Across the street, frost lay crisp on the courthouse lawn, and the white and tan spotted1 hound put up his forepaws on the kitchen stool as if to warm them. The four women were too busy hauling down the flag to notice.
Martha Stonery in the persian lamb coat paid out the halyard. Monica Flint in the reddish muskrat2 and Paula Hart in the brown fox caught the flag and folded it, careful not to let it touch the wet cement. A postman and the man in the leather jacket stopped on the sidewalk to watch.
Martha, plump face grim under pinchnose spectacles, fastened one halyard snap to a metal ring taped and wired to the dog's right hind3 leg.
Monica, Paula and Abigail Silax in nutria hauled in unison5 while Martha held the flag. The hound scrabbled with his forepaws and barked frantically6. As he went struggle-twisting upward he began to howl in a bell-like voice. The women grunted7 with effort. People were coming across the lawn and pale faces moved behind the courthouse windows.
"Two block," Martha said. "Vast hauling and belay."
She pulled the kitchen stool nearer the flagpole and climbed on it to face the small crowd across the shelf of her bosom8. Cars were stopping, people streaming in from all sides. Martha patted her piled gray hair and made her thin lips into a parrot beak9.
"Fellow Americans!" she cried above the howling. "Our leaders are cowards and it is time for the people to act before the Russians come and murder us all in our beds! We, the United Dames10 of the Dog, hereby protest the Russian crime of putting a trusting, loving dog on the moon to starve and freeze and smother12 and die of loneliness! This dog above our heads cries out to the world against the Russian breach13 of faith between dog and man. He will stay there until the Russians bring their dog home safely or make amends14 for their crime!"
"Like hell!" said the man in the leather jacket, moving in.
Monica pulled at his wrists. Paula slapped and scratched at his face. "You brute16! You coward!" they shrilled17.
"Here now, here now, this is county property," said a fat man in shirtsleeves with pink sleeve garters, pushing through the crowd. "What's all this? Take that dog down, somebody!"
"Never!" Martha snapped. She put her back against the halyard cleat, unfolded the flag and draped it around herself. A loose strand21 of gray hair fell across her face.
"If you're so big and brave, go bring down the Russian dog," she told the fat man coldly.
"Now listen, lady," the fat man said. The Clarion22 press photographer was sprinting23 across the lawn.
George Stonery was tall, thin, stooped and anxious in a gray business suit.
"I came as soon as I could," he told Sheriff Breen across the scarred, paper-littered wooden desk. "I was away checking one of our warehouses24."
"You can make bail25 for her in two minutes, right across the hall," the sheriff said, scratching his jowl. "She wouldn't make it for herself, said we had to lock her in our sputnik."
"Where is she now?"
"In the sputnik."
The desk phone rang and the sheriff growled26 into it, "Hell you say. State forty-three just past Roy Farm? Right. I s'pose you already heard what we had on the lawn here this morning?"
The phone gave forth27 an excited gobbling. The sheriff's red eyebrows28 rose in disbelief and his heavy jaw29 dropped in dismay. He put down the phone.
"That was city," he told Stonery. "Complaint about a dog hanging by one leg from a tree just outside city limits. But it's going on all over town too—dogs hanging on trees, out of windows, off clotheslines—every squad30 car is out. Your old lady sure started something!"
The sheriff told him. "Kicked a big fat deputy where it hurts, too. Maybe we ought to hold her after all. She says she's president of the United Dogs of something."
"United Dames of the Dog," the thin man corrected. "They hold meetings and things. She started it when the Russians put up their second sputnik."
"Well, I hope none of them dames lives out in the county," the sheriff said, rising. "You fix up bail, Mr. Stonery. I got to send out a deputy."
"All over America dogs will cry out in protest against the Russian crime," she said. "I have kindled33 a flame, George, that will sweep away the Kremlin. I, a weak woman...."
Sirening police cars passed Stonery three times as he drove home in the evening. Outside the tan stucco ranch-style house on Euclid Avenue, cars blocked the driveway and a crowd milled on the lawn. Stonery parked under the oak tree at the curb35 and got out.
Martha stood in the living room by the picture window and harangued36 the crowd through a screened side panel. Centered in the window her spaniel Fiffalo writhed37, hanging by a hind leg from the massive gilt38 floor lamp and yipping piteously. Martha had on her suit of gray Harris tweed and her diamond brooch.
"... moral pressure the Russians simply cannot resist," Stonery heard her shouting as he joined the crowd. "The men talk, but the United Dames of the Dog are not afraid to act. Putting a dear little dog on the moon to die of heart-break!"
"How many members do you have, Mrs. Stonery?" one asked.
"The U.D.D. is bigger than you think, young man. Bigger than the Russians think, for all their spies and traitors40!"
Stonery sidled in and tried the front door.
"She locked it," one of the reporters told him. "The cops went back for a warrant. Say! You're Stonery!"
"Yes," the thin man said, flushing. A press camera flashed and he put up his hands too late to shield his face.
"Give us a statement, Mr. Stonery, before the cops come back," the reporters clamored.
Stonery backed off, waving his hands. "Please, please," he said.
"She cracked?" a reporter asked. "When did you first notice?"
"Please," Stonery said. "Yes, she's upset. Her oldest son went into the state penitentiary41 in California last week. She's very upset about it."
"He kill somebody?" the same reporter asked.
"No, oh no ... just armed robbery ... please don't print that, boys."
"Here come the cops back!" someone shouted.
Two policemen crossed the lawn, one waving a paper. "Here is our warrant of forcible entry, Mrs. Stonery," he called out. He began reading it aloud.
"The U.D.D. will not shrink from any extremes of police brutality," Martha cried sharply. Fiffalo struggled and yelped42 louder.
The second policeman smashed the lock with a ten-pound sledge43. The reporters swept Stonery into the house with them. One policeman untied44 Fiffalo and held him in his arms. He strained his head back and away from the spaniel's whimpering kisses. Martha glared selflessly while flash bulbs popped.
Stonery pulled gently at the other policeman's sleeve.
"May I come along, officer?" he asked. "I'm her husband. I'll have to arrange bail."
"Not taking her," the policeman said. "No room left in the pokey. Since two o'clock we been arresting the dogs."
The bellboy put down the silver bucket of ice cubes, pocketed the quarter and went out. The skinny secretary put a bottle of whisky beside it and turned to that fat adjutant sprawled45 shoeless on the bed.
"Looks like Governor Bob'll be a while yet, Sam," the secretary said. "Shall we drink without him?"
"Hell yes, I need one, Dave," the adjutant said in his frog voice, wiggling his toes. "Bob must be having himself a time with that Stonery dame11." He chuckled46 and slapped his belly47.
The secretary tore wrappers off two tumblers and clinked ice into them. His rabbit face with its spectacles framed in clear plastic expressed a rabbity concern.
"It ain't for laughs, Sam," he said. "It's like the dancing mania48 of the Middle Ages, ever hear of it?"
"No. D'they string up dogs by a hind leg too?"
"No, only danced. But it was catching49, like this is. My God, Sam, it's all over the state now, U.D.D. women running in packs at night, singing, hanging up every dog they can catch. Sam, it scares me."
He splashed whisky into the two glasses. The adjutant belched50, sat up in a creaking of bed springs, and scratched his heavy jaw.
"You're thinking they might start hanging up us poor sons of bitches, ain't you?" he asked. "Hell, call out the Guard. Clamp on a curfew." He reached for a glass.
"Yes, and the Russians'll fake pictures of your boys sticking old women with bayonets," the secretary said. "Governor Bob couldn't get reelected as dogcatcher, even."
The adjutant drained his glass, lipping back the ice, and whistled his breath out through pouting51 lips.
"Good! Needed that," he grunted. "Dave, Bob's got that Stonery dame by the short hairs, he'll swing her into line. Just that about her boy in the state pen out in California is enough. Brown would do Bob a favor and spring him. Or the papers here would splash it. Either way."
"I know, I know," the secretary said, sipping52 at his drink. "We'll see, when Bob gets here. Meanwhile, as of yesterday we had thirty-three thousand seven hundred twenty-six dogs in protective custody53 and God knows how many more under house arrest. Sixteen thousand bucks54 a day it's costing us—"
He broke off as a knock sounded on the door. He hastily tore the wrapper off another glass and splashed it full of ice and bourbon. The adjutant padded to the door and opened it. The governor, a stout55, florid man in a gray sports coat, came in and sat stiffly on the edge of the bed. The secretary handed him the drink and he gulped56 half of it before speaking.
"No smoke, boys," he said finally. "She give it to me just like she does to the papers. We got to go to the moon, or make the Russians do it, and bring that poor, dear, sweet, trusting, cuddly57 little dog back to Earth again."
"How about her kid out on the coast?" the adjutant asked.
"She spit in my eye, Sam. Said she was just as brave to be a martyr58 as the dogs they string up. Why, she even told me about another boy of hers, living in sin with a black woman down in Cuba, and dared me to give that to the papers too."
"She sounds tough as she looks."
"She's tougher," the governor groaned59. "Like blue granite60. I felt like I was back in the third grade." He handed his empty glass to the secretary.
"What did you finally do?" the secretary asked.
"What the hell could I do? I want that U.D.D. vote, it must be a whopper. I wagged my tail and barked for her and said I had an idea."
"And now I got to think up the idea," the secretary said, still holding the empty glass.
"No, I thought it up on my way back," the governor said. "I'm going to fly to Washington this afternoon."
"Not the army, for God's sake," pleaded the adjutant.
"No, I'm going to dump it on the Russian embassy. Damn their black hearts, they started this. Hurry up with that drink!"
"Watch out you don't lose your donkey for sure and all," the adjutant said. "Them Russians are smart cookies."
"They'll have to be," the governor said, reaching for the fresh drink. "They sure ... as ... hell ... will have to be!"
All the folding chairs were taken. Extra women stood in the aisles61 and along the side of the hall. Martha Stonery bulged62 over the rostrum in blue knitted wool and a pearl necklace. Seated around a half-circle of chairs behind her, pack leaders and committee chairwomen smoothed at their skirts. Monica Flint in dove gray sat at the organ.
"Everyone will please stand while we sing our hymn," she said into the resultant hush64. She nodded to Monica, who began to play.
"I did not raise my dog to ride a sputnik, I will not let him wander to the moon...." The song was a shrill18 thundering.
Martha beamed across her bosom as the crowd settled itself again.
"I have a most thrilling announcement to make before we adjourn65, girls," she said, "but first we will have committee reports. Paula Hart, will you begin?" She yielded the rostrum.
All the reports were favorable. The U.D.D. was getting four times as many column-inches in the state press as the Russian moonship. It was on TV and radio. A Life team was coming.
Changes were recommended. Vigilante packs were not to carry hat pins any more. Two policemen had lost eyes and the police were being ugly about it. A bar of soap in a man's sock was to be substituted. More practice on the clove66 hitch67 was needed. Too often, in their excitement, the pack ladies were only putting two half hitches68 around the leg and the dog could struggle out of it.
Martha came back to the rostrum to read the honor roll of those whom dogs had bitten or policemen had insulted. Each heroine came forward amid cheers and clapping to receive a certificate exchangeable for the Bleeding Heart medal as soon as the honors committee could agree on a design and have a supply made up. Martha shook the hands, some of them bandaged, and wept a few tears.
"And now, fellow U.D.D. members," she said, "I will tell you my surprise. Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with someone coming from Washington!"
"No, not Eisenhower," Martha said scornfully. "A man from the Russian embassy, a Mr. Cherkassov."
"They want to make peace," Martha shouted ringingly into the tumult71. "We've won, girls! Sally out tonight and don't come in until the last dog is hung! We'll show them what it means to challenge the massed U.D.D.-ers of America!"
The state police cordon72 kept the 2200 block of Euclid Avenue free of reporters and idle gapers. The state car drove up at 10:00 A.M. and parked under the oak tree. Mr. Cherkassov and the two TASS men got out.
Mr. Cherkassov was stocky and crop-haired in a blue suit. His broad, high-cheekboned face, with snub nose and an inward tilt73 about the eyes, managed to seem both alert and impassive. Carrying a pig-skin briefcase74, he led the way to the Stonery front door.
He stepped on the doormat and pressed the bell. The doormat whirred and writhed under his feet and he stepped back hastily. Martha Stonery, regal in maroon75 silk, four-inch cameo and piled gray hair, opened the door.
"Don't be afraid of the doormat, Mr. Cherkassov—you are Mr. Cherkassov, aren't you?" she asked sweetly.
He nodded, looking from her to the doormat.
"Your weight presses something and the little brushes spin around and clean your shoes," she explained. "I expect you don't have things like that in Russia. But do, please, come in and sit down."
The three men stepped carefully across the mat on entering. In the oak-paneled living room, Paula Hart waited in black wool and pearls with Monica Flint, who wore white jade76 and green jersey77. Martha and Mr. Cherkassov made introductions back and forth and the men bowed stiffly. Then Martha sat down flanked by her aides on the gray sofa facing the picture window. The men sat in single chairs and rubbed their polished black shoes uneasily against the deep-pile gray rug.
"Madame Stonery, I have come to justify78 moondog," Mr. Cherkassov said. His voice was deep and controlled.
"Two wrongs don't make a right, Mr. Cherkassov," Martha said, raising her head. "You needn't bring up Hiroshima. We already know about those thousands of little black and white spaniels. Besides, I saw a Life picture where you sewed a little dog's head to the side of a big dog's neck."
Mr. Cherkassov looked at his stubby fingers and hid them under his briefcase. Paula and Monica nodded accusingly and one TASS man made a note.
"We do not believe it is a wrong when a greater value prevails over a lesser," Mr. Cherkassov said. "Moondog sends us information that will hasten the time of safe space-travel for humans."
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1
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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muskrat
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| n.麝香鼠 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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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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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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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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clarion
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| n.尖音小号声；尖音小号 | |
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sprinting
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| v.短距离疾跑( sprint的现在分词 ) | |
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warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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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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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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curb
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| n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制 | |
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harangued
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| v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sledge
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| n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往 | |
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untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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48
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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49
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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50
belched
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| v.打嗝( belch的过去式和过去分词 )；喷出，吐出；打（嗝）；嗳（气） | |
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51
pouting
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的现在分词 ) | |
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52
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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53
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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54
bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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56
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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57
cuddly
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| adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的 | |
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58
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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59
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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60
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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61
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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62
bulged
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| 凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 )； 充满； 塞满（某物） | |
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63
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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64
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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65
adjourn
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| v.（使）休会，（使）休庭 | |
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66
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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67
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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68
hitches
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| 暂时的困难或问题( hitch的名词复数 )； 意外障碍； 急拉； 绳套 | |
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69
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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70
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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71
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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72
cordon
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| n.警戒线，哨兵线 | |
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73
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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74
briefcase
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| n.手提箱，公事皮包 | |
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75
maroon
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| v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的 | |
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76
jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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77
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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78
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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