“But you must hear Miss Holland!” Zonia pleaded.
John Vassar shook his head.
“Not tonight, dear—”
“I’d set my heart on introducing you. Ah, Uncy dear—please! She’s the most eloquent4 orator5 in America—”
“That’s why I hate her and all her tribe—”
A rosy6 cheek pressed close to his.
“Not all her tribe—”
“My Zonia—no—but I could wring7 her neck for leading a chick of your years into her fool movement—”
“But she didn’t lead me, Uncy dear, I just saw it all in a flash while she was speaking—my duty to my sex and the world—”
“Duty to your sex! What do you know about duty to your sex?—you infant barely out of short dresses! Your hair ought to be still in braids. And it was all my fault. I let you out of the nursery too soon—”
He paused and looked at her wistfully.
“And I promised your father’s spirit the day you came to us here that I’d guard you as my own—you and little Marya. I haven’t done my duty. I’ve been too busy with big things to realize that I was neglecting the biggest thing in the world. You’ve slipped away from me, dear—and I’m heartsick over it. Maybe I’ll be in time for Marya—you’re lost at eighteen—”
“Marya’s joined our Club too—”
“A babe of twelve?”
“She’s going to be Miss Holland’s page in the suffrage9 Pageant—”
John Vassar groaned10, laid both hands on the girl’s shoulders and rose abruptly11.
“Now, Zonia, it’s got to stop here and now. I’m not going to allow this brazen12 Amazon—”
His niece broke into a fit of laughter.
“Brazen Amazon?”
“That’s what I said. This brazen Amazon is my enemy—”
The girl lifted her finger laughingly.
“But you’re not afraid of her? John Vassar, a descendant of old Yan Vasa in whose veins13 ran the royal blood of Poland—ten years in Congress from this big East Side district—the idol14 of the people—chairman of the National House Committee on Military Affairs”—she paused and her voice dropped to the tensest pride—“my candidate for governor of New York—you positively15 won’t go to the meeting in union Square tonight?” she added quietly.
“Positively—”
“Then, Uncy dear, I’ll have to deliver the message—”
She drew a crumpled16 note from her bosom17 and handed it to him without a word.
He broke the seal and read with set lips:
Hon. John Vassar, M. C.,
16 Stuyvesant Square,
New York.
Dear Sir: Our committee in charge of the canvass18 of your congressional district in the campaign for woman’s suffrage have tried in vain to obtain an expression of your views. We are making a house to house canvass of every voter in New York. You have thus far side-stepped us.
You are a man of too much power in the State and nation to overlook in such a fight. The Congressional Directory informs us that you are barely thirty-six years old. You have already served ten years in Washington with distinction and have won your spurs as a national leader. A great future awaits you unless you incur19 the united opposition20 of the coming woman voter.
I warn you that we are going to sweep the Empire State. Your majority is large and has increased at each election. It is not large enough if we mark you for defeat. I have sincerely hoped that we might win you for our cause.
I ask for a declaration of your position. You must be for us or against us. There can be no longer a middle course.
I should deeply regret the necessity of your defeat if you force the issue. Your niece has quite won my heart and her passionate21 enthusiasm for her distinguished22 uncle has led me to delay this important message until the introduction of your bill for militarism has forced it.
Sincerely,
Virginia Holland,
Pres’t National Campaign Committee.
John Vassar read the letter a second time, touched the tips of his mustache thoughtfully and fixed23 his eyes on Zonia.
“And my little sweetheart will join the enemy in this campaign!”
A tear trembled on the dark lashes24.
“Ah, Uncy darling, how could you think such a thing!”
“You bring this challenge—”
“I only want to vote—to—elect—you—governor—”
The voice broke in a sob25, as he bent26 and kissed the smooth young brow.
She clung to him tenderly.
“Uncy dear, just for my sake, because I love you so—because you’re my hero—won’t you do something for me—Just because I ask it?”
“Maybe—”
“Go to union Square with me then—”
He shook his head emphatically.
“Against my principles, dear—”
“It’s not against your principles to make me happy?”
He took her cheeks between his hands.
“Seeing that I’ve raised you from a chick—I don’t think there ought to be much doubt about how I stand on the woman question as far as it affects two little specimens27 of the tribe—do you?”
“All right then,” she cried gayly, “you love Marya and me. We are women. You can’t refuse us a little old thing like a ballot28 if we want it—can you?”
She paused and kissed him again.
“So now, Uncy, you’re going to hear Miss Holland speak just to make me happy—aren’t you?”
He smiled and surrendered.
“To make you happy—yes—”
He couldn’t say more. The arms were too tight about his neck.
He drew them gently down.
“This is what I dread29 in politics, dear—when the women go in to win. We’ve graft30 enough now. When the boys run up against this sort of thing—God help us!—and God save the country if you should happen to make a mistake in what you ask for! Well, you’ve won this fight—come on, let’s get up front and hear the argument. I hate to stand on the edge and wonder what the hen is saying when she crows—”
Zonia handed his hat and cane31 and, radiant with smiles, opened the door.
“I suppose we’ll let Marya stay with Grandpa?” he asked.
“They’ve been gone half an hour!”
“Oh—”
“I had no trouble with Grandpa at all. He agreed to sit on the platform with me—”
“Indeed!”
“But I don’t think he really understood what the meeting was about—”
“Just to please his grandchick, however, the old traitor32 agreed to preside at my funeral—eh?”
“He won’t if you say not—shall I tell him to keep off? Marya will be awfully33 disappointed if we make them get down—”
“No—let him stay. Maybe he can placate34 the enemy. They can hold him as hostage for my good behavior.”
The hand on his arm pressed tighter.
“It’s so sweet of you, Uncy!”
“At what hour does this paragon35 of all the virtues36, male and female, harangue37 the mob?”
“You mean Miss Holland?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, they’ll all be there tonight. Miss Holland is the principal speaker for the Federated Women’s Clubs of America—she’s the president, you know—”
“No—I didn’t know—”
“She won’t speak until 9:30. We can hear the others first. There’ll be some big guns among the men too—the Honorable Plato Barker and the Reverend A. Cuthbert Pike, the president of the American Peace union—and Waldron, the multi-millionaire, he presides at Miss Holland’s stand—”
“Indeed—”
“Yes—they say he’s in love with her but she doesn’t care a rap for him or any other man—”
John Vassar had ceased to hear Zonia’s chatter38. The name of Charles Waldron had started a train of ugly thought. Of all the leaders of opinion in America this man was his pet aversion. He loathed39 his personality. He hated his newspaper with a fury which words could not express. It stood squarely for every tendency of degenerate40 materialism41 in our life, a worship of money and power first and last against all sentiment and all the hopes and aspirations42 of the masses. He posed as the Pecksniffian leader of Reform and the reform he advocated always meant the lash8 for the man who toils43. His hatreds44 were implacable, too, and he used the power of his money with unscrupulous brutality45. He had lately extended the chain of banks which he owned in New York until they covered the leading cities of every state in the union. His newspaper, the Evening Courier, was waging an unceasing campaign for the establishment of an American aristocracy of wealth and culture.
Vassar was cudgeling his brain over the mystery of this man’s sudden enthusiasm for woman suffrage and the Cause of Universal Peace. It was a sinister46 sign of the times. He rarely advocated a losing cause. That this cold-blooded materialist47 could believe in the dream of human emancipation48 through the influence of women was preposterous49.
Zonia might be right, of course, in saying that he had become infatuated with the young Amazon leader of the Federated Women’s Clubs. And yet that would hardly account for his presence as the presiding genius of a grand rally for suffrage. There were too many factions50 represented in such a demonstration51 for his personal interest in one woman to explain his activity in bringing those people together. His paper had, in fact, led the appeal to co-ordinate Demagogery, Labor52, Peace Propaganda, Socialism, and Feminism in one monster mass meeting.
The longer Vassar puzzled over it, the more impenetrable became Waldron’s motive53. His leadership in the movement was uncanny. What did it mean?
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1
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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2
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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3
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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4
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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6
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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7
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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8
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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10
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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11
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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12
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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13
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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14
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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15
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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16
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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17
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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18
canvass
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| v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论 | |
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19
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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20
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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21
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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22
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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23
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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24
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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25
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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26
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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27
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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28
ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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29
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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30
graft
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| n.移植，嫁接，艰苦工作，贪污；v.移植，嫁接 | |
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31
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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32
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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33
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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34
placate
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| v.抚慰，平息(愤怒) | |
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35
paragon
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| n.模范，典型 | |
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36
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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37
harangue
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| n.慷慨冗长的训话，言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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38
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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39
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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40
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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41
materialism
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| n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上 | |
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42
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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43
toils
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| 网 | |
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44
hatreds
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| n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事 | |
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45
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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46
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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47
materialist
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| n. 唯物主义者 | |
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48
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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49
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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50
factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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51
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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52
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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53
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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