"You met Norman?"
"Yes."
"I shall be glad to see him when he comes."
Elena threw her arms impulsively1 around his neck.
"Now you're a darling! Now you're big and strong and good and great again—and I love you."
The Colonel stroked her hair slowly, and asked with a smile:
"What time is he coming?"
"He's not coming." Elena laughed.
"Not coming?" the colonel repeated blankly.
"No. You're going to see him."
"Indeed!"
"You see, Guardie, he is a chip off the old block."
"It begins to look like he's the whole block," the Colonel remarked, dryly.
"Can you blame him after the way you acted?"
[94]"I can't say I do, much. I like a boy of spirit——"
"And individuality—that's your own pet idea Guardie."
The Colonel was silent a moment.
"Yes. I like his grit2. Where will I find him?"
"At his desk at work in the newspaper office."
"I'll call him up and make an appointment."
The Colonel seized the telephone, called the newspaper office, and asked for Norman. He waited for several minutes before any one reached the 'phone. He scarcely recognized the short, sharp business accent of Norman's voice:
"Well, well, what is it?"
The Colonel cleared his throat.
"Here! Here! Get a move on you—what's the matter—I'm in a hurry!"
"This is your father, Norman——"
"Get off the wire or quit your kiddin'—what do you want?"
His father laughed.
"I beg your pardon, Governor, honestly I didn't recognize your voice until you laughed. I'm awfully3 glad to hear it again. What can I do for you?"
"Well, I must say I like your impudence4. What can you do for me? I want to see you right away. Shall I call at your office?"
[95]A pause ensued, followed by audible smiles at both ends of the wire.
"Of course not, sir. It seems a long time since I left home but I've not forgotten the way. I'll come over as soon as I can leave my desk."
Two hours later he entered the library with a boyish laugh and grasped his father's hand.
The Colonel pressed it with deep tenderness.
"You must forgive me, boy. I wasn't fair to you the other day."
Norman tried to laugh, and stammered6 awkwardly:
"Well, when I hear a man of your age and experience say a thing like that, Governor, I begin to fear I'm not quite as big as I thought I was."
"Then we're both in the right mind now, to begin all over again, are we not?"
"It's with you, sir," was the quick reply.
"Suppose I can convince you that you have entered on a mistaken mission—that your programme is foolish, impossible, and dangerous?"
"Do it, and I'll join you in trying to put an end to Socialism."
"Before I begin, let me ask you a very personal question."
"As many as you like, Governor," was the frank response.
[96]"Are you mixed up in any way personally with the young woman who spoke7 here that day?"
"We're comrades in the cause of humanity—that's all."
"You're sure that it is not her personal influence over you that has made you a Socialist8?"
"Only in so far as she has made me think and feel."
"You have not made love to her?"
"Certainly not. I'm engaged to Elena."
"Then it ought to be easy for us to understand each other. Come down out of the clouds of theory now, and tell me exactly how you are going to save humanity, and let's see if we can't work together for the same end. A great purpose like yours ought not to separate father and son—you can't defend such platitudes9 as this, for example, which one of your orators10 got off last night—listen!"
The Colonel took the morning paper from the table and read:
"Remember in this supreme11 hour that capitalism12 has you and your loved ones by the throats, is stealing your substance, draining your veins13, and reducing you inch by inch to the potter's field. Every sweating den5 cries out to you as from the depths of hell to gird up your loins and march forth14 in one solid phalanx to strike [97]the blow that shall sound the knell15 of capitalistic despotism, and set the star of hope in the skies of the despairing and dying thousands of your class who are at the mercy of the vampires16 of soulless wealth. How long shall capitalism be allowed to work its devastation17, spread its blighting18 curse, destroy manhood, debauch19 womanhood, and grind the flesh and blood and bone of childhood into food for Mammon?"
The Colonel paused.
"Such appeals to passion can only end in riot, bloodshed, and prison bars. You don't write such rot as that yourself, and yet the men you are following preach it."
"I'm not following just now, Governor—I'm trying to direct this tremendous impulse, this enthusiasm for humanity, called Socialism, into a practical experiment that will demonstrate the truths of their faith, and from this white city of a glorified20 human life send out our missionaries21 to conquer the world. Give me ten thousand earnest men and women on the island of Ventura, isolated22 from contact with the corruption23 of the outside, and I'll show you a miracle more wonderful than if they had risen from the dead."
"And what are the foundations on which you propose to build this heaven on earth?"
"Squarely on these principles: From every man [98]according to his ability; to every man according to his needs; and to every child born the right to laugh and play and grow to a strong manhood and womanhood. We are not civilized24 so long as there is one child sobbing25 to be freed from the tomb of the modern workshop, so long as there is one man willing to work and not able to find it, so long as there is one soul striving upward who is crushed to earth, so long as one man lives in idleness and luxury while his neighbour starves, so long as there's one spot of this earth on which a man lives by tearing the bread from the lips of another."
"Hasn't your imagination been caught by beautiful phrases, my boy?" asked the father. "In your new State of Ventura you will give to each man according to his needs?"
"Yes."
"And who will decide how much each one needs—the man who feels the need or the state?"
"The state, in the last resort."
"Exactly. And who will determine how large the service required of each man? Who will decide the question of ability?"
"The state, of course."
"Are you not cutting out a pretty big job for the state, remembering that the state is nothing [99]more or less than a lot of ordinary second-rate politicians named Tom, Dick, and Harry26, who individually or collectively haven't as much sense as you or I?"
"In the new world it will be different."
"Then you are going to import a new breed of men and women?"
"No, we will simply give the God in man a chance to be."
"But how about the beast that's in man—the elemental instinct to fight and kill—to take the woman he desires by the force of his hands and muscle?"
"When man is free and strong and happy he can have no motive27 to kill or play the beast."
"That remains28 to be seen, my boy! Your assertion does not change the nature of man. Another problem in your scheme I can't solve is wages."
"We will abolish wage slavery."
"Yes, yes, I know; but man must work—all men must work in your new state?"
"Certainly."
"And the man who refuses to work?"
"Will be made to work according to his ability."
"Just so. We live under the wage system now—the system of free contract by which labourer [100]and employer agree. Under your system contract would be abolished, and men would do what they are told to do—a system of command instead of contract—is it not so?"
"I should say just the opposite. Men are forced to work now at tasks they loathe29 and for pay that is insufficient30. Under our state they would be free to choose the work for which they are fitted."
"And suppose they all choose one job?"
"The state would assign their work in the last resort."
"There you are, once more, bowing down to the same Tom, Dick, and Harry. And you cannot see that Socialism would impose on man the most colossal31 system of slavery, the most merciless because the most impersonal32, the world ever saw?"
"No, I cannot. Give me a chance on one spot of earth free from the corruption of your present system, and I'll show you that man is a child of God, that deep in every human soul is planted the sense of brotherhood33, justice, and human fellowship."
"And you will abolish private property?"
"Except what each man earns or makes for himself."
The Colonel laughed aloud.
[101]"Can he earn a wife, or make one for himself?"
"No; nor own one as a slave."
"You can never abolish private property, my boy, so long as any man has the right to say, 'This woman is mine.' The home is the basis of modern civilization. If you destroy it the home will not survive. If the home survives it will kill Socialism. The two things can't mix."
Norman laughed.
"And you think capitalism is building ideal homes with its drudgery34 that kills woman—its poverty that starves the man and drives the girl to a life of shame?"
"Our conditions are not ideal, my son. But they are growing better with each generation. Because all homes are not ideal, you propose to abolish the institution. There are ten million homes in America. Perhaps a million of them are unhappy. Can we mend matters by destroying them all?"
"Socialism proposes to build the highest ideal of home ever seen on earth, founded on love—and only love."
The Colonel smiled sadly.
"I see I'm too late. You've got it bad. Socialism is a contagious35 disease, imported from the old world—a brain disease, the result of centuries of wrong and oppression. Its reasons [102]for existence in this country are purely36 imaginary. If it were possible for you to build the new State of Ventura of which you dream——"
"Dream! We are going to do it, I tell you, Governor! We have a hundred thousand dollars already pledged. We hold to-morrow night a great mass-meeting at which five thousand Socialists37 will be present. Four hundred thousand dollars more will buy the island and give a capital of three hundred thousand with which to begin."
"Then I can't persuade you to give up this madness?" the Colonel asked, tenderly.
"It's my life," Norman answered firmly.
The father slipped his arm around the tall, strong figure.
"All right! Remember now, from this moment on, one thing is settled for good and all. My boy's my boy, right or wrong, good or bad, wise or foolish——"
The Colonel's voice broke, and his grip tightened38.
Norman looked out of the window, blinked his eyes, and said in low tones:
"I understand, sir!"
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1
impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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9
platitudes
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| n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子 | |
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orators
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| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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capitalism
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| n.资本主义 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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knell
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| n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟 | |
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vampires
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| n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门 | |
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17
devastation
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| n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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18
blighting
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| 使凋萎( blight的现在分词 )； 使颓丧； 损害； 妨害 | |
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debauch
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| v.使堕落，放纵 | |
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glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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loathe
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| v.厌恶，嫌恶 | |
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insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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37
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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