The Witness - Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (top 5 books to read txt) 📗
- Author: Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
Book online «The Witness - Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (top 5 books to read txt) 📗». Author Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
Of The Palace The Picture Changed. There Stood Armed Guards And At
The Orders Of The Usurpers, The Bolsheviki, They Refused To Let
The Delegates Pass Into The Tavrichesky Palace. It Appeared That,
In Order To Enter The Building, The _Delegates Had First To Pay
Respects To The Commissaire, A Satellite Of Lenine And Trotzky,
And There Receive Special Permission_. The Delegates Would Not
Submit To That; Elected By The People And Equipped With Formal
Authorization, They Had The Right To Freely Enter Any Public
Building Assigned For Their Meeting. The Delegates Decided To
Enter The Tavrichesky Palace Without Asking The New Authorities,
And They Succeeded In Doing So. On The First Day The Guards Did
Not Dare To Lift Their Arms Against The People's Elected
Representatives And Allowed Them To Enter The Building Without
Molestation.
There Was No Struggle, No Violence, No Sacrifices; The Delegates
Demandedow Her Away!" Said Courtland, Speaking
Out Of A Troubled Thought, As He And The Nurse Stood On The Platform
Watching The Train Move Off. "Do You Think She'll Get Through The
Journey All Right?"
"Sure!" Said The Nurse, Wiping Away A Wistful Tear Furtively. "She's Got
Lots Of Pep. She'll Rally And Get Strong Pretty Soon. She's Had A Pretty
Tough Time The Last Two Years. Lost Her Mother, Father, A Sister, And
This Little Brother. Her Father's Heart Was Broken By Being Asked To
Leave His Church Because He Preached Temperance Too Much. The Martyrs In
This World Didn't All Die In The Dark Ages! They're Having Them Yet!"
"But She Looks So Ethereal!" Pursued Courtland. "I Wish I'd Thought To
Suggest You Going Along. We Could Have Trumped Up Some Reason Why You
Had To Have A Vacation."
"Couldn't Do It!" Said The Nurse, Smiling And Patting His Arm. "I
Thought Of It, But It Wouldn't Work. I Have To Be At The Hospital
To-Morrow For A Very Important Operation. There Isn't Anybody Else In
The Hospital Could Very Well Take My Place. Besides, She's Sharp As A
Tack, And You Needn't Think She Doesn't See Through A Lot Of The Things
You've Done For Her! Mark My Words, You'll Hear From Her Some Day! She
Means To Know The Truth About Those Bills And Pay Every Cent Back! But
Don't You Worry About Her. She'll Get Through All Right. She's Got More
Nerve Than Any Dozen Girls I Know, And She Doesn't Go Alone Through This
World, Either. She's Had A Vision, Too, Or You'd Never See Her Wearing
That Patient Face With All She's Had To Bear!"
"Did It Ever Seem Strange To You That Good People Have So Much Trouble
In This World?" Said Courtland, Voicing His Same Old Doubting Thought.
"Well, Now _Why_? What's _Trouble_ Going To Be In The Resurrection? We
Won't Mind Then What We Passed Through, And This World Isn't Forever,
Thank The Lord! If It's Serving His Plan Any For Me To Get More Than
What Seems My Share Of Trouble, Why, I'm Willing. Aren't You? The
Trouble Is We Can't See The Plan, And So We Go Fretting Because It
Doesn't Fit Our Ideas. If It Was Our Plan Now We'd Patiently Bear
Everything, I Suppose, To Make It Come Out Right. We Aren't Up High
Enough To Get The Whole View Of The Finished Plan, So Of Course Lots Of
Things Look Like Mistakes. But If We Trust Him At All, We Know They
Aren't. And Some Time, I Suppose, We'll See The Whole And Then We'll
Understand Why It Was. But I Never Was One To Do Much Fretting Because I
Didn't Understand. I Always Know What My Job Is, And That's Enough. I'm
Content To Trust The Rest To God. It's A God-Size Job To Run The
Universe, And I Know I'm Not Equal To It."
Her Simple Logic Calmed His Restless Thoughts, But There Was Still A
Strange Wistfulness In His Heart About Bonnie. She Looked So White And
Resigned And Sad! He Wished She Hadn't Gone Quite So Far Out Of His
Life.
Meantime, Out In The Darkness Of The Night Bonnie's Train Whirled Along,
And Some Time During The Long Hours Between Midnight And Dawning It
Passed In A Rush And A Thunder Of Sound The Express That Was Bearing
Back To Courtland Another Menace To His Peace Of Mind.
Chapter 22 Pg 125
Uncle Ramsey Was Large And Imposing, With An Effulgent Complexion And A
Prosperous Presence. He Wore A Double-Jeweled Ring On His Apoplectic
Finger, And A Scarab Scarf-Pin. His Eyes Were Keen And Shifty; His Teeth
Had Acquired The Habit Of Clutching His Fat Black Cigar Viciously While
He Snarled His Rather Loose Lips About Them In Conversation. Uncle
Ramsay Never Looked One In The Face When He Was Talking. He Looked Off
Into Space, Where He Appeared To Have The Topic Under Discussion In
Visible Form Before Him. He Never Took Up With The Conversation His Host
Offered. He Furnished The Topics Himself And Pinned One Down To Them. It
Really Was Of No Use Whatever To Start Any Subject Unless It Had Been
Previously Announced, Because It Never Got Further Than The Initiative.
Uncle Ramsey Always Went On With Whatever He Had In Mind. Tennelly Knew
This Tendency, Realized That In Writing The Letter He Had Taken The Only
Possible Way Of Bringing Courtland To His Uncle's Notice.
After An Exceedingly Good Dinner At The Frat. House, Where Tennelly Did
Not Usually Dine, And Being Further Reinforced By One Of The Aforesaid
Fat Black Cigars, Uncle Ramsey Leaned Back In Tennelly's Leather Chair,
And Began:
"Now, Thomas!"
Chapter 22 Pg 126
Tennelly Stirred Uneasily. He Despised That "Thomas." His Full Name Was
Llewellyn Thomas Tennelly. At Home They Called Him "Lew." Nobody But
Uncle Ramsey Ever Dared The Hateful Thomas. He Liked To Air The Fact
That His Nephew Was Named After Himself, The Great Ramsey Thomas.
"Suppose You Tell Me About This Man You Have For Me? What Kind Of A
Looking Man Is He?"
Uncle Ramsey Screwed Up His Eyes, Looked To The Middle Distance Where
The Subject Ought To Be, And Examined Him Critically.
"Has--Ah--He--Ah--_Personality_? Personality Is A Great Factor In
Success You Know."
Tennelly, In The Brief Space Allowed Him, Declared That His Friend Would
Pass This Test.
"Well--Ah! And Can He--Ah!--Can He _Lead Men_? Because That Is A Very
Important Point. The Man I Want Must Be A Leader."
"I Think He Is."
"Um--Ah! And Does He--?" On Down Through A Long List Of Questions.
At Last, After Once More Relighting His Cigar, Which Had Gone Out
Frequently During The Conversation, He Turned To His Nephew And Fixed
Him Sharply With A Fat Pale-Blue Eye.
"Tell Me The Worst You Know About Him, Thomas! What Are His Faults?" He
Snapped, And Settled Back To Squint At His Imaginary Stage Again.
"Why--I--Why, I Don't Think He Has Any," Declared Tennelly, Shifting
Uneasily In His Chair. He Had A Feeling That Uncle Ramsey Would Get It
Out Of Him Yet. And He Did.
"Yes, I Perceive That He Has! Out With It!" Snapped The Keen Old Bird,
Flinging His Loose Lips About Restively.
"It's Only That He's Got A Religious Twist Lately, Uncle. I Don't Think
It'll Last. I Really Think He Is Getting Over It!"
"Religion! Um! Ah! Well, Now That Might Not Be So Bad--Not For My
Purpose, You Know. Religion Really Gives A Confidence Sometimes.
Religion! Um! Ah! Not A Bad Trait. Let Me See Him, Thomas! Let Me See
Him _At Once_!"
Tennelly Had Said Nothing To Courtland About The Approaching Uncle, And
Therefore It Was Wholly A Surprise To Courtland When Tennelly Knocked On
His Door And Dragged Him From His Books To Meet A Chicago Uncle.
"He's Come East Looking For The Right Man To Fill A Very Important
Position. It Is Something Along Your Line, I Guess, So I Spoke To Him
About You," Whispered Tennelly, Hastily, As They Crossed The Hall
Together.
Chapter 22 Pg 127Face To Face They Stood, The Financier And The Young Senior, And Studied
Each Other Keenly For The Fraction Of A Second, Courtland No Less Cool
And Impressive In His Way Than The Older Man. For Courtland Was Not
Afraid Of Any Man, And His Natural Attitude Toward All Men Was Challenge
Till He Knew Them. He Stood Straight And Tall And Looked Uncle Ramsey In
The Eye Critically, Questioningly, Courteously, But With No Attempt To
Propitiate; And Not The Slightest Apparent Conception Of The Awesomeness
Of The Occasion Or The Condescension Of The August Personage Whom He Was
Thus Permitted To Meet.
And Uncle Ramsey Liked It!
True, He Tried To Fix The Young Man Much As A Cook Fixes A Roast With A
Skewer, To Be Put Over The Fire; But Courtland Didn't Skew. He Just Sat
Down Indifferently And Looked The Man Over; Smiled Pleasantly Now And
Then, And Listened; But He Didn't Give An Inch. Even When The Marvelous
Proposition Was Made To Him Which Might Change The Whole Course Of His
Future Life And Cover His Name With Glory (?) Courtland Never Flickered
An Eyelash.
"He Took It As Calmly As If I'd Been Offering Him Toast With His Tea
When He Already Had Bread And Jam, The Young Whelp!" Marveled Uncle
Ramsey, Delightedly, After Courtland Had Thanked Him, Promised To Think
It Over, And Gone Back To His Room. "He's Got The Personality, All
Right! He'll Do! But What's His Idea In Being So Reluctant? Didn't The
Offer Strike Him As Bigticular Group--A Peasants' Soviet, For Example. Another Type, More
Important, Roughly Corresponds To The Central Labor Union In An American
City, In That It Is Composed Of Representatives Of Workers Of All Kinds.
These Delegates Are, In The Main, Chosen By The Workers In The Shops And
Factories And In The Meetings Of The Unions. The Anti-Bolshevist
Socialists, Such As The Mensheviki And The Socialist-Revolutionists, Were
Not Opposed To Soviets As Working-Class Organizations. On The Contrary,
They Approved Of Them, Supported Them, And, Generally, Belonged To Them.
They Were Opposed Only
Comments (0)