Among the first load to be brought in was Miriam Yankovich. Miriam
had joined the Communist Party, and she had been born in Russia, so
that was all there was to her case. Peter, knew, of course that it
was Miriam who had set Rosie Stern after him and brought about his
downfall. Still, he could not help but be moved by her appearance.
She looked haggard and old, and she had a cough, and her eyes were
wild and crazy. Peter remembered her as proud and hot-tempered, but
now her pride was all gone--she flung herself on her knees before
him, and caught hold of his coat, sobbing hysterically. It appeared
that she had a mother and five young brothers and sisters who were
dependent upon her earnings; all her money had been consumed by
hospital expenses, and now she was to be deported to Russia, and
what would become of her loved ones?
Peter answered, what could he do? She had violated the law, they had
her membership card in the Communist Party, and she had admitted
that she was alien born. He tried to draw away, but she clung to
him, and went on sobbing and pleading. At least she ought to have a
chance to talk with her old mother, to tell her what to do, where to
go for help, how to communicate with Miriam in future. They were
sending her away without allowing her to have a word with her loved
ones, without even a chance to get her clothing!
Peter, as we know, had always been soft-hearted towards women, so
now he was embarrassed. In the handling of these cattle he was
carrying out the orders of his superiors; he had no power to grant
favors to any one, and he told Miriam this again and again. But she
would not listen to him. “Please, Peter, please! For God’s sake,
Peter! You know you were once a little in love with me, Peter--you
told me so--”
Yes, that was true, but it hadn’t done Peter much good. Miriam had
been interested in Mac--in Mac, that most dangerous devil, who had
given Peter so many anxious hours! She had brushed Peter to one
side, she had hardly been willing to listen to what he said; and now
she was trying to use that love she had spurned!
She had got hold of his hand, and he could not get it away from her
without violence. “If you ever felt a spark of love for a woman,”
she cried, “surely you cannot deny such a favor--such a little
favor! Please, Peter, for the sake of old times!”
Suddenly Peter started, and Miriam too. There came a voice from the
doorway. “So this is one of your lady friends, is it?” And there
stood Gladys, staring, rigid with anger, her little hands clenched.
“So this is one of your Red sweethearts, one of your nationalized
women?” And she stamped her foot. “Get up, you hussy! Get up, you
slut!” And as Miriam continued to kneel, motionless with surprise,
Gladys rushed at her, and clutched two handfuls of her heavy black
hair, and pulled so that Miriam fell prone on the floor. “I’ll teach
you, you free lover!” she screamed. “I’ll teach you to make love to
my husband!” And she dragged Miriam about by that mop of black hair,
kicking her and clawing her, until finally several of the bulls had
to interfere to save the girl’s life.
As a matter of fact Gladys had been told about Peter’s shameful past
before she married him; Guffey had told her, and she had told Peter
that Guffey had told her, she had reminded Peter of it many, many
times. But the actual sight of one of these “nationalized women” had
driven her into a frenzy, and it was a week before peace was
restored in the Gudge family. Meantime poor Peter was buffeted by
storms of emotion, both at home and in his office. They were getting
ready the first Red train, and it seemed as if every foreign Red
that Peter had ever known was besieging him, trying to get at him
and harrow his soul and his conscience. Sadie Todd’s cousin, who had
been born in England, was shipped out on this first train, and also
a Finnish lumberman whom Peter had known in the I. W. W., and a
Bohemian cigar worker at whose home he had several times eaten, and
finally Michael Dubin, the Jewish boy with whom he had spent fifteen
days in jail, and who had been one of the victims of the black-snake
whippings.
Michael made no end of wailing, because he had a wife and three
babies, and he set up the claim that when the “bulls” had raided his
home they had stolen all his savings, two or three hundred dollars.
Peter, of course, insisted that he could do nothing; Dubin was a Red
and an alien, and he must go. When they were loading them on the
train, there was Dubin’s wife and half a hundred other women,
shrieking and wringing their hands, and trying to break thru the
guards to get near their loved ones. The police had to punch them in
the stomachs with their clubs to hold them back, and in spite of all
these blows, the hysterical Mrs. Dubin succeeded in breaking thru
the guards, and she threw herself under the wheels of the train, and
they were barely able to drag her away in time to save her life.
Scenes like this would, of course, have a bad effect upon the
public, and so Guffey called up the editors of all the newspapers,
and obtained a gentleman’s agreement that none of them would print
any details.