As questions of discipline became more and more pressing old Tom refused to sit as an active judge in the executive council.
Norman protested in vain against his decision to retire for a while.
"I can't do no good settin' thar listenin' to them fools," the miner declared. "They make me sick. Besides, ye all vote me down when I tells ye what to do, and things keep on goin' from bad to worse. Jest let me git out and move around among the boys a little. I think I can do some good. You folks is all too chicken-hearted to run this Brotherhood1. Love and fellowship is all right, but ye've got ter mix a little law and common sense before ye can straighten the kinks out of this here community."
Norman gave his consent reluctantly, and was amazed at the end of a week to observe a remarkable3 improvement in the spirit of the colony. Loafers disappeared, stealing all but ceased, drinking and fighting were on the decrease.
One by one old Tom had taken the loafers with [193]him on a long walk up the beach. He was usually gone about an hour and always came back laughing and chatting with his friend in the best of humour. Invariably the loafer went to work.
In the same way he took a walk with each one of a crowd of wild, unmannerly boys, whose rudeness at the table and whose horse-play about the building had become unendurable. The effects of these walks seemed magical. Always the pair returned in a fine humour and the most marked revolution was immediately noted5 in the conduct of the offender6.
Norman asked the old man again and again for the secret of his power.
He replied in the most casual way:
"Just had a plain heart-to-heart talk with 'em and told 'em what had to be—that's all."
The good work had continued for a week with uninterrupted success, when a bomb was suddenly exploded in the executive council by the appearance of an irate7 mother leading an insolent8 fourteen-year-old cub9, who walked rather stiffly.
Amid a silence that was painful, the mother stripped the boy to the waist, thrust him before Norman and Barbara, and said:
"Now, tell them what you've just told me."
The boy glanced cautiously around to see if [194]his enemy were near and poured forth10 a tale the like of which had never been heard before.
"Old Tom asked me to take a walk with him. He got me away off in a lonely place behind the big rocks on that little island up the beach and pulled up a plank11 drawbridge so I couldn't get back till he wanted to let me. He stripped me like this, tied me to a whipping-post and nearly beat the life out of me. He said he'd been appointed by the council to settle with me in private so nobody would know anything about it."
"Said that he had been appointed by the council to whip you?" Norman asked, in amazement12.
"That's what he said, sir," the boy went on. "He gave me forty-nine lashes13 with a cowhide and then set down and talked to me a half hour."
"And what did he say?" Norman inquired, forcing back a smile by a desperate effort.
"He told me that he tried to get out of the work, but the council had forced it on him. Said there oughtn't to be no hard feelings, that it was a dirty, tiresome14 job, and he didn't have no pleasure in it, but it had to be done for the salvation15 of the people. He said it wasn't wise to talk about such things among the Brotherhood. I told him I'd tell my ma the minute I got home. He said that would be foolish, that none of the others had [195]said a word, that they had all taken their medicine like little men."
"He told you he had whipped all the others who had taken that walk with him?" Norman gasped16.
"That's what he said, sir," the boy insisted, "and I guess he had, for they'd pawed a hole in the sand 'round that whipping-post big enough to bury a horse in."
The boy paused and his mother shook him angrily.
"Tell what else he said to you!"
The cub glanced hastily toward the door and whispered:
"Said if I opened my mouth about what had happened he'd skin me alive."
The council sent the mother and son away with the assurance of immediate4 action.
The court adjourned17 and Norman started with Barbara at once to find Tom. Faithful to his new calling he had strolled up the beach with a man who once had been his partner as a prospector18 and miner. Joe Weatherby had been drinking heavily the week before and Tom had keenly felt the disgrace his old partner had brought on the Brotherhood by his rudeness in the dining-room.
Joe had thrown a plate of soup in the face of [196]a boy who was making facetious20 remarks about his capacity for strong drink. When rebuked21 by his neighbours he had accentuated22 his displeasure by overturning the table and smashing every dish on it. He ended the affair by roundly cursing the Brotherhood for its rules and regulations interfering23 with his personal liberty, threw his pack on his back, and struck the trail for the mountains to prospect19 for gold.
He had just returned, after a week's absence, and Tom seized the opportunity to invite Joe to take a walk with him.
Knowing the character of the two men, Norman felt quite sure this walk could not possibly have the usual happy ending that attended so many of these performances.
He quickened his pace.
"Hurry, or we may have a funeral for our next function," he cried, with a laugh.
A quarter of a mile up the beach the sound of loud angry words suddenly struck their ears from behind a pile of huge boulders24.
"Quick, we're just in time!" Barbara cried, "they've begun to quarrel."
They cautiously approached the boulders and climbed to the top of the larger one overlooking the scene Tom had evidently chosen for his debate with Joe.
[197]"Hadn't you better part them now?" Barbara asked with some anxiety.
"No, I'll stop them in time. I want to get acquainted with Tom's methods of persuasion25 first."
Tom's voice was rising in accents of wrath26. "Joe, I'm a man o' peace—I'm a member o' the Brotherhood and you're my brother, but I'll tell ye right now we've got to have law and order in this community——"
"And I say, Tom Mooney, there hain't no law exceptin' what's inside a man."
"Yes, but how kin2 ye git any law inside a man ef he's always chuck full er licker?"
"I don't drink to 'mount to nothin'," Joe protested. "Just a drop now an' then ter keep me in good health."
"Wall, ef you try any more capers27 in that dinin'-room, your health's goin' ter break clean down—yer hear me?"
Joe eyed Tom a moment and said with sharp emphasis:
"I reckon I can take care o' myself, partner, without you settin' up nights to worry about me."
"That's just the trouble, Joe, ye can't. You jined the Brotherhood, but yer faith's gettin' weak. I'm afeard you're onregenerate, conceived in sin [198]an' brought forth in iniquity28, an' ye ain't had no change er heart nohow."
"Look here, what are ye drivin' at?" Joe asked, beginning to back away cautiously.
"I just want ter strengthen yer faith, partner," Tom protested kindly29 as he advanced good-naturedly and laid his hand on Joe's arm.
Joe shook it off and turned to go. With a sudden spring Tom was on him. A brief, fierce struggle ensued marked by low, savage30 growls31 like two bull-dogs clinched32 and searching for each other's throats.
"Stop them! Stop them! They'll kill one another," pleaded Barbara.
"No. It'll do them good. Wait," he replied, watching them breathlessly.
"Here! Here, you old fool," growled33 Joe. "Do you call this the Brotherhood of Man?"
"Yes, my son, and specially34 the Fatherhood er God. The Lord chastens them he loveth!"
With a sudden twist the writhing35 figures fell in the sand, Tom on top pinning Joe down.
Joe fought with fierce strength to rise but it was no use.
Tom clutched his throat and choked him steadily36 into submission37.
"I'm er man o' peace, Joe," he repeated.
"Yes, you are!" the bottom one growled.
[199]"But when I mingles38 with the unregenerate, my son, I trusts in God an' keeps my powder dry!"
"Let me up, you old fool!" Joe growled.
"Not yet, my son!" was the firm answer.
"You'll get my dander up in a minute and some body's goin' ter git hurt," warned the prostrate39 figure.
"Please make them quit," Barbara whispered tremblingly.
"Nonsense. They're enjoying themselves," Norman softly laughed.
"What are you tryin' ter do anyhow?" whined40 Joe.
"I'm callin' a lost sinner to repentance," was the prompt answer.
"Lemme up, I tell ye," Joe yelled, struggling with desperation.
Tom choked him again into silence and seated himself comfortably across Joe's stomach.
"Now, Joseph, my boy. I want you ter say over the catechism of the Brotherhood of Man. Hit'll freshen yer mind an' be good fer yer soul——"
Another grim struggle interrupted the teacher.
"Say it after me: I believe in the fatherhood er God——"
Joe squirmed.
"Say it!"
[200]Still no sound. Tom firmly gripped his throat and Joe gurgled:
"Fatherhood er God!"
"And brotherhood o' man!"
"Brotherhood er man!"
"Yer believe it now?" Tom fiercely asked.
Joe feebly assented41.
Tom gripped his throat.
"Say it strong!"
"Yes—I believe it!" Joe confessed.
Again the under man struggled desperately42 and the man on top fiercely choked him into a quieter frame of mind.
"Now again: No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom er God!"
Joe repeated, "No drunkard—shall—what?"
"Inherit—the—kingdom—er God—by golly you've forgot yer Bible too!"
"Inherit—the—kingdom er—God!"
"Who shall not inherit the kingdom of God?"
"No drunkard!" Joe answered.
"Let that soak into yer lost soul!" Tom growled, pausing a moment.
"Now once more! Bear—ye—one—another's burdens!"
Joe hesitated and the man on top bumped the words out of him one at a time:
"Bear—ye—one—another's—burdens!"
[201]"An' ye're goin' ter help me bear mine?" the teacher asked.
"Ain't I a-doin' it now?" grumbled43 the man below.
"Well, once more then: Private property is theft!"
"That's a lie an' you know it," Joe sneered44.
"The big chief says so and it goes—say it!"
"Private property is theft," Joe repeated.
"Well, then, once more: Love—one—another!"
"Love one another," came the feeble echo.
"Do ye love me?" Tom fiercely inquired.
Joe struggled.
"Say it!" commanded the teacher.
"I love ye," he groaned45.
Norman suddenly appeared on the scene followed by Barbara and the two miners leaped to their feet.
"Tom, old boy," the young leader cried, "you mean well, but we are told by the preacher that the kingdom of God cometh not of observation—it must be from within."
"Just goin' over his Sunday-school lesson with him, Chief."
Joe made a hostile movement, and Norman stepped between them.
"Come! You two big kids—enough of this now, shake hands and make up!"
[202]The men both hung back stubbornly.
Norman turned to Tom.
"Were you not partners and friends before you joined the Brotherhood?"
"Yes," the old miner replied grudgingly46. "We bin47 tergether twelve years an' we worked an' played tergether, starved an' froze tergether, lived tergether, an' slept under the same blanket—he's the only partner I ever had—an' he's my best friend"—Tom paused and choked—"but I don't like 'im!"
"Shake hands and make up!" Barbara laughed.
They hung back a moment longer until Barbara's smile became resistless.
Joe extended his hand, exclaiming:
"Shake, you old coyote!"
Norman gave Joe a serious talk—got a pledge from him to quit drink and stand by him in his efforts to bring order out of the confusion and chaos48 in which the colony was floundering.
"You think I can do anything to help you?" Joe asked incredulously.
"Of course you can. You and Tom are two men I've known all my life. I know where to find you if I get into trouble."
"Is there goin' ter be any trouble?" Tom broke in, eagerly.
"Not yet, but it's coming. When it does we'll [203]fight it out and win. I've set my life on the issue of this experiment."
Joe extended him his hand. "I'm sorry I got drunk. I won't do it again—we'll stand by ye!"
"Through thick an' thin," Tom added.
"And hereafter, Tom," Norman said with a smile, "I'd like to be consulted before you hold any more sessions of your court up the beach."
Tom started.
"You've heard about it?"
"Yes."
"By gum, I knowed I oughter licked that kid again!" the old miner observed, regretfully.
Norman, said gravely: "Tom, we are getting into deep water. I've begun to have some doubts about our safety. A leader must lead. And I'm going to do it. Can I depend on you to execute my orders and mine alone?"
"Every day in the year," was the firm reply.
"The same here," Joe echoed.
Barbara had drawn49 apart from the group of men and stood watching them with keen, suspicious interest as the two miners started homeward with restored good humour.
"What did you mean by saying that you were afraid of coming trouble?" Barbara eagerly asked of Norman. "What have you heard? What do you suspect?"
[204]"Nothing," he answered, thoughtfully. "But I've had the blues50 for a week. It's been growing on me that we are not getting on except into situations more and more impossible. There's a screw loose somewhere in our system. There's going to be a wreck51 unless we find and repair it."
"I have felt this, too, and I think I know the cause."
"What?"
"Liberty which has degenerated52 into licence. We lack authority and the power to enforce it."
"And this is the one thing we cursed in the old system—the law, power, authority."
"No," Barbara quickly objected. "We did not rebel against law or the exercise of authority. We rebelled against its unjust use."
"And what depresses me is that I am convinced that we must use the power of law with more stern, direct, and personal pressure than ever known under the system of capitalism53, or we must fail."
"Is not such pressure desirable?"
"It depends on who applies the pressure—but it seems inevitable—and it depresses me."
Barbara broke into a joyous54 laugh.
"Away with gloomy forebodings! It's only a day's fog. It will lift. The sun is shining behind it now."
Her laughter was contagious55. Norman smiled [205]in quick sympathy, and a response of hope and courage was just forming itself on his lips when he looked toward the house and saw an excited crowd packed in the doorway56.
"What on earth is the matter?" Barbara gasped.
"Some accident has happened," he replied, quickly. "Come, we must hurry!"
Catherine's lithe57 figure darted58 down the steps and met them on the lawn.
"What is it?" Norman cried.
"A murder!"
"A murder?" Barbara repeated, incredulously.
"Yes—wilful, deliberate, cruel, horrible!" Catherine went on excitedly.
"Not old Tom and Joe?" Norman broke in.
"No—Blanche——"
"Oh, God, I knew it," Barbara gasped. "Go on."
"Blanche kept on playing fast and loose with the two boys who fought over her the other night. George Mann found his rival in her room just now, waylaid59 him in the hall, and when he came out sprang on him like a fiend, stabbed him through the heart and cut his throat. The brothers of the dead boy swear they will kill the murderer on sight, and they've locked him in your room, Norman, for safety. The men are excited to frenzy60. Nobody likes the boy who did [206]the crime. The rougher ones swear they are going to hang him. They tried to break in your door twice, but Herman knocked the ringleaders down and with Tom and Joe beat the crowd back. Something must be done at once to prevent another outbreak."
Norman hurried to the scene and joined Wolf in his defence of the prisoner. Tom formed a guard of ten men heavily armed and marched the prisoner to the top of the house, placed him in the small room in one of the central towers, and stationed one man inside and five on the stairway leading into the tower.
The executive council met immediately and voted unanimously to erect61 a prison, establish a penal62 colony on the small island at the north of Ventura, and restore the whipping-post for minor63 offenders64.
The announcement of this momentous65 act was made to the general assembly without request for debate or an expression of opinion. It was received in silence.
The Bard66 could not protest. He was still confined to his room from the effects of a recent argument with his wife.
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1
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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irate
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| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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adjourned
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prospector
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| n.探矿者 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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accentuated
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| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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interfering
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| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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capers
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| n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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33
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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mingles
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| 混合，混入( mingle的第三人称单数 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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43
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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44
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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46
grudgingly
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47
bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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48
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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50
blues
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| n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐 | |
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51
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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52
degenerated
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
capitalism
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| n.资本主义 | |
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54
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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55
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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56
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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57
lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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58
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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waylaid
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| v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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61
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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62
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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63
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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64
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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65
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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