He had dreamed of a home of his own in the dim future—yes—when the work of his career, the work he had planned for his country should have been done. This had been his life, the breath he breathed, his inspiration and religion—to lead an American renaissance3 of patriotism4. America had never had a national spirit. His ambition was to fire the soul of thoughtless millions into a conscious love of country which would insure her glorious destiny.
A woman’s smile had upset this dream. Through the night he had tried in vain to throw off the obsession5. At daylight he had fallen into a sleep of sheer exhaustion6. It was nine o’clock before he was roused by a gentle knock on his door.
Marya’s voice was calling somewhere out of space.
“Uncle John—breakfast is waiting—may I come in?”
“All right—dearie—break right in!” he groaned7.
“And I’ve a letter for you—a special letter—”
The sleeper8 was awake now, alert, eager—
“A special letter?”
“A big black man brought it just now. He’s waiting in the hall—says Miss Holland would like an answer.”
Vassar seized the letter and read with a broad grin. The handwriting was absurdly delicate. The idea that a suffragette could have written it was ridiculous!
My dear Mr. Vassar:
I’m heartily9 ashamed of myself for losing my temper last night. Please call for me at ten o’clock. I wish a little heart-to-heart talk before we go to your Flag Festival. Please answer by the bearer.
Virginia Holland.
Vassar drew Marya into his arms and kissed her rapturously.
“You’re an angel—you’ve brought me a message from the skies. Run now and tell the big black man—Miss Holland’s butler—to thank her for me and say that I’ll be there promptly10 at ten. Run, darling! Run!”
The child refused to stir without another kiss which she repeated on both his cheeks. She stopped at the door and waved another.
“Hurry, Uncle John—please—we’re all starved.”
“Down in five minutes!” he cried.
The weariness of the night’s fitful sleep was gone. The world was suddenly filled with light and music.
“What the devil’s come over me!” he muttered, astonished at the persistent11 grin his mirror reflected. “At this rate I can see my finish—I’ll be the secretary of the Suffragette Campaign Committee before the week’s over—bah!”
Old Peter, the black butler, ushered12 him into the parlor13 with a stately bow.
“Miss Virginia be right down, sah. She say she des finishin’ her breakfus’—yassah!”
Vassar seated himself with a sense of triumph. She must have written that note in bed. He flattered himself someone else had not slept well. He hoped not.
Her greeting was gracious, but strictly14 business-like—he thought a little too business-like to be entirely15 convincing.
She motioned him to resume his seat and drew one for herself close beside. She sat down in a quiet determined16 manner that forbade sentimental17 reflections and began without preliminaries.
“We lost track of our subject last night, Mr. Vassar, in an absurd personal discussion. I’ve asked you to come back this morning to make a determined effort to win you for our cause—”
She paused, leaned forward and smiled persuasively18.
“We need you. Your influence over the foreign-born population in New York would be enormous. I see by this morning’s paper an enthusiastic account of your work among the children. You are leading a renaissance of American patriotism. Good! So am I—a renaissance of the principles of the Declaration of Independence. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal! that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure those rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving19 their just powers from the consent of the governed.’ Come now, I appeal to your sense of justice. What right have you to govern me without my consent? Am I not created your equal?”
Her eloquence20 was all but resistless. The word of surrender was on his lips, when the voice of an honest manhood spoke21 within.
“You’re not convinced. The magnetism22 of a woman’s sex is calling. You’re a poltroon23 to surrender your principles to such a force. In her soul a true woman would despise you for it.”
She saw his hesitation24 and leaned closer, holding him with her luminous25 eyes.
“Come now, in your heart of hearts you know that I am your equal?”
Something in the tones of her voice broke the spell—just a trace of the platform intonation26 and the faintest suggestion of the politician. The voice within again spoke. There was another reason why he should be true to his sense of right. He owed it to this woman who had moved him so profoundly. He must be true to the noblest and best that was in him.
He met her gaze in silence for a moment and spoke with quiet emphasis.
“If I followed my personal inclinations27, Miss Holland, I would agree to anything you ask. You’re too downright, too honest and earnest to wish or value such a shallow victory—am I not right?”
The faintest tinge28 of red colored Virginia’s cheeks.
“Of course,” she answered slowly, “I wish the help of the best that’s in you or nothing—”
“Good! I felt that instinctively29. I could fence and hedge and trim with the ordinary politician. With all respect to your pretensions30, you’re not a politician at all. You’re just a charming, beautiful woman entering a field for which God never endowed you either physically31, temperamentally or morally—”
Virginia frowned and lifted her head with a little gesture of contempt.
“I must be honest. I must play the game squarely with you! I’m sorely tempted32 to cheat. But there’s too much at stake. You ask if you are not my equal? I answer promptly and honestly. I know that you are more—you are my superior. For this reason I would save you from the ballot33. It is not a question of right, it is a question of hard and difficult duty. The ballot is not a right or a privilege. It is a solemn and dangerous duty. The ballot is force—physical force. It is a modern substitute for the bayonet—a device which has been used to prevent much civil strife34. And yet man never votes away his right to a revolution. The Declaration of Independence embodies35 this fact—‘Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it—’ There you have the principle in full. Back of every ballot is a bayonet and the red blood of the man who wields36 it—”
“But we will substitute reason for force!”
“How, dear lady? Government is force—never was anything else—never can be until man is redeemed37 and this world is peopled by angels. Man is in the zoological period of his development. Scratch the most cultured man beneath the skin and you find the savage38. Scratch the proudest nation of Europe beneath the skin and you find the elemental brute39. I do not believe in forcing our mothers, our sisters, our wives and sweethearts into the blood-soaked mud of battle trenches40. That work is the dangerous and difficult duty of man. So the ballot, on which peace or war depends, is his duty—not his right or privilege—”
“Give us the ballot and we will make war impossible,” Virginia broke in.
“How? If women vote with their men, their voting will mean nothing. We merely multiply the total by two. We do not change results. If women vote against the men on an issue of war or peace, will men submit to such a feminine decision? Certainly not. Force and force alone can decide the issue of force. Back of every ballot is a bayonet or there’s nothing back of it. The breath of revolution will drive such meaningless ballots41 as chaff42 before a whirlwind—”
“We’ll stop your blood-stained revolutions!” Virginia cried.
“All right. Do so and you stop the progress of humanity. The American Revolution was blood-stained. It gave us freedom. The Civil War was blood-stained. It freed this nation of the curse of slavery and sealed the union for all time. There are good wars and bad wars. True war is the inevitable43 conflict between two irreconcilable44 moral principles. One is right—the other wrong. One must live—the other die. Wrong may triumph for a day. Right must win in the end or else the universe is ruled by the Devil, not by God. You cannot abolish war until the Devil is annihilated45 and God rules in the souls and lives of men and in their governments as well.”
For the moment the woman was swept from the moorings of her pet arguments. She quickly recovered.
“We are going to make America the moral and spiritual leader of mankind!” she cried with elation46.
“Yes, I know. In the Parliament of Man, the Federation47 of the World—your poet’s dream as far removed from the beastly realities of life today as Heaven is from Hell—”
“We are going to make this dream a living fact in the world—and free America shall lead the way—”
“And how will you begin?”
“By setting the proud example of building our national life on spiritual realities first, not on guns and forts. We will begin the disarmament of the world—”
“And end your movement by surrender to the armed bullies48 of Europe!”
“At least my dream is a dream,” Virginia laughed, “yours a silly nightmare. But I give you up for the present. I see that Ephraim is joined to his idols49. My mission is a failure. At least I thank you for your candor50. I shall have to turn you over now to the tender mercies of Mr. Waldron and the Executive Committee. Come, we’ll see your flags and the children. The sight will be restful after our battle.”
She rose quickly, led the way to the hall, adjusted the little turban on the mass of auburn blond hair and opened the door.
Vassar passed out with a queer sense of defeat. He had vanquished51 her in the argument. But the trouble was she had not argued. She had merely demanded his submission52 without argument.
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1
tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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7
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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sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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persuasively
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| adv.口才好地；令人信服地 | |
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deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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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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magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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poltroon
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| n.胆怯者；懦夫 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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28
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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30
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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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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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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embodies
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| v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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wields
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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38
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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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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40
trenches
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| 深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕 | |
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41
ballots
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| n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 ) | |
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42
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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43
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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44
irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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45
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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46
elation
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| n.兴高采烈，洋洋得意 | |
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47
federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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48
bullies
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| n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负 | |
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49
idols
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| 偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像 | |
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50
candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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51
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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52
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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