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The Monster Part 2 · The Monster and Other Stories

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Section two of The Monster an Other Stories by Stephen Crane. This LibriVox recording
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is in the public domain. Read by Ben Tucker, The Monster, Part
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two thirteen. You know very well that you and your family live usually own
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less than three dollars a week, and now that doctor Trescott pays you five
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dollars a week for Johnson's board, you live like millionaires. You haven't done
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a stroke o work since Johnson began to board with you. Everybody knows that,
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and so what are you kickin about? The judge sat in his chair
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on the porch, fondling his cane and gazing down at old Williams, who
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stood under the lilac bushes. Yes, I know, Judge, said the
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Negro, wagging his head in a puzzled manner. Tain't like as if I
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didn't appreciate what the doctor's done. But but well, you see, judge,
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he added, gaining a new impetus. It's it's hoigh work. It's
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old man never do work. So high Lord, no, don't talk such
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nonsense. Alec, spoke the judge, sharply. You've never really worked in
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your life anyhow, enough to support a family of sparrows. And no when
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you are in a more prosperous condition than ever before. You'll come around talking
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like an old fool. The negro began to scratch his head. You see,
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Judge, he said, at last, my old woman, she can't
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see. You've no lady collins. No how hang lady callers, said the
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judge irracibly. If you have flour in the barrel and meat in the pot,
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your wife can get along without receiving lady callers, can't you. But
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they won't come anyhow, Jage replied Williams, with an air of still deeper
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stupefaction. None of my wife's friends, nor none of my friends will come
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near my residence. Well let them stay home if they are such silly people.
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The old negro seemed to be seeking away to elude this argument, but
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evidently finding none, he was about to shuffle meekly off. He halted.
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However, Judge said he my old woman's near drive extracted. Your old woman
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is an idiot, responded the judge. Williams came very close and peered solemnly
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through a branch of lilac. Judge, he whispered, the chillins, what
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about them, dropping his voice to funereal depths. Williams said, Hey,
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they can't eat. Can't eat? Scoffed the judge loudly, can't eat.
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You must think I'm as big an old fool as you are. Can't eat
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the little rascals? What's to prevent them from eating? An answer, william
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said, with mournful emphasis. Henry moved with a kind of satisfaction at his
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tragic use of the name. He remained staring at the judge for a sign
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of its effect. The judge made a gesture of irritation. Come now,
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you old scoundrel. Don't beat around the bush anymore. What are you up
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to? What do you want? Speak out like a man and don't give
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me any more of this tiresome rigamaroll. I ain't ever beaten round about nothing,
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Judge replied Williams indignantly. No, suh, I say what gotta say?
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Right outded I do well said Then Judge began the negro, taking off
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his hat and switching his knee with it. Lord knows I'd do jest bout
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as much for five dollars a week as ain't cold man. But but but
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this year business is awful, Judge, I reck ain't been no sleepin in
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my house since doctor done fetch him. Well, what are you proposed to
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do about it? Williams lifted his eyes from the ground and gazed off through
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the trees. Reckon, I got good appetite, an sleep, jest like
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a dog. But he he's done broke me all up. Tain't no good
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nohow I wake up in the night I hear him maybe er whimperin an or
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whimperin an an. I sneak, an, I sneak until I try the
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door to see if he locked in, and keep me here puzzlin and or
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quakin' all night long. Don't know how to do in the winter. Can't
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let him out where the chillin is. He'll dune freeze where he is now.
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Williams spoke these sentences as if he were talking to himself. After a
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silence of deep reflection, he continued, Folks go around sayin he ain't Henry
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Johnson at all. They say he's a devil. What cried the judge,
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Yes, repeated Williams, in tones of injury, as if his veracity had
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been challenged. Yes, sir, I'm a tellin it to you straight,
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judge. Plenty cold people, folks up my way say it is a devil.
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Well, you don't think so yourself, do you? No? Tain't
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no devil is Henry Johnson. Well, m, what's the matter with you?
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You don't care what a lot of foolish people say. Go on ten
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in your business and pay no attention to such idle nonsense. Tis nonsense,
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judge, but he looks like her devil? What do you care what he
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looks like? Demanded the judge. My rent is two dollars and a half
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for months, said William slowly. It might just as well be ten thousand
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dollars a month, responded the judge. You never pay it anyhow. Then
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nothing, continued Williams, in his reflective tone. If he was all right
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in his head, I could stand it. But Judge, he's crazier an
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the loon. Then when he looks like a devil, an don scares all
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my friends away, An my chillin's can't eat, an my old woman jest
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raisin cane, and all the time an my rent two dollars and a half
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a month, and him not rightin his heide, it seems like five dollars
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a week. The judge's stick came down sharply, and suddenly upon the floor
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of the porch there, he said, I thought that was what you were
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driving at. Williams began swinging his head from side to side in the strange
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racial mannerism. Now, O on a minute, Judge, he said,
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defensively, tain't like as if I didn't appreciate what the doctor done. Ain't
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that doctor Trescott is a kind man. An tain't like as if I didn't
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appreciate what he done. But but but what you're getting painful, Alec.
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Now tell me this. Did you ever have five dollars a week regularly before
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in your life? Williams at once drew himself up with great dignity, But
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in the pause after that question he drooped gradually to another attitude. In the
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end he answered heroically, No, Judge, ain't and tain't like as if
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I were saying five dollars wasn't a lot of money for a man like me.
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But, Judge, what a man ought to get up for his kind
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o work? Is her salary? Yes here, judge, he repeated,
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with great impressive gesture, for this kind of work a man ought to get
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or salary? He laid a terrible emphasis upon the final word. The judge
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laughed, ah, no, doctor Trescott's mind concerning this affair, Alec.
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And if you're dissatisfied with your boarder, he's quite ready to move him to
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some other place. So if you care to leave word with me that you
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are tired of the arrangement and wish it changed, he will come and take
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Johnson away. William scratched his head again in deep perplexity. Five dollars is
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a big price for board, but tain't no big price for the board er,
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crazy man, he said. Finally, what do you think you are
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to get? Asked the judge, well, answered Alec in the manner of
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one deep and a balancing of the scales. He looked like a devil and
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done skeers everybody. An My children can't eat, an, I can't sleep,
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and he ain't right an a head an you told me all those things.
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After scratching his wool and beating his knee with his hat and gazing off
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through the trees and down at the ground, William said, as he kicked
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nervously at the gravel, Well, Judge, I think it is worth he
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stuttered, worth what six dollars? Answered Williams In a desperate outburst. The
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judge lay back in his great arm chair and went through all the motions of
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a man laughing heartily, But he made no sound save a slight cough.
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Williams had been watching him with apprehension. Well, said the judge, Do
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you call six dollars a salary? No, sir, promptly responded Williams,
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tain't a salary, No deed, tain't a salary. He looked with anger
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upon the man who questioned his intelligence in this way. Well, supposing your
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children can't eat ah, and supposing he looks like a devil, and supposing
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all those things continue, would you be satisfied with six dollars a week?
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Recollections seemed to throng in Williams's mind at these interrogations, and he answered dubiously,
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because a man who ain't right in his head and looks like a devil,
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but six dollars. After these two attempts at a sentence, william suddenly
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appeared as an orator, with great shiny palm waving in the air. I
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tell you, judge, six dollars is six dollars. But if I get
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six dollars for boding Henry Johnson, I ownsie, I owns it. I
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don't doubt that you earn six dollars every week's work you do, said the
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judge. Well, if I bowed Henry Johnson for six dollars a week,
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ownsy I owns it, cried Williams wildly. Fourteen, Reef Snyder's assistant had
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gone to his supper, and the owner of the shop was trying to placate
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four men who wished to be shaved at once. Reef Snyder was very garrulous,
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a fact which made him rather remarkable among barbers, who as a class
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are austerily speechless, having been taught silence by the hammering reiteration of a tradition.
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It is the customers who talk in the ordinary event, As Reef Snyder
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waved his razor down the cheek of a man in the chair, he turned
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often to cool the impatience of the others with pleasant talk, which they did
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not particularly heed. Oh he should have let him die, said Bainbridge,
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a railway engineer, finally replying to one of the barber's orations, Shut up,
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Reef, and go on with your business. Instead, Reef Snyder paused,
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shaving entirely, and turned to front the speaker. Let him die,
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he demanded half a stot. How can you let him undie by letting him
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die? It chump, said the engineer. The others laughed a little,
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and Reef Snyder turned at once to his work, sullenly as a man overwhelmed
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by the derision of numbers. How vastat, he grumbled later, How can
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you let him man die when he vastans so much for you, when he
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vas done so much for you, repeated Bainbridge. You'd better shave some people
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how vast Maybe this ain't a barber shop. A man hitherto silent now said,
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if I had been the doctor, I would have done the same thing.
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Of course, said Reef Snyder, any man, vote, do it
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Animan Davus, Not like you, you old flint hatted fish. He sought
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the final words with painful care, and he delivered the collection triumphantly at Bainbridge.
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The engineer laughed. The man in the chair now lifted himself higher,
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while Reef Snyder began an elaborate ceremony of anointing and combing his hair. Now
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free to join comfortably in the talk, the man said, they say he's
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the most terrible thing in the world. Young Johnny Bernard that drives a grin
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she wagon saw him up at alec William Shanty, and he says he couldn't
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eat anything for two days, gee, said Reef Snyder. Well what makes
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him so terrible? Asked another. Because he hasn't got any face, replied
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the barber. And the engineer in duet hasn't got any face, repeated the
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man. How can he do without any face? He has no face in
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the front of his head, in the place where his face ought to grow.
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Bainbridge sang these lines pathetically as he arose and hung his hat on a
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hook. The man in the chair was about to abdicate in his favor.
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Get a gate on you now, he said to Reef Snyder, I go
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out at seven thirty one. As the barber foamed the lather on the cheeks
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of the engineer, he seemed to be thinking heavily. Then suddenly he burst
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out, how would you like to be with no face? He cried to
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the assemblage, Oh, if I had a face like yours. Bainbridge's voice
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came from a sea of lather. You're kickin, because if losing faces became
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popular, you'd have to go out of I don't think it will become so
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much popular, said Reef Snyder. Now if it's got to be taken off
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in the way his was taken off, said another man. I'd rather keep
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mine, if you don't mind, I guess so, cried the barber,
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just sink the shaving of Bainbridge had arrived at a time of comparative liberty for
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him. I wonder what the doctor says to himself, he observed. He
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may be sorry he made him live. It was the only thing he could
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do, replied a man. The other seemed to agree with him. Supposing
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you were in his place, said one, and Johnson had saved your kid,
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what would you do? Certainly, of course you would do anything on
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earth for him. You take all the trouble in the world for him,
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and spend your last dollar on him. Well, then I wonder how its
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toll be without any face, said Reef Snyder, musingly. The man who
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had previously spoken, feeling that he had expressed himself well, repeated the whole
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thing. You would do anything on earth for him, You take all the
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trouble in the world for him, and spend your last dollar on him.
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Well then, no, but luke, said Reef Snyder, supposing you don't
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got a face? Fifteen. As soon as Williams was hidden from the view
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of the old judge, he began to gesture and talk to himself. An
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elation had evidently penetrated to his vitals and caused him to dilate, as if
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he had been filled with gas. He snapped his fingers in the air and
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whistled fragments of triumphal music. At times in his progress towards his shanty,
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he indulged in a shuffling movement that was really a dance. It was to
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be learned from the intermediate monologue that he had emerged from his trials laureled and
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proud. He was the unconquerable Alexander Williams. Nothing could exceed the bold self
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reliance of his manner, his keenly stride, his heroic song, the derisive
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flourish of his hands, all betokened a man who had successfully defied the world.
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On his way, he saw zek Patterson coming to town. They held
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each other at a distance of fifty yards. How do brath Patterson? How
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do Broth Williams? They were both deacons? Is you all folks well?
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Braf Pattison Midland, Midland, how's your folks, Brother Williams. Neither of
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them had slowed his pace in the smallest degree. They had simply begun this
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talk when a considerable space separated them, continued it as they passed, and
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added polite questions as they drifted steadily apart. William's mind seemed to be a
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balloon. He had been so inflated that he had not noticed that Patterson had
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definitely shied into the dry ditch as they came to the point of ordinary contact.
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Afterwards, as he went a lonely way, he burst out again in
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song and pantomimic celebration of his estate. His feet moved in prancing steps.
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When he came in sight of his cabin, the fields were bathed in a
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blue dusk, and the light in the window was pale, cavorting and gesticulating.
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He gazed joyfully for some moment upon this light. Then suddenly another idea
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seemed to attack his mind, and he stopped with an air of being suddenly
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dampened. In the end, he approached his home as if it were the
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fortress of an enemy. Some dogs disputed his advance for a loud moment,
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and then discovering their lord, slunk away, embarrassed. His reproaches were addressed
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to them in muffled tones. Arriving at the door, he pushed it open
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with the timidity of a new thief. He thrust his head cautiously sideways,
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and his eyes met the eyes of his wife, who sat by the table,
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the lamp light defining a half of her face. Sh, he said
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uselessly. His glance traveled swiftly to the inner door, which shielded the one
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bed chamber. The picaninnies strewn upon the floor of the living room were softly
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snoring. After a hearty meal. They had promptly dispersed themselves about the place
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and gone to sleep. Sh said Williams again to his motionless and silent wife.
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He had allowed only his head to appear. His wife, with one
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hand upon the edge of the table and the other at her knee, was
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regarding him with wide eyes and parted lips, as if he were a specter.
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She looked to be one who was living in terror, and even the
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familiar face at the door had thrilled her because it had come suddenly. Williams
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broke the tense silence. Is he all right? He whispered, waving his
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eyes toward the inner door, following his glance timorously. His wife nodded and
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in a low tone answered, I reckon he done gone to sleep. Williams
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then slunk noiselessly across his threshold. He lifted a chair and with infinite care,
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placed it so that it faced the dreaded inner door. His wife moved
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slightly so as to also squarely face it. A silence came upon them,
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in which they seemed to be waiting for a calamity. Pealing and deadly,
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Williams finally coughed behind his hand. His wife started and looked upon him in
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alarm. Paiza ki don gwin keep quiet. Not he breathed. They continually
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pointed their speech and their looks at the inner door, paying it the homage
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due to a corpse or a phantom. Another long stillness followed his sentence,
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their eyes shone white and wide. A wagon rattled down the distant road from
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their chairs. They looked at the window, and the effect of the light
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in the cabin was a presentation of an intensely black and solemn night. The
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old woman adopted the attitude used always in church at funerals. At times,
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she seemed to be upon the point of breaking out in prayer. He might
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it quiet to night, whispered Williams, Was he good to day? For
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answer, his wife raised her eyes to the ceiling and supplication of job.
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Williams moved restlessly. Finally he tiptoed to the door. He knelt slowly and
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without a sound, and placed his ear near the keyhole. Hearing a noise
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behind him, he turned quickly. His wife was staring at him aghast.
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She stood in front of the stove, and her arms were spread out in
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the natural movement to protect all her sleeping ducklings. But Williams arose without having
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touched the door. Ah reke a heerce sleep, he said, fingering his
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wool. He debated with himself for some time. During this interval, his
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wife remained a great fat statue of a mother shielding her children. It was
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plain that his mind was swept suddenly by a wave of temerity. With a
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sounding step, he moved towards the door. His fingers were almost upon the
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knob when he swiftly ducked and dodged away, clapping his hands to the back
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of his head. It was as if the portal had threatened him. There
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was a little tumult near the stove, where Missus William's desperate retreat had involved
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her feet with the prostrate children. After the panic, Williams bore traces of
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a feeling of shame. He returned to the charge. He firmly grasped the
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knob with his left hand, and with the other hand turned the key in
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the lock. He pushed the door, and as it swung portentously open,
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he sprang nimbly to one side, like the fearful slave liberating the lion.
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Near the stove, a group had formed, the terror stricken mother, with
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her arms stretched and the aroused children clinging frenziedly to her skirts. The light
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streamed after the swinging door and disclose to room, six feet one way and
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six feet the other way. It was small enough to enable the radiance to
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lay it plain. Williams peered warily around the corner made by the door post.
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Suddenly he advanced, retired, and advanced again with a howl. His
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palsied family had expected him to spring backward, and at his howl they heaped
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themselves wondrously. But william simply stood in the little room, emitting his howls
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before an open window. He's gone, he's gone, He's gone. His
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eye in his hand had speedily proved the fact he had even thrown open a
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little cupboard. Presently he came flying out. He grabbed his hat and hurled
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the outer door back upon its hinges. Then he tumbled headlong into the night.
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He was yelling, Doctor Trescott, Doctor Trescott. He ran wildly through
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the fields and galloped in the direction of town. He continued to call to
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Truscott, as if the latter was within easy hearing. It was as if
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Trescott was poised in the contemplated sky over the running negro and could heed this
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reaching voice. Doctor Prescott in the cabin, Missus Williams, supported by relays
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from the battalion of children, stood quaking watch until the truth of daylight came
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as a reinforcement and made the arrogant, strutting, swashbuckler children and a mother
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who proclaimed her illimitable courage. Sixteen Teresa Page was giving a party. It
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was the outcome of a long series of arguments addressed to her mother, which
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had been overheard in part by her father. He had at last said five
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words, oh, let her have it. The mother had then gladly capitulated.
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Teresa had written nineteen invitations and distributed them at recess to her schoolmates.
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Later, her mother had composed five large cakes, and still later a vast
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amount of lemonade. So the nine little girls and ten little boys sat quite
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primly in the dining room while Teresa and her mother plied them with cake and
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lemonade, and also with ice cream. The spremness sat now quite strangely upon
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them. It was owing to the presence of missus Page. Previously, in
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the parlor alone with their games, they had overturned a chair. The boys
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had let more or less of their hoodlum spirit shine forth. But when circumstances
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could be possibly magnified to warrant it, the girls made the boys victims of
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an insufferable pride, snubbing them mercilessly. So in the dining room they resembled
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a class at Sunday School, if it were not for the subterranean smiles,
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gestures, rebuffs, and poutings which stamped the affair as a children's party.
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Two little girls of this subdued gathering were planted in a settle with their backs
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to the broad window. They were beaming lovingly upon each other with an effect
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of scorning the boys. Hearing a noise behind her at the window, one
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little girl turned to face it. Instantly, she screamed and sprang away,
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covering her face with her hands. What was it? What was it?
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Cried every one in a roar. Some slight movement of the eyes of the
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weeping and shuddering child informed the company that she had been frightened by an appearance
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at the window. At once they all faced the imperturbable window, and for
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a moment there was a silence, when astute lad made an immediate sensus of
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the other lads. The prank of slipping out and looming spectrally at a window
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was too venerable. But the little boys were all present and astonished. As
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they recovered their minds, they uttered warlike cries, and through a side door
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sallied rapidly out against the terror. They vied with each other in daring.
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None wished, particularly to encounter a dragon in the darkness of the garden.
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But there could be no faltering. When the fair ones in the dining room
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were present, calling to each other in stern voices, they went dragooning over
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the lawn, attacking the shadows with ferocity, but still with the caution of
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reasonable beings. They found, however, nothing new to the peace of the
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night. Of course, there was a lad who told a great lie.
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He described a grim figure, bending low and slinking off along the fence.
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He gave a number of details, rendering his lie more splendid by a repetition
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of certain forms which he recalled from romances. For instance, he insisted that
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he had heard the creature, amit a hollow laugh? Inside the house,
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the little girl who had raised the alarm was still shuddering and weeping with the
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utmost difficulty. Was she brought to a state approximating calmness by missus Page.
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Then she wanted to go home. At once Page entered the house. At
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this time he had exiled himself until he concluded that this children's party was finished
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and gone. He was obliged to escort the little girl home because she screamed
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again when they opened the door and she saw the night. She was not
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coherent even to her mother. Was it a man? She didn't know?
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It was simply a thing, a dreadful thing. Seventeen in watermelon alley.
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The Farraguts were spending their evening as usual, on the little rickety porch.
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Sometimes they howled gossip to other people on other wickedy porches. The thin wail
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of a baby arose from a near house. A man had a terrific altercation
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with his wife, to which the alley paid no attention at all. There
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appeared suddenly before the Farraguts a monster, making a low and sweeping bow.
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There was an instant's pause, and then occur something that resembled the effect of
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an upheaval of the earth's surface. The old woman hurled herself backward with a
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dreadful cry. Young sim had been perched gracefully on a railing. At sight
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of the monster, he simply fell over it to the ground. He made
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no sound, his eyes stuck out, his nerveless hands tried to grapple the
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rail to prevent a tumble, and then he vanished. Bella, blubbering and
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with her hair suddenly and mysteriously disheveled, was crawling on her hands and knees
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fearsomely up the steps standing before this wreck of a family gathering. The monster
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continued to bow. It even raised a deprecatory claw. Don't make no botheration
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about me, missus Faggut, it said, politely, no deed, I
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just dropped into axe. If you will this evening, miss Fergut, don't
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make no boderation, no deed. I'll go and ask you to go or
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to dance with me, Miss Faggut, I ask you if I can have
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the magnificent gratitude to your company. On that case, Miss Faggot. The
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girl cast a miserable glance behind her. She was still crawling away on the
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ground beside the porch. Young sim raised a strange bleat which expressed both his
25:10
fright and his lack of wind. Presently, the monster, with a fashionable
25:14
amble, ascended the steps after the girl. She groveled in a corner of
25:18
the room. As the creature took a chair, it seated itself very elegantly
25:22
on the edge. It held an old cap in both hands. Don't make
25:27
no botheration, miss Faggut. Don't make no botherations, no deed. I
25:33
just drop into asked you if you won't do me to proud of accepting a
25:36
humble invitation to your dance, Miss faggot. She shielded her eyes with her
25:41
arms and tried to crawl past it, but the genial monster blocked the way.
25:45
I just drop in to ask you about your dance, Miss Fergut,
25:49
I ax you if I can have a magnificent gratitude of you company on that
25:53
occasion, Miss Faggot, in a last outbreak of despair, the girl,
25:59
shuddering and way, threw herself face downward on the floor, while the monster
26:03
sat on the edge of the chair, gabbling courteous invitations and holding the old
26:07
hat daintily to his stomach. At the back of the house, Missus Farragut,
26:11
who was of enormous weight, and who for eight years had done little
26:14
more than sit in an arm chair and describe her various ailments, had with
26:18
speed and agility, scaled a high board fence eighteen. The black mass in
26:25
the middle of Trescott's property was hardly allowed to cool. Before the builders were
26:29
at work on another house. It had sprung upward at a fabulous rate.
26:33
It was like a magical composition born of the ashes. The doctor's office was
26:37
the first part to be completed, and he had already moved in his new
26:40
books and instruments and medicines. Trescott sat before his desk when the Chief of
26:45
police arrived. Well, we found him, said the latter, did you,
26:48
cried the doctor? Where trembling around the streets daylight this morning. I'll
26:53
be blamed if I can figure out where he passed the night. Where is
26:56
he now? Oh, we jogged him. I don't know what else to
27:00
do with him. That's what I want you to tell me. Of course
27:02
we can't keep him. No charge could be made. You know, I'll
27:06
come down and get him. The official grinned retrospectively, must say he's a
27:11
fine career. While he was out, first thing he did was to break
27:14
up a children's party of pages. Then he went to Watermelon Alley. Oo.
27:18
He stampeded the whole outfit, men, women, children, running pell
27:22
mell and yelling. They say, one old woman broke her leg or something
27:26
shinning over a fence, and he went right out on the main street,
27:29
and an Irish girl through a fit and there was a sort of a riot.
27:32
He began to run, and a big crowd chased him, firing rocks,
27:36
but he gave them to slip somehow down there by the foundry and in
27:38
the railroad yard. We looked for him all night but couldn't find him.
27:42
Was he hurt any Did anyone hit him with a stone? I guess there
27:47
isn't much of him to hurt anymore, is there? Guess he's been hurt
27:51
up to the limit. No, they never touched him. Of course,
27:53
nobody really wanted to hit him. But you know how crowd gets, it's
27:56
like it's like, yes, I know. For a moment, the chief
28:03
of the police looked reflectively at the floor. Then he spoke hesitatingly. You
28:07
know, Jack Winter's little girl was the one that he scared at the party.
28:11
She's pretty sick, they say, is she? Why didn't they call
28:17
me? I always attend to Winter family. No didn't, they asked the
28:22
chief slowly. Well, you know Winter is well. Winter has gone clean
28:27
crazy over this business. He wanted he wanted to have you arrested. Have
28:33
me arrested? The idiot? Wasn't the name of wonder? Could he have
28:37
me arrested for? Of course he is a fool. I told him to
28:41
keep his trap shut, But then you know how he'll go all over town
28:45
yapp and about the thing. I thought i'd better tip you. Oh he
28:49
is of no consequence, But then of course I am obliged to you.
28:52
Sam, that's all right. Well, you'll be down tonight and take him
28:56
out. I you'll get a good welcome from the jailer. He don't like
29:00
his job for a cent. He says, you can have your man whenever
29:03
you want him. He's got no use for him. But what is this
29:07
business of Winters about having me arrested? Oh, it's a lot of chin
29:11
about your havin no right to allow this this this man to be at large.
29:18
But I told him to tend to his own business. Only I thought
29:21
i'd better let you know, and might as well say right now, doctor
29:23
that there is a good deal to talk about this thing. If I were
29:26
you, I'd come to the jail pretty late at not because there's likely to
29:30
be a crowd around the door, and I'd bring a m mask or some
29:34
kind of a veil. Anyhow, nineteen Martha Goodwin was single and well along
29:41
into the thin years. She lived with her married sister in Willhomville. She
29:45
performed nearly all the housework in exchange for the privilege of existence. Every One
29:49
tacitly recognized her labor as a form of penance for the early end of her
29:53
betrothed, who had died of smallpox, which he had not caught from her.
29:59
But despite this strenuous and unceasing workaday of her life, she was a
30:03
woman of great mind. She had adamantine opinions upon the situation in Armenia,
30:07
the condition of women in China, the flirtation between Missus Minister of Niagara Avenue
30:11
and Young Griscom, the conflict in the Bible class of the Baptist Sunday School,
30:17
the duty of the United States towards the Cuban insurgents, and many other
30:21
colossal matters. Her fullest experience of violence was gained on an occasion when she
30:26
had seen a hound club. But in the plan which she had made for
30:29
the reform of the world, she advocated drastic measures. For instance, she
30:33
contended that all the Turks should be pushed into the sea and drowned, and
30:37
that Missus Minster and Young Griscom should be hanged side by side on twin gallows.
30:41
In fact, this woman of peace, who had seen only peace,
30:45
argued constantly for a creed of illimitable ferocity. She was invulnerable on these questions
30:51
because eventually she overrode all opponents with a sniff. The sniff was an active
30:56
force. It was to her antagonists like a bang over the head, and
31:00
none was known to recover from this expression of exalted contempt. It left them
31:06
winless and conquered. They never again came forward as candidates for a suppression,
31:11
and Martha walked her kitchen with a stern brow, an invincible being like Napoleon.
31:17
Nevertheless, her acquaintances, from the pain of their defeats, had been
31:19
long in secret revolt. It was in no wise a conspiracy, because they
31:23
did not care to state their open rebellion. But nevertheless, it was understood
31:27
that any woman who could not coincide with one of Martha's contentions was entitled to
31:33
the support of others in the small circle. It amounted to an arrangement by
31:37
which all were required to disbelieve any theory for which Martha fought. This,
31:42
however, did not prevent them from speaking of her mind with profound respect.
31:48
Two people bore the brunt of her ability. Her sister Kate was visibly afraid
31:52
of her, while carried Dungeon sailed across from her kitchen to sit respectfully at
31:56
Martha's feet and learn the business of the world. To be sure, afterwards,
32:00
under another son, she always laughed at Martha and pretended to deride her
32:04
ideas, but in the presence of the sovereign, she always remained silent or
32:07
admiring. Kate the sister was of no consequence at all. Her principal delusion
32:13
was that she did all the work in the upstairs rooms of the house,
32:15
while Martha did it downstairs. The truth was seen only by the husband,
32:20
who treated Martha with a kindness that was half banter, half deference. Martha
32:24
herself had no suspicion that she was the only pillar of the domestic edifice.
32:29
The situation was without definitions. Martha made definitions, but she devoted them entirely
32:34
to the Armenians, and Griscom and the Chinese and other subjects. Her dreams,
32:39
which in early days had been of love of meadows and the shade of
32:43
trees of the face of a man, were now involved otherwise, and they
32:46
were companioned in the kitchen curiously Cuba, the hot water kettle, Armenia,
32:51
the washing of the dishes, and the whole thing being jumbled in regard to
32:55
social misdemeanors. She who was simply the mausoleum of a dead passion, was
33:00
probably the most savage critic in town. This unknown woman, hidden in a
33:05
kitchen as in a well, was sure to have a considerable effect of the
33:07
one kind or the other in the life of the town. Every time it
33:12
moved a yard, she had personally contributed an inch. She could hammer so
33:15
stoutly upon the door of a proposition that it would break from its hinges and
33:21
fall upon her, But at any rate it moved. She was an engine,
33:24
and the fact that she did not know that she was an engine contributed
33:28
largely to the effect. One reason that she was formidable was that she did
33:31
not even imagine that she was formidable. She remained a weak, innocent,
33:36
and pig headed creature who alone would defy the universe if she thought the universe
33:40
merited this preceding. One day, carry Dungeon came across from her kitchen with
33:45
speed. She had a great deal of grist. Oh, she cried,
33:51
Henry Johnson got away from where they was keeping him. It came to town
33:53
last night and scared everybody almost to day. It Martha was shining a dishpan,
33:58
polishing madly. No reasonable person could see cause for this operation, because
34:02
the pan already glistened like silver. Well, she ejaculated, she imparted to
34:07
the world a deep meaning, this my prophecy has come to pass. It
34:13
was a habit. The overplus of information was choking carry before she could go
34:17
on, she was obliged to struggle for a moment. And oh, little
34:22
Sadie Winter is awful sick. And they say Jake Winter was around this morning
34:25
trying to get doctor Trescott arrested, and poor old missus Farragut sprained her ankle
34:30
and trying to climb a fence. And there's a crowd round the jail all
34:32
the time. They put Henry in jail because they didn't know what else to
34:35
do with him. I guess they say he is perfectly terrible. Martha finally
34:39
released the dishpan and confronted the headlong speaker. Well, she said, again,
34:45
poisoning a great brown rag. Kate had heard the excited newcomer and drifted
34:49
down from the novel in her room. She was a shivery little woman.
34:52
Her shoulder blades seemed to be two pains of ice, for she was constantly
34:55
shrugging and shrugging. Serves him right if she to lose all his patience,
35:01
she said suddenly in bloodthirsty tones. She snipped her words out as if her
35:06
lips were scissors. Well, he's likely to, shouted Carrie Dungeon. Don't
35:10
a lot of people say that they won't have him any more? If you're
35:14
sick and nervous, Doctor Trescott would scare the life out of you, wouldn't
35:16
he, He would me, I'd keep thinking. Martha, stalking to and
35:21
fro, sometimes surveyed the two other women with a contemplative frown. Twenty after
35:28
the return from Connecticut, Little Jimmy was at first much afraid of the monster
35:31
who lived in the room over the carriage house. He could not identify it
35:36
in any way. Gradually, however, his spear dwindled. Under the influence
35:39
of a weird fascination. He sidled in to closer and closer relations with it.
35:45
One time, the monster was seated on a box behind the stable,
35:49
basking in the rays of the afternoon sun. A heavy crape veil was swathed
35:52
about its head. Little Jimmy and many companions came around the corner of the
35:57
stable. They were all in what was popularly known as the baby class,
36:00
and consequently escaped from school a half hour before the other children. They halted
36:06
abruptly. At sight of the figure on the box, Jimmy waved his hand
36:08
with the air of a proprietor. There he is, he said, ooohoo,
36:15
murmured all the little boys. Oooh. They shrank back and grouped according
36:20
to courage or experience, as at the sound of the monster slowly turned its
36:23
head. Jimmy had remained in the van alone. Don't be afraid. I
36:28
won't let him hurt you, he said, delighted. Huh, they replied
36:31
contemptuously, we ain't afraid. Jimmy seemed to reap all the joys of the
36:37
owner and exhibitor of one of the world's marvels, while his audience remained at
36:39
a distance, awed and entranced, fearful and envious. One of them addressed
36:45
Jimmy gloomily. Bet you doesn't walk right up to him. He was an
36:51
older boy than Jimmy, in habitually oppressed him to a small degree. This
36:53
new social elevation of the smaller lad probably seemed revolutionary to him. Huh,
36:59
said Jimmy, with deep scorn. Dasn't I darsen I, hey dasin I.
37:05
The group was immensely excited. It turned its eyes upon the boy that
37:07
Jimmy addressed. No you deasn't, he said, stolidly, Facing a moral
37:13
defeat, he could see that Jimmy was resolved. No you dozen't, he
37:17
repeated doggedly. Huh, cried Jimmy. You just watch, you just watch.
37:23
Amid a silence, he turned and marched towards the monster. But possibly
37:28
the palpable weariness of his companions had an effect upon him that weighed more than
37:31
his previous experience, for suddenly, when near to the monster, he halted
37:36
dubiously, but his playmates immediately uttered a dressive shout, and it seemed to
37:39
force him forward. He went to the monster and laid his hand delicately on
37:44
its shoulder. Hello, Henry, he said, in a voice that trembled
37:49
a trifle. The monster was crooning a weird line of Negro melody that was
37:52
scarcely more than a thread of sound, and it paid no heed to the
37:55
boy. Jimmy strutted back to his companions. They acclaimed him and hooted his
38:00
opponent. Amid this clamor, the larger boy, with difficulty preserved a dignified
38:05
attitude. I dassit, dasin', I said Jimmy, to him. Now
38:09
you're so smart, let's see you do it. This challenge brought forth renewed
38:14
taunts from the others. The larger boy puffed out his cheeks. Well I
38:17
afraid, he explained, sullenly. He had made a mistake in diplomacy,
38:22
and now his small enemies were tumbling his prestige all about his ears. They
38:27
crowed like roosters, and bleated like lambs, and made many other noises which
38:30
were supposed to bury him in ridicule and dishonor. Well, I ain't afraid,
38:36
he continued to explain through the den Jimmy, the hero of the mob,
38:39
was pitiless. You ain't afraid, hey, he sneered. If you
38:44
ain't afraid, go do it, then well I would if I wanted to.
38:47
The other retorted. His eyes wore an expression of profound misery, but
38:52
he preserved steadily other portions of a pot valiant air. He suddenly faced one
38:55
of his persecutors. If you're so smart, why don't you go do it?
39:00
This persecutor sank promptly through the group to the rear. The incident gave
39:04
the badgered one a breathing spell, and for a moment even turned the derision
39:07
in another direction. He took advantage of his interval. I'll do it if
39:12
anybody else will, he announced, swaggering to and fro. Candidates for the
39:17
adventure did not come forward to defend themselves from this counter charge. The other
39:22
boys again set up their crowing and bleeding. For a while, they would
39:24
hear nothing from him each time he opened his lips. Their chorus of noises
39:29
made oratory impossible, But at last he was able to repeat that he would
39:32
volunteer to dare as much in the affair as any other boy. Well you
39:37
go first, they shouted, But Jimmy intervened to once more lead the populace
39:42
against the large boy. You're mighty brave, ain't you, he said to
39:45
him. You dared me to do it, and I did, didn't I?
39:49
Now, who's afraid? The others cheered this view loudly, and they
39:52
all instantly resumed the baiting of the large boy. He shamefacedly scratched his left
39:57
shin with his right foot. Well, i'd afraid, He cast an eye
40:00
at the monster. Well, I'm afraid. With a glare of hatred at
40:06
his squalling tormentors, he finally announced a grim intention well, I'll do it
40:09
then, since you're so fresh now, the mob subsided, as with a
40:15
formidable countenance, he turned towards the impassive figure on the box. The advance
40:19
was also a regular progression, from high daring to craven hesitation. At last,
40:23
when some yards from the monster, the lad came to a full halt,
40:27
as if he had encountered a stone wall. The observant little boys in
40:30
the distance promptly hooted. Stung again by these cries, the lad sneaked two
40:35
yards forward. He was crouched like a young cat, ready for a backward
40:38
spring. The crowd at the rear, beginning to respect this display, uttered
40:43
some encouraging cries. Suddenly, the lad gathered himself together, made a white
40:46
and desperate rush forward, touched the monster's shoulder with a far outstretched finger,
40:51
and sped away while his laughter rang out wild, trill and exultant. The
40:55
crowd of boys reverenced him at once and began to throng into his camp and
41:00
look at him and be his admirers. Jimmy was discomfited a moment, but
41:04
he and the larger boy, without agreement or word of any kind, seemed
41:07
to recognize a truce, and they swiftly combined and began to parade before the
41:10
others. Why it's just as easy as nothing, puffed the larger boy,
41:15
ain't it, jim course, blew Jimmy, Why it's as easy? They
41:21
were people of another class. If they had been decorated for courage on twelve
41:23
battlefields, they could not have made the other boys more ashamed of the situation.
41:29
Meanwhile, they condescended to explain the emotions of the excursion, expressing unqualified
41:34
contempt for any one who could hang back. Why it ain't nothing. He
41:38
won't do nothing to you, they told the others in tones of exasperation.
41:43
One of the very smallest boys in the party showed signs of a wistful desire
41:46
to distinguish himself, and they turned their attention to him, pushing at his
41:50
shoulders, while he swung away from them and hesitated dreamily. He was eventually
41:54
induced to make furtive expedition, but it was only for a few yards.
41:58
Then he paused motionless, gazing with open mouth. The vociferous entreaties of Jimmy
42:02
and the large boy had no power over him. Missus Hannigan had come out
42:07
on her back porch with a pail of water. From this coin, she
42:09
had view of the secluded portion of the Trescott grounds that was behind the stable.
42:14
She perceived the group of boys and the monster on the box. She
42:16
shaded her eyes with her hand to benefit her vision. She screeched, then
42:21
as if she was being murdered. Ery, Herry, you come home this
42:24
minute, Her son querulously demanded, Ah, what for? You come home
42:29
this minute? You hear? The other boys seemed to think this visitation upon
42:34
one of their number required them to preserve for a time the hang dog air
42:37
of a collection of culprits, and they remained in guilty silence until the little
42:40
Hannigan, wrathfully protesting, was pushed through the door of his home. Missus
42:45
Hannigan cast a piercing glance over the group, stared with a bitter face at
42:50
the Trescott House as if this new and handsome edifice was insulting her, and
42:53
then followed her son. There was wavering in the party. An inroad by
42:59
one Mother always caused them to carefully sweep the horizon to see if there were
43:01
more coming. This is my yard, said Jimmy proudly. We don't have
43:07
to go home. The monster on the box had turned its black crape countenance
43:10
towards the sky and was waving its arms in time to a religious chant.
43:16
Look at him, now, cried a little boy. They turned and were
43:20
transfixed by the solemnity and mystery of the indefinable gestures. The wail of the
43:24
melody was mournful and slow. They drew back. It seemed to spellbind them
43:29
with the power of a funeral. They were so absorbed that they did not
43:32
hear the doctor's buggy drive up to the stable. Trescott got out, tied
43:37
his horse, and approached the group. Jimmy saw him first, and at
43:40
his look of dismay, the others wheeled. What's all this, Jimmy asked
43:45
Trescott in surprise. The lad advanced to the front of his companions, halted
43:49
and said nothing. Trescott's face gloomed slightly as he scanned the scene. What
43:53
were you doing, Jimmy, We was playing, answered Jimmy, huskily,
43:59
playing, but just playin. Trescott looked gravely at the other boys and asked
44:04
them to please go home. They proceeded to the street, much in the
44:07
manner of frustrated, and revealed assassins. The crime of trespass on another boy's
44:12
place was still a crime when they had only accepted the other boy's cordial invitation,
44:16
and they were used to being sent out of all manner of gardens upon
44:20
the sudden appearance of a father or a mother. Jimmy had wretchedly watched the
44:23
departure of his companions. It involved the loss of his position as a lad
44:28
who controlled the privileges of his father's grounds. But then he knew that in
44:31
the beginning he had no right to ask so many boys to be his guests.
44:36
Once on the sidewalk, however, they speedily forgot their shame as trespassers,
44:39
and the large boy launched forth in a description of his success in the
44:43
late trial of courage. As they went rapidly up the street, the little
44:46
boy who had made the furtive expedition, cried out confidently from the rear.
44:52
Yes, and I went almost up to him, didn't I? Willie.
44:53
The large boy crushed him in a few words. Humph, he scoffed,
44:58
you only went a little way. I went clear up to him him.
45:00
The pace of the other boys was so manly that the tiny thing had to
45:02
trot and he remained at the rear, getting entangled in their legs, and
45:07
his attempts to reach the front rank and become of some importance, dodging this
45:10
way in that way, and always piping out his little claimed glory twenty one.
45:16
By the way, Grace, said Trescott, looking into the dining room
45:20
from his office door, I wish you would send Jimmy to me before school
45:23
time. When Jimmy came, he advanced so quietly that Trescott did not at
45:28
first note him. Oh, he said, wheeling from a cabinet, here
45:32
we are, young man, Yes, sir. Trescott dropped into his chair
45:37
and tapped the desk with a thoughtful finger. Jimmy, what were you doing
45:40
in the back garden yesterday? You and the other boys too, Henry,
45:45
We weren't doing anything. Pah. Trescott looked sternly into the raised eyes of
45:51
his son. Are you sure you were not annoying him in any way?
45:54
Now? What were you doing? Exactly? What we? Why we now?
46:01
Willie Dawes said, I doesn't go right up to him? And I
46:05
did, and then he did, and then the other boys were a fraid,
46:07
and then you comed. Trescott groaned, deeply. His countenance was so
46:13
cloud and sorrow that the lad, bewildered by the mystery of it, burst
46:15
suddenly forth in dismal lamentations. There there, don't cry, jim said Trescott,
46:22
going round the desk. Only he sat in a great leather reading chair,
46:27
and took the boy on his knee. Only, I want to explain
46:30
to you. After Jimmy had gone to school, and as Truscott was about
46:34
to start on his round of morning calls, a message arrived from doctor Moser.
46:39
It set forth that the latter's sister was dying in the old homestead twenty
46:43
miles away up the valley, and asked Truscott to care for his patience for
46:46
the day. At least. There was also in the envelope a little history
46:50
of each case and of what had already been done. Trescott replied to the
46:52
messenger that he would gladly assent to the arrangement. He noted that the first
46:58
name on Moser's list was Winter, but this did not seem to strike him
47:00
as an important fact. When its turn came, he rang the winter bell.
47:06
Good morning, missus Winter, he said, cheerfully. As the door
47:08
was opened. Doctor Moser has been obliged to leave town to day, and
47:12
he has asked me to come in his stead. How is a little girl
47:15
this morning? Missus Winter had regarded him in stony surprise. At last,
47:19
she said, come in, I'll see my husband. She bolted into the
47:23
house. Trescott entered the hall and turned to the left into the sitting room.
47:28
Presently, Winter shuffled through the door. His eyes flashed towards Prescott.
47:31
He did not betray any desire to advance far into the room. What do
47:35
you want? He said? What do I want? What do I want?
47:39
Repeated Trescott, lifting his head suddenly he had heard an utterly new challenge
47:44
in the night of the Jungle. Yes, that's what I want to know,
47:47
snapped Winter. What do you want? Trescott was silent for a moment.
47:52
He consulted Moser's memoranda. I see that your little girl's case is a
47:57
trifle serious, he remarked. I would advise you to call a physician soon.
48:00
I will leave you a copy of doctor Moses's record to give to any
48:04
one you may call. He paused to transcribe the record on a page of
48:07
his note book. Tearing out the leaf, he extended it to Winter.
48:09
As he moved towards the door, The latter shrunk against the wall. His
48:14
head was hanging as he reached for the paper. This caused him to grasp
48:16
air, and so Trescott simply let the paper flutter to the feet of the
48:20
other man. Good morning, said Trescott from the hall. This placid retreat
48:25
seemed to suddenly arouse Winter to ferocity. It was as if he had then
48:30
recalled all the truths which he had formulated to hurl at Trescott. So he
48:34
followed him into the hall, and down the hall to the door, and
48:36
through the door to the porch, barking in fiery rage from a respectful distance.
48:40
As Trescott imperturbably turned the mare's head down the road, Winter stood on
48:45
the porch, still, yelping. He was like a little dog. Twenty
48:50
two. Have you heard the news? Cried Carrie Dungeon, as she sped
48:54
toward Martha's kitchen. Have you heard the news? Her eyes were shining with
48:59
delight. No, answered Martha's sister, Kate, bending forward eagerly. What
49:04
was it? What was it? Carry appeared triumphantly in the open door.
49:07
Oh, there's been an awful scene in between Doctor Trescott and Jake Winter.
49:12
I never thought that Jake Winter had any pluck at all, But this morning
49:14
he told the doctor just what he thought of him. Well, what did
49:17
he think of him? Asked Martha? Oh, he called him everything.
49:22
Missus Hollworth heard it through her front blinds. It was terrible, she says.
49:25
It's all over town now, everybody knows it. Didn't the doctor answer
49:29
back, No, Missus Holworth, She says, he never said a word.
49:32
He just walked down to his buggy and got in and drove off as
49:36
cool. But Jake gave him jinks by all accounts. But what did he
49:40
say? Cried Kate, shrill and excited. She was evidently at some kind
49:45
of a feast. Oh, he told him that Sadie had never been well
49:47
since that night Henry Johnson frightened her at Teresa's Page's party, that he held
49:52
him responsible, and how dared he cross his threshold? And and and and
49:55
what, said Martha? Did he swear at him? Said Kate, in
50:00
fearsome glee. No, not much. He did swear at him a little,
50:05
but not more than a man does anyhow when he's real mad. Missus
50:07
Halware says, ooh, breathed Kate, and did he call him any names?
50:14
Martha at her work had been for a time in deep thought, She
50:16
now interrupted the others. It don't seem as if Sadie Winter had been sick
50:21
since that time. Henry Johnson got loose. She's been to school almost the
50:23
whole time since then, hadn't she? They combined upon her an immediate indignation
50:30
school school, I should say, not no thing for a moment. School.
50:34
Martha wheeled from the sink. She held an iron spoon, and it
50:36
seemed as if she was going to attack them. Sadie Winter has passed here
50:39
many a morning since then, carryin her school bag? Where was she goin
50:44
to a wedding? The others, long accustomed to a mental tyranny, speedily
50:47
surrendered. Did she stammered? Kate? I never saw her. Carrie Dungeon
50:53
made a weak gesture. If I had been doctor Trescott, exclaimed Martha loud,
51:00
I'd have knocked that miserable Jake Winter's head off. Kate and Carry,
51:04
exchanging glances, made an alliance in the air. I don't see why you
51:07
say that, Martha replied, Carry with considerable boldness, gaining support and sympathy
51:13
from Kate's smile. I don't see how anybody can be blamed for getting angry
51:16
when their little girl gets almost scared to death and gets sick from it,
51:20
and all that. Besides, everybody says, Oh, I don't care what
51:22
everybody says, said Martha. Well, you can't go against the whole town,
51:28
answered Carrie, in sudden, sharp defiance. No, Martha, you
51:31
can't go against the whole town, piped Kate, following her leader rapidly,
51:37
the whole town, cried Martha. I'd like to know what you call the
51:39
whole town. You call these silly people who are scared of Henry Johnson the
51:44
whole town? Why, Martha, said Carrie in a reasoning tone. You
51:49
talk as if you wouldn't be scared of him. No more would, I
51:52
retorted Martha. Oh Martha, how you talk? Said Kate, why the
51:58
idea everybody's afraid of? Carrie was grinning. You've never seen him, have
52:02
you, she asked seductively, No, admitted Martha. Well then how do
52:08
you know that you wouldn't be scared? Martha confronted her. Have you ever
52:14
seen him? No? Well, then how do you know you would be
52:16
scared. The Allied forces broke out in chorus. But Martha, everybody says,
52:22
so, everybody says, so everybody says what everybody that's seen him say.
52:27
They were frightened almost to death.' tisn't only women, but as
52:30
men too. It's awful. Martha wagged her head solemnly. I try not
52:35
to be afraid of him. But supposing you could not help it, said
52:38
Kate. Yes, and look here, cried Carrie. I'll tell you another
52:43
thing. The Hennigans are going to move out of the house next door on
52:46
account of him, demanded Martha. Carrie nodded. Missus Hannigan says so herself.
52:52
Well, of all things, ejaculated Martha goin to move? Eh,
52:57
you don't say so. Were they going to move to down on Orchard Avenue?
53:02
Well, of all things? Nice house? I don't know about that.
53:06
I haven't heard an There's lots of nice houses on Orchard, yes,
53:09
but they're all taken, said Kate. There isn't a vacant house on Orchard
53:14
Avenue. Oh yes there is, said Martha. The old Hempstead house is
53:19
vacant. Oh, of course, said Kate. But then I don't believe
53:22
missus Henigan would like it there. I wonder where they could be goin to
53:24
move to. I'm sure I don't know, sighed Martha. It must be
53:30
to some place we don't know about, well, said Carrie Dungeon, after
53:34
a general reflective silence. It's easy enough to find out anyhow. Who knows
53:39
round here? Asked Kate. Why Missus Smith? And there she is in
53:44
her garden, said Carrie, jumping to her feet as she dashed out over
53:47
the door. Kate and Martha crowded at the window. Carrie's voice rang out
53:52
from the nearest steps. Missus Smith, Missus Smith, do you know where
53:54
the Hennigans are goin to move to? Twenty three the autumn smote. The
54:00
leaves and the trees of Willhamville were panoplied and crimson and yellow. The winds
54:06
grew stronger, and in the melancholy purple of the nights, the home shine
54:08
of a window became a finer thing. The little boys watching the sear and
54:14
sorrowful leaves drifting down from the maples, dreamed of the near time when they
54:17
could heap bushels in the streets and burned them. During the abrupt evenings,
54:22
three men walked down the Niagara Avenue. As they approached Judge Hagenthorpe's house,
54:27
he came down his walk to meet them in the manner of one who has
54:30
been waiting. Are you all ready, judge? One said, already,
54:35
he answered. The four then walked to Trescott's house. He received them in
54:38
his office, where he had been reading. He seemed surprised at this visit
54:43
of four very active and influential citizens, but he had nothing to say of
54:46
it. After they were all seated, Trescott looked expectantly from one face to
54:52
another. There was a little silence. It was broken by John twelve,
54:55
the wholesale grocer, who was worth four hundred thousand and reported to be worth
55:00
over a million. Well, doctor, he said, with a short laugh.
55:05
I suppose we might as well admit at once that we've come to interfere
55:07
in something which is none of our business. Why what is it? Asked
55:12
Truscott, again, looking from one face to another. He seemed to appeal,
55:15
particularly to Judge Hagenthorpe, but the old man had his chin lowered musingly
55:20
to his cane and would not look at him. It's about what nobody talks
55:23
of, much, said twelve. It's about Henry Johnson. Trescott squared himself
55:30
in his chair. Yes. Having delivered himself of the title, twelve seemed
55:35
to become more easy. Yes, he answered blandly. We wanted to talk
55:40
to you about it, Yes, said Trescott. Twelve abruptly advanced on the
55:46
main attack. Now see here, Trescott, we lock you and we have
55:50
come to talk right out about this business. It may be none of our
55:53
affairs and all that. And as for me, I don't mind if you
55:57
tell me so, but I'm not going to keep quiet and see you ruin
56:00
yourself, and that's how we all feel. I am not ruining myself,
56:06
answered Truscott. No, maybe you are not exactly ruining yourself, said twelve
56:12
slowly, but you are doing yourself a great deal of harm. You have
56:16
changed from being the leading doctor in town to about the last one. It
56:21
is mainly because there are always a large number of people who are very thoughtless
56:24
fools, of course, but then that doesn't change the condition. A man
56:29
who had not heretofore spoken said solemnly, it's the women. Well, what
56:35
I want to say is this, resumed twelve. Even if there are a
56:38
lot of fools, in the world. We can't see any reason why you
56:40
should ruin yourself by opposing them. You can't teach them anything, you know.
56:46
I am not trying to teach them anything, Trescott smiled wearily. It's
56:52
a matter of well, and there are good many of us that admire you
56:57
for it, immensely interrupted twelve. But that isn't going to change the minds
57:00
of all those ninnies. It's the women, stated the advocate of this view
57:06
again. Well, what I want to say is this, said twelve.
57:10
We want you to get out of this trouble and struck your old gate again.
57:14
You're simply killing your practice through your infernal pigheadedness. Now, this thing
57:19
is out of the ordinary, but there must be ways to beat the game
57:23
somehow, you see. So we've talked it over about a dozen of us,
57:27
and as I say, you want to tell us to mind our own
57:30
business, why go ahead. But we've talked it over and we've come to
57:32
the conclusion that the only way to do it is to get Johnson a place
57:37
somewhere off up the valley. And Trescott wearily gestured, you don't know,
57:42
my friend. Everybody is so afraid of him. They can't even give him
57:46
good care. Nobody can attend to him as I do myself. But I
57:51
have a little, no good farm up beyond Clarence Mountain that I was going
57:53
to give to Henry cried twelve, aggrieved, and if you and if you
58:00
throw your house burned down or anything. While all the boys were prepared to
58:04
take him right off your hands, and Trescott arose and went to the window.
58:08
He turned his back upon them. They sat waiting in silence. When
58:13
he returned, he kept his face in the shadow. No John twelve,
58:17
He said, it can't be done. There was another stillness. Suddenly a
58:22
man stirred on his chair. Well, then a public institution he began,
58:28
No, said Trescott. Public institutions are all very good, but he is
58:31
not going to one. In the background of the group, old Judge hagen
58:37
Thorpe was thoughtfully smoothing the polished ivory head of his cane. Twenty four.
58:43
Trescott loudly stamped the snow from his feet and shook the flakes from his shoulders.
58:46
When he entered the house, he went at once to the dining room
58:50
and then into the sitting room. Jimmy was there reading painfully in a large
58:53
book concerning giraffes and tigers and crocodiles. Where is your mother, Jimmy asked
58:59
Trescot. I don't know, Pah, answered the boy. I think she
59:02
is upstairs. Trescott went to the foot of the stairs and called, but
59:07
there came no answer. Seeing that the door of the little drawing room was
59:09
open, he entered. The room was bathed in the half light that came
59:14
from the four dull panes of Micah in the front of the great stove.
59:17
As his eyes grew used to the shadows, he saw his wife curled in
59:21
an arm chair. He went to her, Why, Grace, he said,
59:24
didn't you hear me calling you? She made no answer, and as
59:29
he bent over the chair, he heard her trying to smother a sob in
59:31
the cushion. Grace, he cried, you're crying. She raised her face.
59:38
I've got a headache, A dreadful headache. Ned a headache, he
59:43
repeated in surprise and incredulity. He pulled a chair close to hers. Later,
59:49
as he cast his eye over the zone of light shed by the dull
59:52
red paines, he saw that a low table had been drawn close to the
59:54
stove, and that it was burdened with many small cups and plates of uncut
59:59
tea cake. He remembered that the day was Wednesday, and that his wife
1:00:02
received on Wednesdays. Who was here to day, Gracie, he asked from
1:00:08
his shoulder. There came a mumble, missus twelve? Was she? He
1:00:15
said? Why didn't Anna Higginthorpe come over? The mumble from his shoulder continued,
1:00:22
she wasn't well enough. Glancing down at the cups, Trescott mechanically counted
1:00:28
them. There were fifteen of them there there, he said, don't cry,
1:00:35
Grace, don't cry. The wind was whining round the house, and
1:00:38
the snow beat a slant upon the windows. Sometimes the cold and the stove
1:00:43
settled with a crumbling sound, and the four panes of Micah flashed a sudden
1:00:46
new crimson. As he sat holding her head on his shoulder, Trescott found
1:00:52
himself occasionally trying to count the cups. There were fifteen of them. End
1:00:59
of Section two The Monster, Part two