Her work of housekeeper3 and maid-of-all-work was a marvel4 of efficiency. No orders were ever given to her. They were unnecessary. She knew by an unerring instinct what was needed and anticipated the need.
And then a thing happened that fixed5 her place in the house on the firmest basis.
The baby had taken a violent cold which quickly developed into pneumonia6. The doctor looked at the little red fever-scorched face and parched7 lips with grave silence. He spoke8 at last with positive conviction:
"His life depends on a nurse, Norton. All I can do is to give orders. The nurse must save him."
With a sob9 in her voice, Cleo said:
"Let me—I'll save him. He can't die if it depends on that."
The doctor turned to the mother.
"Can you trust her?"[Pg 99]
"Absolutely. She's quick, strong, faithful, careful, and she loves him."
"You agree, major?"
"Yes, we couldn't do better," he answered gravely, turning away.
And so the precious life was given into her hands. Norton spent the mornings in the nursery executing the doctor's orders with clock-like regularity10, while Cleo slept. At noon she quietly entered and took his place. Her meals were served in the room and she never left it until he relieved her the next day. The tireless, greenish eyes watched the cradle with death-like stillness and her keen young ears bent11 low to catch every change in the rising and falling of the little breast. Through the long watches of the night, the quick alert figure with the velvet12 tread hurried about the room filling every order with skill and patience.
At the end of two weeks, the doctor smiled, patted her on the shoulder and said:
"You're a great nurse, little girl. You've saved his life."
Her head was bending low over the cradle, the baby reached up his hand, caught one of her red curls and lisped faintly:
"C-l-e-o!"
Her eyes were shining with tears as she rushed from the room and out on the lawn to have her cry alone. There could be no question after this of her position.
When the new Legislature met in the old Capitol building four months later, it was in the atmosphere of the crisp clearness that follows the storm. The thieves and vultures had winged their way to more congenial climes. They dared not face the investigation13 of their[Pg 100] saturnalia which the restored white race would make. The wisest among them fled northward14 on the night of the election.
The Governor couldn't run. His term of office had two years more to be filled. And shivering in his room alone, shunned15 as a pariah16, he awaited the assault of his triumphant17 foes19.
And nothing succeeds like success. The brilliant young editor of the Eagle and Phoenix20 was the man of the hour. When he entered the hall of the House of Representatives on the day the Assembly met, pandemonium21 broke loose. A shout rose from the floor that fairly shook the old granite22 pile. Cheer after cheer rent the air, echoed and re-echoed through the vaulted23 arches of the hall. Men overturned their desks and chairs as they rushed pellmell to seize his hand. They lifted him on their shoulders and carried him in procession around the Assembly Chamber24, through the corridors and around the circle of the Rotunda25, cheering like madmen, and on through the Senate Chamber where every white Senator joined the procession and returned to the other end of the Capitol singing "Dixie" and shouting themselves hoarse26.
He was elected Speaker of the House by his party without a dissenting27 voice, and the first words that fell from his lips as he ascended28 the dais, gazed over the cheering House, and rapped sharply for order, sounded the death knell29 to the hopes of the Governor for a compromise with his enemies. His voice rang clear and cold as the notes of a bugle30:
"The first business before this House, gentlemen, is the impeachment31 and removal from office of the alleged32 Governor of this state!"[Pg 101]
Again the long pent feelings of an outraged33 people passed all bounds. In vain the tall figure in the chair rapped for order. He had as well tried to call a cyclone34 to order by hammering at it with a gavel. Shout after shout, cheer after cheer, shout and cheer in apparently35 unending succession!
They had not only won a great victory and redeemed36 a state's honor, but they had found a leader who dared to lead in the work of cleansing37 and rebuilding the old commonwealth38. It was ten minutes before order could be restored. And then with merciless precision the Speaker put in motion the legal machine that was to crush the life out of the little Scalawag who sat in his room below and listened to the roar of the storm over his head.
On the day the historic trial opened before the high tribunal of the Senate, sitting as judges, with the Chief Justice of the state as presiding officer, the Governor looked in vain for a friendly face among his accusers. Now that he was down, even the dogs in his own party whom he had reared and fed, men who had waxed fat on the spoils he had thrown them, were barking at his heels. They accused him of being the cause of the party's downfall.
The Governor had quickly made up his mind to ask no favors of these wretches39. If the blow should fall, he knew to whom he would appeal that it might be tempered with mercy. The men of his discredited40 party were of his own type. His only chance lay in the generosity41 of a great foe18.
It would be a bitter thing to beg a favor at the hands of the editor who had hounded him with his merciless pen from the day he had entered office, but it would be[Pg 102] easier than an appeal to the ungrateful hounds of his own kennel42 who had deserted43 him in his hour of need.
The Bill of Impeachment which charged him with high crimes and misdemeanors against the people whose rights he had sworn to defend was drawn44 by the Speaker of the House, and it was a terrible document. It would not only deprive him of his great office, but strip him of citizenship45, and send him from the Capitol a branded man for life.
The defense46 proved weak and the terrific assaults of the Impeachment managers under Norton's leadership resistless. Step by step the remorseless prosecutors47 closed in on the doomed48 culprit. Each day he sat in his place beside his counsel in the thronged49 Senate Chamber and heard his judges vote with practical unanimity50 "Guilty" on a new count in the Bill of Impeachment. The Chief Executive of a million people cowered51 in his seat while his accusers told and re-told the story of his crimes and the packed galleries cheered.
But one clause of the bill remained to be adjudged—the brand his accusers proposed to put upon his forehead. His final penalty should be the loss of citizenship. It was more than the Governor could bear. He begged an adjournment52 of the High Court for a conference with his attorneys and it was granted.
He immediately sought the Speaker, who made no effort to conceal53 the contempt in which he held the trembling petitioner54.
"I've come to you, Major Norton," he began falteringly55, "in the darkest hour of my life. I've come because I know that you are a brave and generous man. I appeal to your generosity. I've made mistakes in my administration. But I ask you to remember that[Pg 103] few men in my place could have done better. I was set to make bricks without straw. I was told to make water run up hill and set at naught56 the law of gravitation.
"I struck at you personally—yes—but remember my provocation57. You made me the target of your merciless ridicule58, wit and invective59 for two years. It was more than flesh and blood could bear without a return blow. Put yourself in my place——"
"I've tried, Governor," Norton interrupted in kindly60 tones. "And it's inconceivable to me that any man born and bred as you have been, among the best people of the South, a man whose fiery61 speeches in the Secession Convention helped to plunge62 this state into civil war—how you could basely betray your own flesh and blood in the hour of their sorest need—it's beyond me! I can't understand it. I've tried to put myself in your place and I can't."
The little ferret eyes were dim as he edged toward the tall figure of his accuser:
"I'm not asking of you mercy, Major Norton, on the main issue. I understand the bitterness in the hearts of these men who sit as my judges to-day. I make no fight to retain the office of Governor, but—major"—his thin voice broke—"it's too hard to brand me a criminal by depriving me of my citizenship and the right to vote, and hurl63 me from the highest office within the gift of a great people a nameless thing, a man without a country! Come, sir, even if all you say is true, justice may be tempered with mercy. Great minds can understand this. You are the representative to-day of a brave and generous race of men. My life is in ruins—I am at your feet. I have pride. I had high ambitions——"[Pg 104]
His voice broke, he paused, and then continued in strained tones:
"I have loved ones to whom this shame will come as a bolt from the clear sky. They know nothing of politics. They simply love me. This final ignominy you would heap on my head may be just from your point of view. But is it necessary? Can it serve any good purpose? Is it not mere64 wanton cruelty?
"Come now, man to man—our masks are off—my day is done. You are young. The world is yours. This last blow with which you would crush my spirit is too cruel! Can you afford an act of such wanton cruelty in the hour of your triumph? A small man could, yes—but you? I appeal to the best that's in you, to the spark of God that's in every human soul——"
Norton was deeply touched, far more than he dreamed any word from the man he hated could ever stir him. The Governor saw his hesitation65 and pressed his cause:
"I might say many things honestly in justification66 of my course in politics; but the time has not come. When passions have cooled and we can look the stirring events of these years squarely in the face—there'll be two sides to this question, major, as there are two sides to all questions. I might say to you that when I saw the frightful67 blunder I had made in helping68 to plunge our country into a fatal war, I tried to make good my mistake and went to the other extreme. I was ambitious, yes, but we are confronted with millions of ignorant negroes. What can we do with them? Slavery had an answer. Democracy now must give the true answer or perish——"[Pg 105]
"That answer will never be to set these negroes up as rulers over white men!"
Norton raised his hand and spoke with bitter emphasis.
"Even so, in a Democracy with equality as the one fundamental law of life, what are you going to do with them? I could plead with you that in every act of my ill-fated administration I was honestly, in the fear of God, trying to meet and solve this apparently insoluble problem. You are now in power. What are you going to do with these negroes?"
"Send them back to the plow69 first," was the quick answer.
"All right; when they have bought those farms and their sons and daughters are rich and cultured—what then?"
"We'll answer that question, Governor, when the time comes."
"Remember, major, that you have no answer to it now, and in the pride of your heart to-day let me suggest that you deal charitably with one who honestly tried to find the answer when called to rule over both races.
"I have failed, I grant you. I have made mistakes, I grant you. Won't you accept my humility70 in this hour in part atonement for my mistakes? I stand alone before you, my bitterest and most powerful enemy, because I believe in the strength and nobility of your character. You are my only hope. I am before you, broken, crushed, humiliated71, deserted, friendless—at your mercy!"
The last appeal stirred the soul of the young editor to its depths. He was surprised and shocked to find[Pg 106] the man he had so long ridiculed72 and hated so thoroughly73, human and appealing in his hour of need.
He spoke with a kindly deliberation he had never dreamed it possible to use with this man.
"I'm sorry for you, Governor. Your appeal is to me a very eloquent74 one. It has opened a new view of your character. I can never again say bitter, merciless things about you in my paper. You have disarmed75 me. But as the leader of my race, in the crisis through which we are passing, I feel that a great responsibility has been placed on me. Now that we have met, with bared souls in this solemn hour, let me say that I have learned to like you better than I ever thought it possible. But I am to-day a judge who must make his decision, remembering that the lives and liberties of all the people are in his keeping when he pronounces the sentence of law. A judge has no right to spare a man who has taken human life because he is sorry for the prisoner. I have no right, as a leader, to suspend this penalty on you. Your act in destroying the civil law, arresting men without warrant and holding them by military force without bail76 or date of trial, was, in my judgment77, a crime of the highest rank, not merely against me—one individual whom you happened to hate—but against every man, woman and child in the state. Unless that crime is punished another man, as daring in high office, may repeat it in the future. I hold in my hands to-day not only the lives and liberties of the people you have wronged, but of generations yet unborn. Now that I have heard you, personally I am sorry for you, but the law must take its course."
"You will deprive me of my citizenship?" he asked pathetically.[Pg 107]
"It is my solemn duty. And when it is done no Governor will ever again dare to repeat your crime."
Norton turned away and the Governor laid his trembling hand on his arm:
"Your decision is absolutely final, Major Norton?"
"Absolutely," was the firm reply.
The Governor's shoulders drooped78 lower as he shuffled79 from the room and his eyes were fixed on space as he pushed his way through the hostile crowds that filled the corridors of the Capitol.
The Court immediately reassembled and the Speaker rose to make his motion for a vote on the last count in the bill depriving the Chief Executive of the state of his citizenship.
The silence was intense. The crowds that packed the lobby, the galleries, and every inch of the floor of the Senate Chamber expected a fierce speech of impassioned eloquence81 from their idolized leader. Every neck was craned and breath held for his first ringing words.
To their surprise he began speaking in a low voice choking with emotion and merely demanded a vote of the Senate on the final clause of the bill, and the brown eyes of the tall orator82 had a suspicious look of moisture in their depths as they rested on the forlorn figure of the little Scalawag. The crowd caught the spirit of solemnity and of pathos83 from the speaker's voice and the vote was taken amid a silence that was painful.
When the Clerk announced the result and the Chief Justice of the state declared the office of Governor vacant there was no demonstration84. As the Lieutenant-Governor ascended the dais and took the oath of office, the Scalawag rose and staggered through the crowd[Pg 108] that opened with a look of awed85 pity as he passed from the chamber.
Norton stepped to the window behind the President of the Senate and watched the pathetic figure shuffle80 down the steps of the Capitol and slowly walk from the grounds. The sun was shining in the radiant splendor86 of early spring. The first flowers were blooming in the hedges by the walk and birds were chirping87, chattering88 and singing from every tree and shrub. A squirrel started across the path in front of the drooping89 figure, stopped, cocked his little head to one side, looked up and ran to cover. But the man with drooping shoulders saw nothing. His dim eyes were peering into the shrouded90 future.
Norton was deeply moved.
"The judgment of posterity91 may deal kindlier with his life!" he exclaimed. "Who knows? A politician, a trimmer and a time-server—yes, so we all are down in our cowardly hearts—I'm sorry that it had to be!"
He was thinking of a skeleton in his own closet that grinned at him sometimes now when he least expected it.
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1
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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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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pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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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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sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pariah
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| n.被社会抛弃者 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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rotunda
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| n.圆形建筑物；圆厅 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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dissenting
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| adj.不同意的 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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knell
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| n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟 | |
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bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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impeachment
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| n.弹劾；控告；怀疑 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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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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cleansing
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| n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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discredited
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| 不足信的，不名誉的 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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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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citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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prosecutors
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| 检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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cowered
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的过去式 ) | |
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adjournment
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| 休会； 延期； 休会期； 休庭期 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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petitioner
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| n.请愿人 | |
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falteringly
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| 口吃地，支吾地 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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invective
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| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
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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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fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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plow
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| n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough | |
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humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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74
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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75
disarmed
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| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
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76
bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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77
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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78
drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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80
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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81
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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82
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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83
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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84
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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85
awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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87
chirping
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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88
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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89
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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90
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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91
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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