The Witness, Grace Livingston Hill Lutz [the little red hen ebook .TXT] 📗

I Don't Know As The Tacks Are Long Enough. What Was You Figuring

To Do With The Book-Shelves,  Put Books In,  Or Leave 'Em Empty For Her

Things?"

 

"Well,  I Thought About That,  And I Made Out We'd Better Put In Some

Books So It Wouldn't Look So Empty. We Can Take Them Out Again If She

Has A Lot Of Her Own!"

 

"We Could Put In Some Of Stephen's That He Set Such Store By. There's

All That Set Of Scott,  And Dickens,  And Those Other Fellows That He

Wanted Us To Start And Read Evenings This Winter. By The Way,  Mother,

We'd Ought To Get At That! Perhaps She'll Like To Read Aloud When She

Comes! That Would About Suit Us. We're Rather Old To Begin Loud Reading,

Steve's Always Read To Us So Long. I Don't Know But I'd Buy A Few New

Books,  Too. She's A Girl You Know,  And You Might Find Something Lately

Written That She'd Like. It Wouldn't Do Any Harm To Get A Few. You Could

Ask The Book-Store Man What To Pick Out--Say A Shelf Or Two."

 

"Oh,  I Shouldn't Need To Do That!" Said Mother,  Hurrying Away To Get Her

Magazine,  Which Was Never Far Away These Last Two Or Three Days.

"There's A Whole Long List Here Of Books 'Your Young People Will Want To

Have In Their Library.' Wells And Shaw And Ibsen,  And A Lot Of Others I

Never Heard Of,  But These First Three I Remembered Because Stephen Spoke

Of Them In One Of His First Letters About College. Don't You Know He Was

Studying A Course With Those Men's Books In It? He Said He Didn't Know

As He Was Always Going To Agree With All They Said,  But They Were Big,

Broad Men,  And Had Some Fine Thoughts. He Thought Sometimes They Hadn't

Just Got The Inner Light About God And The Bible And All,  But They Were

The Kind Of Men Who Were Getting There,  Striving After Truth,  And Would

Likely Find It And Hand It Out To The World Again When They Got It; Like

The Wise Men Hunting Everywhere For A Saviour. Don't You Remember,

Father?"

 

"I Remember!" Father Tried To Speak Cheerily,  But His Breath Ended In A

Sigh,  For The Carpet Was Heavy. Mother Looked At Him Sharply And Changed

The Subject. It Wasn't Always Easy To Keep Father Cheerful About

Stephen's Going.

 

"You Don't Suppose We Could Get Those Curtains Up To-Night,  Too,  Do

You?"

 

"Why,  I Reckon!" Said Father,  Stopping For A Puff Of Breath And Looking

Up To The White Woodwork At The Top Of The Windows. "You Got 'Em All

Ready To Put Up,  All Sewed And Everything? Why,  I Reckon I Could Put Up

Those Rods After I Get Across This End,  And Then You Could Slip The

Curtains On While I Was Doing The Rest. You Don't Want To Get Too Tired,

Mother. You Know You Been Sewing A Long Time To-Day."

 

Chapter 18 Pg 109

"Oh,  I'm Not Tired! I'm Just Childish Enough To Want To See How It's All

Going To Look. Say,  Father,  That Wasn't The Telephone Ringing,  Was It?

You Don't Think We Might Get A Telegram Yet To-Night?"

 

"Not Scarcely!" Said Father,  With His Mouth Full Of Tacks. "You See,

It's Been Bad Weather,  And Like As Not Your Letter Got Storm-Stayed A

Day Or So. You Mustn't Count On Hearing 'Fore Monday I Guess."

 

They Both Knew That That Letter Ought To Have Reached The Hospital Where

Bonnie Brentwood Was Supposed To Be About Six O'clock That Evening,  For

So They Had Calculated The Time Between Stephen's Letters To A Nicety;

But Each Was Engaged In Trying To Keep The Other From Getting Anxious

About The Telegram That Did Not Come. For It Was Now Half Past Eight By

The Kitchen Clock,  And Both Of Them Were As Nervous As Fleas Listening

For That Telephone To Ring That Would Decide The Fate Of The Pretty Pink

Room,  Whether It Was To Have An Occupant Or Not.

 

"These White Madras Curtains Look Like There's Been A Frost On A Cobweb,

Don't They?" Said Mother Marshall,  Holding Up A Pair All Arranged Upon

The Brass Rod Ready To Hang. "And Just See How Pretty This Pink Stuff

Looks Against It. I Declare It Reminds Me Of The Sunset Light On The

Snow In The Orchard Out The Kitchen Window Evenings When I Was Watching

For Steve To Come Home From School. Say,  Father,  Don't You Think Those

Book-Shelves Look Cozy Each Side Of The Bay Window? And Wasn't It Clever

Of Jed Lewis To Think Of Putting Hinges To The Covers On That

Window-Seat? She Can Keep Lots Of Things In There! Wait Till I Get Those

Two Pink Silk Cushions You Made Me Buy. My! Father,  But You And I Are

Getting Extravagant In Our Old Age! And All For A Girl That May Never

Even Answer Our Letter!"

 

There Was A Kind Of Sob In The End Of Mother Marshall's Words That She

Tried To Disguise,  But Father Caught It And Flew To The Rescue.

 

"There Now,  Mother!" He Said,  Getting Laboriously Up From The Carpet,

Hammer In Hand,  And Putting His Arms Tenderly About Her. "There Now,

Mother! Don't You Go Fretting! You See,  Like As Not She Was Asleep When

The Letter Got There,  And They Wouldn't Wake Her Up,  Or Mebbe It Would

Be Too Much Excitement For Her At Night That Way! And Then,  Again,  If

The Mail-Train Was Late It Wouldn't Get Into The Night Deliv'ry. You

Know That Happened Once For Steve And He Was Real Worried About Us! Then

They Might Not Have Deliv'ry At The Hospital On Sunday,  And She Couldn't

_Get_ It Till Monday Morning! See? And There's Another Thing You Got To

Calcl'ate On,  Too! You Never Thought Of That! She Might Be Too Sick Yet

To Read A Letter,  Or Think What To Say To It! So Just You Be Patient,

Mother! We'll Just Have That Much More Time To Fix Things; For,  So To

Speak,  Now We Haven't Got Any Limitations On What We Think She Is. We

Can Just Plan For Her Like She Was Perfect. When We Get Her Telegram

We'll Get Some Idea,  And Begin To Know The Real Girl,  But Now We've Just

Got Our Own Notion Of Her."

 

"Why,  Of Course!" Choked Mother,  Smiling. "I'm Just Afraid,  Seth,  That

I'm Getting Set On Her Coming,  And That Isn't Right At All,  You Know,

Because She Mightn't Be Coming."

 

Chapter 18 Pg 110

"Well,  And Then Again She Might. Howsomenever,  We'll Have This Room

Fixed Up Company Fine,  And If She Don't Come We'll Just Come Here And

Camp For A Week,  You And Me,  And Pretend We're Out Visiting. How Would

That Do? Say,  It's Real Pretty Here,  Like Spring In The Orchard,  Ain't

It,  Mother? Well,  Now,  You Figure Out What You're Going To Have For

Bureau Fixings,  And I'll Get Back To My Tacking. I Want To Get Done

To-Night And Get That Pretty White Furniture Moved In. You're Sure The

Enamel Is Perfectly Dry On That Bed? That Was The Last Piece He Worked

On. I Think Jed Made A Pretty Good Job Of It,  For Such Quick Work. Don't

You? Got A Clean Counterpane,  And One Of Your Pink-And-White Patchwork

Quilts For In Here,  Haven't You,  And A Posy Pin-Cushion? My! But I'd

Like To Know What She Says When She Sees It First!"

 

And So The Two Old Dears Jollied Each Other Along Till Far Past Their

Bedtime; And When At Last They Lay Quiet For The Night Mother Raised Up

In The Moonlight That Was Floodal Government Were Arrested In The Winter Palace,  But

Kerensky Managed To Escape. The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_ Was Thus

Accomplished Practically Without Bloodshed. A New Government Was Formed,

Called The Council Of People's Commissaries,  Of Which Nikolai Lenine Was

President And Leon Trotzky Commissioner For Foreign Affairs. The

"Dictatorship Of The Proletariat" Was Thus Begun. Kerensky's Attempt To

Rally Forces Enough To Put An End To This Dictatorship Was A Pathetic

Failure,  As It Was Bound To Be. It Was Like The Last Fitful Flicker With

Which A Great Flame Dies. The Masses Wanted Peace--For That They Would

Tolerate Even A Dictatorship.

Chapter 19 Pg 111

 

The Defenders And Supporters Of The Bolsheviki Have Made Much Of The Fact

That There Was Very Little Bloodshed Connected With The Successful

Bolshevik Uprising In Petrograd. That Ought Not To Be Permitted,  However,

To Obscure The Fundamental Fact That It Was A Military _Coup D'état_,  The

Triumph Of Brute Force Over The Will Of The Vast Majority Of The People. It

Was A Crime Against Democracy. That The People Were Passive,  Worn Out,  And

Distracted,  Content To Wait For The Constituent Assembly,  Only Makes The

Bolshevik Crime Appear The Greater. Let Us Consider The Facts Very Briefly.

Chapter 19 Pg 112

Less Than Three Weeks Away Was The Date Set For The Constituent Assembly

Elections. Campaigns For The Election Of Representatives To That Great

Democratic Convention Were Already In Progress. It Was To Be The Most

Democratic Constitutional Convention That Ever Existed In Any Country,  Its

Members Being Elected By The Entire Population,  Every Man And Woman In

Russia Being Entitled To Vote. The Suffrage Was Equal,  Direct,  Universal,

And Secret.

 

Moreover,  There Was A Great Democratic Reconstruction Of The Nation

Actually In Progress At The Time. The Building Up Of Autonomous Democratic

Local Governing Bodies,  In The Shape Of A New Type Of Zemstvos,  Was Rapidly

Progressing. The Old-Time Zemstvos Had Been Undemocratic And Did Not

Represent The Working-People,  But The New Zemstvos Were Composed Of

Representatives Nominated And Elected By Universal Suffrage,  Equal,  Secret,

And Direct. Instead