a larger intelligence. And
with the coming of the new professor of Greek, this superiority, her one
consolation, was called in question.
Professor Roberts had brought about a revolution in the University. He
was young and passionately devoted to his work; had won his Doctor's
degree at Berlin _summa cum laude_, and his pupils soon felt that
he represented a standard of knowledge higher than they had hitherto
imagined as attainable, and yet one which, he insisted, was common
in the older civilization of Europe. It was this nettling comparison,
enforced by his mastery of difficulties, which first aroused the ardour
of his scholars. In less than a year they passed from the level of
youths in a high school to that of University students. On the best
heads his influence was magical. His learning and enthusiasm quickened
their reverence for scholarship, but it was his critical faculty which
opened to them the world of art, and nerved them to emulation.
“Until one realizes the shortcomings of a master,” he said in a lecture,
“it is impossible to understand him or to take the beauty of his works
to heart When Sophocles repeats himself--the Electra is but a feeble
study for the Antigone, or possibly a feeble copy of it--we get near the
man; the limitations of his outlook are characteristic: when he
deforms his Ajax with a tag of political partisanship, his servitude to
surroundings defines his conscience as an artist; and when painting by
contrasts he poses the weak Ismene and Chrysothemis as foils to their
heroic sisters, we see that his dramatic power in the essential was
rudimentary. Yet Mr. Matthew Arnold, a living English poet, writes that
Sophocles 'saw life steadily and saw it whole.' This is true of no man,
not of Shakespeare nor of Goethe, much less of Sophocles or Racine. The
phrase itself is as offensively out of date as the First Commandment.”
The bold, incisive criticism had a singular fascination for his hearers,
who were too young to remark in it the crudeness that usually attaches
to originality.
Miss Hutchings was the first of the senior students to yield herself to
the new influence. In the beginning Miss Gulmore was not attracted by
Professor Roberts; she thought him insignificant physically; he was neat
of dress too, and ingenuously eager in manner--all of which conflicted
with her ideal of manhood. It was but slowly that she awoke to a
consciousness of his merits, and her awakening was due perhaps as much
to jealousy of May Hutchings as to the conviction that with Professor
Roberts for a husband she would realize her social ambitions. Suddenly
she became aware that May was passing her in knowledge of Greek, and was
thus winning the notice of the man she had begun to look upon as worthy
of her own choice. Ida at once addressed herself to the struggle with
all the energy of her nature, but at first without success. It was
evident that May was working as she had never worked before, for as the
weeks flew by she seemed to increase her advantage. During this period
Ida Gulmore's pride suffered tortures; day by day she understood more
clearly that the prize of her life was slipping out of reach. In
mind and soul now she realized Roberts' daring and charm. With the
intensified perceptions of a jealous woman, she sometimes feared that he
sympathized with her rival.
But he had not spoken yet; of that she was sure, and her conceit enabled
her to hope desperately. A moment arrived when her hatred of May was
sweetened by contempt. For some reason or other May was neglecting her
work; when spoken to by the Professor her colour came and went, and a
shyness, visible to all, wrapped her in confusion. Ida felt that there
was no time to be lost, and increased her exertions. As she thought of
her position she determined first to surpass her competitor, and then in
some way or other to bring the Professor to speech. But, alas! for
her plans. One morning she demonstrated her superiority with cruel
clearness, only to find that Roberts, self-absorbed, did not notice her.
He seemed to have lost the vivid interest in the work which aforetime
had characterized him, and the happiness of the man was only less
tell-tale than the pretty contentment and demure approval of all he said
which May scarcely tried to conceal. Wild with fear, blinded by temper,
Ida resolved to know the truth.
One morning when the others left the room she waited, busying herself
apparently with some notes, till the Professor returned, as she knew he
would, in time to receive the next class. While gathering up her books,
she asked abruptly:
“I suppose I should congratulate you, Professor?”
“I don't think I understand you.”
“Yes, you do. Why lie? You are engaged to May Hutchings,” and the girl
looked at him with flaming eyes.
“I don't know why you should ask me, or why I should answer, but we have
no motive for concealment--yes, I am.”
His words were decisive; his reverence for May and her affection had
been wounded by the insolent challenge, but before he finished speaking
his manner became considerate. He was quick to feel the pain of others
and shrank from adding to it--these, indeed, were the two chief articles
of the unformulated creed which directed his actions. His optimism was
of youth and superficial, but the sense of the brotherhood of human
suffering touched his heart in a way that made compassion and tenderness
appear to him to be the highest and simplest of duties. It was Ida's
temper that answered his avowal. Still staring at him she burst into
loud laughter, and as he turned away her tuneless mirth grew shriller
and shriller till it became hysterical. A frightened effort to regain
her self-control, and her voice broke in something like a sob, while
tears trembled on her lashes. The Professor's head was bent over
his desk and he saw nothing. Ida dashed the tears from her eyes
ostentatiously, and walked with shaking limbs out of the room. She would
have liked to laugh again scornfully before closing the door, but she
dared not trust her nerves. From that moment she tried to hate Professor
Roberts as she hated May Hutchings, for her disappointment had been very
sore, and the hurt to her pride smarted like a burn. On returning home,
she told her father that she had taken her name off the books of the
University; she meant to be an actress, and a degree could be of no use
to her in her new career. Her father did not oppose her openly; he was
content to postpone any decisive step, and in a few days she seemed to
have abandoned her project. But time brought no mitigation of her spite.
She was tenacious by nature, and her jealous rage came back upon her in
wild fits. To be outdone by May Hutchings was intolerable. Besides, the
rivalry and triumphs of the class-room had been as the salt of life to
her; now she had nothing to do, nothing to occupy her affections or give
object to her feverish ambition. And the void of her life she laid to
the charge of Roberts. So when the time came and the temptation, she
struck as those strike who are tortured by pain.
Alone in her room, she justified to herself what she had done. She
thought with pleasure of Professor Roberts' approaching defeat
and punishment. “He deserves it, and more! He knows why I left the
University; drew myself away from him for ever. What does he care for my
suffering? He can't leave me in peace. I wasn't good enough for him, and
my father isn't honest enough. Oh, that I were a man! I'd teach him that
it was dangerous to insult the wretched.
“How I was mistaken in him! He has no delicacy, no true manliness of
character. I'm glad he has thrown down the challenge. Father may not be
well-educated nor refined, but he's strong. Professor Roberts shall
find out what it means to attack _us_. I hope he'll be turned out of the
University; I hope he will. Let me think. I have a copy of that lecture
of his; perhaps there's something in it worse than I remembered. At any
rate, the report will be proof.”
She searched hurriedly, and soon found the newspaper account she wanted.
Glancing down the column with feverish eagerness, she burst out: “Here
it is; this will do. I knew there was something more.”
“... Thus the great ones contribute, each his part, towards the
humanization of man. Christ and Buddha are our teachers, but so also,
and in no lower degree, are Plato, Dante, Goethe, and Shakespeare....
“But strange to say, the _Divina Commedia_ seems to us moderns more
remote than the speculations of Plato. For the modern world is founded
upon science, and may be said to begin with the experimental philosophy
of Bacon. The thoughts of Plato, the 'fair humanities' of Greek
religion, are nearer to the scientific spirit than the untutored
imaginings of Christ. The world to-day seeks its rule of life in exact
knowledge of man and his surroundings; its teachers, high-priests in
the temple of Truth, are the Darwins, the Bunsens, the Pasteurs. In the
place of God we see Law, and the old concept of rewards and punishments
has been re-stated as 'the survival of the fittest,' If, on the other
hand, you need emotions, and the inspiration of concrete teaching, you
must go to Balzac, to Turgenief, and to Ibsen....”
“I think that'll do,” said the girl half-aloud as she marked the above
passages, and then sent the paper by a servant to her father's office.
“The worst of it is, he'll find another place easily; but, at any rate,
he'll have to leave this State.... How well I remember that lecture. I
thought no one had ever talked like that before. But the people disliked
it, and even those who stayed to the end said they wouldn't have come
had they known that a professor could speak against Christianity. How
mad they made me then! I wouldn't listen to them, and now--now he's with
May Hutchings, perhaps laughing at me with her. Or, if he's not so base
as that, he's accusing my father of dishonesty, and I mean to defend
him. But if, ah, if--” and the girl rose to her feet suddenly, with
paling face.
The house of Lawyer Hutchings was commodious and comfortable. It was
only two storeys high, and its breadth made it appear squat; it was
solidly built of rough, brown stone, and a large wooden verandah gave
shade and a lounging-place in front. It stood in its own grounds on the
outskirts of the town, not far from Mr. Gulmore's, but it lacked the
towers and greenhouse, the brick stables, and black iron gates, which
made Mr. Gulmore's residence an object of public admiration. It had,
indeed, a careless, homelike air, as of a building that disdains show,
standing sturdily upon a consciousness of utility and worth. The study
of the master lay at the back. It was a room of medium size, with two
French windows, which gave upon an orchard of peach and apple-trees
where lush grass hid the fallen fruit. The furniture was plain and
serviceable. A few prints on the wall and a wainscoting of books showed
the owner's tastes.
In this room one morning Lawyer Hutchings and Professor Roberts
sat talking. The lawyer was sparely built and tall, of sympathetic
appearance. The features of the face were refined and fairly regular,
the blue eyes pleasing, the high forehead intelligent-looking.
Yet--whether it was the querulous horizontal lines above the brows, or
the frequent, graceful gestures of the hands--Mr. Hutchings left on one
an impression of weakness, and, somehow or other, his precise way of
speaking suggested intellectual narrowness. It was understood, however,
that he had passed through Harvard with honours, and had done well in
the law-course. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that when he
went West, he went with the idea that that was the shortest way to
Washington. Yet he had had but a moderate degree of success; he was too
thoroughly grounded in his work not to get a good practice, but he was
not the first in his profession. He had been outdone by men who fought
their cases, and his popularity was due to affable manners, and not to
admiration of his power or talents. His obvious good nature had got
with years a tinge of discontent; life had been to him a series of
disappointments.
One glance at Professor Roberts showed him to be a different sort of
a man, though perhaps harder to read. Square shoulders and attenuated
figure--a mixture of energy and nervous force without muscular strength;
a tyrannous forehead overshadowing lambent hazel eyes; a cordial
frankness of manner with a thinker's tricks of gesture, his nervous
fingers emphasizing his words.
Their talk was of an article assailing the Professor that had appeared
that morning in “The Republican Herald.”
“I don't like it,” Mr. Hutchings was saying. “It's inspired by Gulmore,
and he always means what he says--and something more.”
“Except the suggestion that my father had certain good, or rather bad,
reasons for leaving Kentucky, it seems to me merely spiteful. It's very
vilely written.”
“He only begins with your father. Then he wonders what the real motives
are which induce you to change your political creed. But the affectation
of fairness is the danger signal. One can't imagine Gulmore hesitating
to assert what he has heard, that you have no religious principles.
Coming from him, that means a declaration of war; he'll attack you
without scruple--persistently. It's well known that he cares nothing
for religion--even his wife's a Unitarian. What he's aiming at, I don't
know, but he's sure to do you harm. He has done me harm, and yet he
never gave me such a warning. He only went for me when I ran for office.
As soon as the elections were over, he left me in peace. He's eminently
practical, and rather good-natured. There's no small vicious malice or
hate in him; but he's overbearing and loves a fight. Is it worth your
while to make an enemy of him? We're sure to be beaten.”
“Of course it isn't worth my while in that sense, but it's my duty, I
think, as you think it yours. Remark, too, that I've never attacked
Mr. Gulmore--never even mentioned him. I've criticised the system, and
avoided personalities.”
“He won't take it in that way. He is the system; when you criticise it,
you criticise him. Every one will so understand it. He makes all the
appointments, from mayor down to the boy who sweeps out an office; every
contract is given to him or his appointees; that's how he has made his
fortune. Why, he beat me the second time I ran for District Court Judge,
by getting an Irishman, the Chairman of my Committee, to desert me at
the last moment. He afterwards got Patrick Byrne elected a Justice of
the Peace, a man who knows no law and can scarcely sign his own name.”
“How disgraceful! And you would have me sit down quietly under the
despotism of Mr. Gulmore? And such a despotism! It cost the city half a
million dollars to pave the streets, and I can prove that the work
could have been done as well for half the sum. Our democratic system of
government is the worst in the world, if a tenth part of what I hear
is true; and before I admit that, I'll see whether its abuses are
corrigible. But why do you say we're sure to be beaten? I thought you
said--”
“Yes,” Mr. Hutchings interrupted, “I said that this railway extension
gives us a chance. All the workmen are Irishmen, Democrats to a man,
who'll vote and vote straight, and that has been our weak point. You
can't get one-half the better classes to go to the polls. The negroes
all vote, too, and vote Republican--that has been Gulmore's strength.
Now I've got the Irishmen against his negroes I may win. But what I feel
is that even if I do get to be Mayor, you'll suffer for it more than I
shall gain by your help. Do you see? And, now that I'm employed by the
Union Pacific I don't care much for city politics. I'd almost prefer
to give up the candidature. May'll suffer, too. I think you ought to
consider the matter before going any further.”
“This is not the time for consideration. Like you I am trying to put
an end to a corrupt tyranny. I work and shall vote against a venal and
degrading system. May and I will bear what we must. She wouldn't have
me run away from such adversaries. Fancy being governed by the most
ignorant, led on by the most dishonest! It's incomprehensible to me how
such a paradoxical infamy can exist.”
“I think it'll become comprehensible to you before this election's over.
I've done my best for years to alter it, and so far I've not been very
successful. You don't seem to understand that where parties are almost
equal in strength, a man who'll spend money is sure to win. It has paid
Gulmore to organize the Republican party in this city; he has made
it pay him and all those who hold office by and through him. 'To the
victors, the spoils.' Those who have done the spoiling are able to pay
more than the spoiled--that's all.”
“Yes, but in this case the spoilers are a handful, while the spoiled are
the vast majority. Why should it be impossible to convince the majority
that they're being robbed?”
“Because ideas can't get into the heads of negroes, nor yet into the
heads of illiterate Irishmen. You'll find, too, that five Americans out
of every ten take no interest in ordinary politics, and the five who
do are of the lowest class--a Boss is their natural master. Our party
politics, my friend, resembles a game of faro--the card that happens to
be in the box against the same card outside--and the banker holding the
box usually manages to win. Let me once get power and Gulmore'll find
his labour unremunerative. If it hadn't been for him I'd have been in
Congress long ago. But now I'll have to leave you. Talk it over with May
and--you see that Gulmore challenges you to prove the corruption or else
withdraw the imputation? What do you mean to do?”
“I'll prove it, of course. Long before I spoke I had gone into that
paving contract; it was clearly a fraud.”
“Well, I'd think, if I were you, before I acted, though you're a great
help to me; your last speech was very powerful.”
“Unfortunately I'm no speaker, but I'll do as well as I can, and you
may rely on me to go on to the end. The rich at least must be forced
to refrain from robbing the poor.... That malicious sneer at my father
hurts me. It can only mean that he owed money in Kentucky. He was always
careless in money matters, too careless, but he's very generous at
heart. I owe him everything. I'll find out about it at once, and if it
is as I fear, the debt shall be paid. That'll be one good result of
Mr. Gul-more's malice. As for me, let him do his worst. At any rate I'm
forewarned.”
“A poor satisfaction in case--but here's May, and I must go. I've stayed
too long already. You should look through our ticket; it's strong, the
men are all good, I think--anyway, they're the best we can get. Teach
him to be careful, May; he's too bold.”
“I will, father,” replied a clear, girlish voice; “it's mother who
spoils him,” and then, as the door shut, she moved to her lover, and
holding out both her hands, with a little air of dignity, added, “He
tries to spoil _me_. But, dear, what's the matter? You seem annoyed.”
“It's nothing. An article in that paper strikes at my father, and hurts
me; but it can be made right, and to look at you is a cure for pain.”
“Let me read it--no, please! I want to help you, and how can I do that
if I don't know what pains you?” The girl took the “Herald “and sat down
to read it.
May Hutchings was more than good-looking, were it only by reason of
a complexion such as is seldom given even to blondes. The inside of a
sea-shell has the same lustre and delicacy, but it does not pale and
flush as did May's cheeks in quick response to her emotions. Waves of
maize-coloured hair with a sheen of its own went with the fairness of
the skin, and the pretty features were redeemed from a suspicion of
insipidity by large violet eyes. She was of good height and lissom, with
small feet and hands, but the outlines of her figure were Southern in
grace and fulness.
After reading the article, she put down the paper without saying a word
“Why, May, you seem to take it as seriously as your father does. It's
nothing so very terrible, is it?”
“What did father say?”
“That it was inspired by Gulmore, and that he was a dangerous man; but
I don't see much in it. If my father owed money in Kentucky it shall be
repaid, and there the matter ends.”
“'Tisn't that I'm troubling about; it's that lecture of yours. Oh, it
was wonderful! but I sat trembling all the time. You don't know the
people. If they had understood it better, they'd have made a big fuss
about it. I'm frightened now.”
“But what fuss can they make? I've surely a right to my own opinions,
and I didn't criticise any creed offensively.”
“That's it--that's what saved you. Oh, I wish you'd see it as I do! You
spoke so enthusiastically about Jesus, that you confused them. A lot
of them thought, and think still, that you're a Christian. But if it's
brought up again and made clear to them--Won't you understand? If it's
made quite clear that Jesus to you was only a man, and not superior
even to all other men, and that you believe Christianity has served
its purpose, and is now doing harm rather than good in the world, why,
they'd not want to have you in the University. Don't you know that?”
“Perhaps you're right,” returned the Professor thoughtfully. “You see
I wasn't brought up in any creed, and I've lived in so completely
different an atmosphere for years past, that it's hard to understand
such intolerant bigotry. I remember enough, though, to see that you
are right. But, after all, what does it matter? I can't play hypocrite
because they're blind fanatics.”
“No, but you needn't have gone _quite_ so far--been _quite_ so frank;
and even now you might easily--” She stopped, catching a look of
surprise in her lover's face, and sought confusedly to blot out the
effect of her last words. “I mean--but of course you know best. I want
you to keep your place; you love the work, and no one could do it so
well as you. No one, and--”
“It doesn't matter, May. I'm sure you were thinking of what would be
best for both of us, but I've nothing to alter or extenuate. They must
do as they think fit, these Christians, if they have the power. After
all, it can make no difference to us; I can always get work enough
to keep us, even if it isn't such congenial work. But do you think
Gulmore's at the bottom of it? Has he so much influence?”
“Yes, I think so,” and the girl nodded her head, but she did not give
the reasons for her opinion. She knew that Ida Gulmore had been in love
with him, so she shrank instinctively from mentioning her name, partly
because it might make him pity her, and partly because the love
of another woman for him seemed to diminish her pride of exclusive
possession. She therefore kept silence while seeking for a way to warn
her lover without revealing the truth, which might set him thinking of
Ida Gulmore and her fascinating because unrequited passion. At length
she said:
“Mr. Gulmore has injured father. He knows him: you'd better take his
opinion.”
“Your father advises me to have nothing more to do with the election.”
He didn't say it to try her; he trusted her completely. The girl's
answer was emphatic:
“Oh, that's what you should do; I'm frightened for you. Why need you
make enemies? The election isn't worth that, indeed it isn't. If father
wants to run for Mayor, let him; he knows what he's about. But you, you
should do great things, write a great book; and make every one as proud
of you as I am.” Her face flushed with enthusiasm. She felt relieved,
too; somehow she had got into the spirit of her part once more. But her
lover took the hot face and eager speech as signs of affection, and he
drew her to him while his face lit up with joy.
“You darling, darling! You overrate me, dear, but that does me good:
makes me work harder. What a pity it is, May, that one can't add a cubit
to his stature. I'd be a giant then.... But never fear; it'll be all
right. You wouldn't wish me, I'm sure, to run away from a conflict I
have provoked; but now I must see my father about those debts, and then
we'll have a drive, or perhaps you'd go with me to him. You could wait
in the buggy for me. You know I have to speak again this evening.”
The girl consented at once, but she was not satisfied with the decision
her lover had come to. “It's too plain,” she thought in her clear,
common-sense way, “that he's getting into a 'fuss' when he might just as
well, or better, keep out of it.”
May was eminently practical, and not at all as emotional as one might
have inferred from the sensitive, quick-changing colour that at one
moment flushed her cheeks and at another ebbed, leaving her pallid, as
with passion. Not that she was hardhearted or selfish. Far from it. But
her surroundings had moulded her as they do women. Her mother had been
one of the belles of Baltimore, a Southerner, too, by temperament May
had a brother and a sister older than herself (both were now married),
and a younger brother who had taken care that she should not be spoiled
for want of direct personal criticism. It was this younger brother, Joe,
who first called her “Towhead,” and even now he often made disparaging
remarks about “girls who didn't weigh 130”--in Joe's eyes, a Venus of
Rubens would have seemed perfect. May was not vain of her looks; indeed,
she had only come to take pleasure in them of recent years. As a young
girl, comparing herself with her mother, she feared that she would
always be “quite homely.” Her glass and the attentions of men had
gradually shown her the pleasant truth. She did not, however, even now,
overrate her beauty greatly. But her character had been modified
to advantage in those schoolgirl days, when, with bitter tears, she
admitted to herself that she was not pretty. Her teacher's praise of her
quickness and memory had taught her to set her pride on learning. And
indeed she had been an intelligent child, gifted with a sponge-like
faculty of assimilating all kinds of knowledge--the result, perhaps, of
generations of educated forbears. The admiration paid to her looks
did not cause her to relax her intellectual efforts. But when at the
University she found herself outgrowing the ordinary standards of
opinion, conceit at first took possession of her. It seemed to her
manifest that she had always underrated herself. She was astonished by
her own excessive modesty, and keenly interested in it. She had thought
herself ugly and she was beautiful, and now it was evident that she was
a genius as well. With soul mightily uplifted by dreams of all she would
do and the high part she would play in life, always nobly serious, yet
with condescension of exquisite charming kindliness, taking herself
gravely for a perfect product of the race and time, she proceeded to
write the book which should discover to mankind all her qualities--the
delicacy, nobility, and sweetness of an ideal nature.
During this period she even tried to treat Joe with sweet courtesy, but
Joe told her not to make herself “more of a doggoned fool” than she
was. And soon the dream began to lose its brightness. The book would not
advance, and what she wrote did not seem to her wonderful--not inspired
and fascinating as it ought to have been. Her reading had given her some
slight critical insight. She then showed parts of it to her admirers,
hoping thus to justify vanity, but they used the occasion to pay
irrelevant compliments, and so disappointed her--all, save Will
Thornton, who admitted critically that “it was poetic” and guessed “she
ought to write poetry.” Accordingly she wrote some lyrics, and one on
“Vanished Hopes” really pleased her. Forthwith she read it to Will, who
decided “'twas fine, mighty fine. Tennyson had written more, of course,
but nothing better--nothing easier to understand.”
That last phrase killed her trust in him. She sank into despondence.
Even when Ida Gul-more, whom she had learned to dislike, began to
outshine her in the class, she made no effort. To graduate first of her
year appeared a contemptible ambition in comparison with the dreams she
had foregone. About this period she took a new interest in her dress;
she grew coquettish even, and became a greater favourite than ever.
Then Professor Roberts came to the University, and with his coming life
opened itself to her anew, vitalized with hopes and fears. She was drawn
to him from the first, as spirit is sometimes drawn to spirit, by an
attraction so imperious that it frightened her, and she tried to hold
herself away from him. But in her heart she knew that she studied and
read only to win his praise. His talents revealed to her the futility of
her ambition. Here was one who stood upon the heights beyond her power
of climbing, and yet, to her astonishment, he was very doubtful of
his ability to gain enduring reputation. Not only was there a plane of
knowledge and feeling above the conventional--that she had found out by
herself--but there were also table-lands where teachers of repute in the
valley were held to be blind guides. Her quick receptivity absorbed
the new ideas with eagerness; but she no longer deluded herself. Her
practical good sense came to her aid. What seemed difficult or doubtful
to the Professor must, she knew, be for ever impossible to her. And
already love was upon her, making her humility as sweet as was her
admiration. At last he spoke, and life became altogether beautiful to
her. As she learned to know him intimately she began to understand his
un-worldliness, his scholar-like idealism, and ignorance of men and
motives, and thus she came to self-possession again, and found her true
mission. She realized with joy, and a delightful sense of an assured
purpose in life, that her faculty of observation and practical insight,
though insufficient as “bases for Eternity,” would be of value to
her lover. And if she now and then fell back into the part of a
nineteenth-century Antigone, it was but a momentary relapse into what
had been for a year or so a dear familiar habit The heart of the girl
grew and expanded in the belief that her new _rôle_ of counsellor and
worldly guide to her husband was the highest to which any woman could
attain.
A few days later Mr. Hutchings had another confidential talk with
Professor Roberts, and, as before, the subject was suggested by an
article in “The Republican Herald.” This paper, indeed, devoted a column
or so every day to personal criticism of the Professor, and each attack
surpassed its forerunner in virulence of invective. All the young man's
qualities of character came out under this storm of unmerited abuse.
He read everything that his opponents put forth, replied to nothing, in
spite of the continual solicitation of the editor of “The Democrat,”
and seemed very soon to regard “The Herald's” calumnies merely from the
humorous side. Meanwhile his own speeches grew in knowledge and vigour.
With a scholar's precision he put before his hearers the inner history
and significance of job after job. His powers of study helped him to
“get up his cases” with crushing completeness. He quickly realized the
value of catch-words, but his epigrams not being hardened in the fire of
life refused to stick. He did better when he published the balance-sheet
of the “ring” in pamphlet form, and showed that each householder paid
about one hundred and fifty dollars a year, or twice as much as all his
legal taxes, in order to support a party organization the sole object
of which was to enrich a few at the expense of the many. One job, in
especial, the contract for paving the streets, he stigmatized as a
swindle, and asserted that the District Attorney, had he done his duty,
would long ago have brought the Mayor and Town Council before a criminal
court as parties to a notorious fraud. His ability, steadfastness, and
self-restraint had had a very real effect; his meetings were always
crowded, and his hearers were not all Democrats. His courage and
fighting power were beginning to win him general admiration. The public
took a lively though impartial interest in the contest. To critical
outsiders it seemed not unlikely that the Professor (a word of
good-humoured contempt) might “whip” even “old man Gulmore.” Bets were
made on the result and short odds accepted. Even Mr. Hutchings allowed
himself to hope for a favourable issue.
“You've done wonderfully well,” was the burden of his conversations with
Roberts; “I should feel certain of success against any one but Gulmore.
And he seems to be losing his head--his perpetual abuse excites sympathy
with you. If we win I shall owe it mainly to you.”
But on this particular morning Lawyer Hutchings had something to say to
his friend and helper which he did not like to put into plain words. He
began abruptly:
“You've seen the 'Herald'?”
“Yes; there's nothing in it of interest, is there?”
“No; but 'twas foolish of your father to write that letter saying you
had paid his Kentucky debts.”
“I was sorry when I saw it. I know they'll say I got him to write the
letter. But it's only another incident.”
“It's true, then? You did pay the money?”
“Yes; I was glad to.”
“But it was folly. What had you to do with your father's debts? Every
house to-day should stand on its own foundation.”
“I don't agree with you; but in this case there was no question of
that sort. My father very generously impoverished himself to send me
to Europe and keep me there for six years. I owed him the five thousand
dollars, and was only too glad to be able to repay him. You'd have done
the same.”
“Would I, indeed! Five thousand dollars! I'm not so sure of that.” The
father's irritation conquered certain grateful memories of his
younger days, and the admiration which, in his heart, he felt for the
Professor's action, only increased his annoyance. “It must have nearly
cleaned you out?”
“Very nearly.”
“Well, of course it's your affair, not mine; but I think you foolish.
You paid them in full, I suppose? Whew!
“Do you see that the 'Herald' calls upon the University authorities to
take action upon your lecture? 'The teaching of Christian youth by an
Atheist must be stopped,' and so forth.”
“Yes; but they can do nothing. I'm not responsible to them for my
religious opinions.”
“You're mistaken. A vote of the Faculty can discharge you.”
“Impossible! On what grounds?”
“On the ground of immorality. They've got the power in that case. It's a
loose word, but effective.”
“I'd have a cause of action against them.”
“Which you'd be sure to lose. Eleven out of every twelve jurymen in this
state would mulct an Agnostic rather than give him damages.”
“Ah! that's the meaning, then, I suppose, of this notice I've just
got from the secretary to attend a special Faculty meeting on Monday
fortnight.”