Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-03-02

The men in order to keep away
from the beershop, slept the whole
| day the women, locked in their "a
| lions Of coffee, became less quarrel
| some, moro sensible and quiet, anC
| even the children seemed TO under
stand, for they ran about barcfooted
ana Whacked each other without
| noise. The password repeated from
| mouth TO mouth was Let US be rea-
| sonable"
| There was. nevertheless. a constant
| coming and going at the Maheus,
| stephen, by virtue OF his secretary
ship. had distributed the 5000 francs
Of the proyident found among the
most necessitous families he had
also received few hundred francs,
the proceeds of subscriptions and col
lections. But now all their resources
seemed exhausted; the miners had no
more money 10 keep on the strike, the
wolf was at their doors, threateningly
showing his teeth Margrat, after
having promised credit for a fort
nigh5, had suddenly changed his mind
at the end OF a week, and stopped the
supplies. refusing the men even bread.
As a rule, he took his instructions
from the company; perhaps the lat
ter wished to have done with the
thing as quickly as possible by staTv-
Ing the villagers into submission. Be
sides he played the capricious tyrant,
giving or refusing food according to
the attraCtiveness Of the ambassa .
Gress sent by her parents To the
Maheus he had closed his door with
out appeal, as If to punish them for
not having sent Catherine TO him.
For the last week, then. they had
been living upon the money distrib-
uted. But now that the cash box Of
the fund was empty how were they
to get bread To make things worse,
severe frost had set in, the women
saw the stock OF coal grow less. and
were worried by the thought that II
would not be renewed at the pits
mouth while the men did not go down.
! Then they would not only be dying
with hunger, they would be frozen TO
death besides At the Maheus they
were already short Of everything. The
| Leyaques still managed TO drag along,
| thanks 10 IA piece OF 90 francs lent ny
| Bouteloup. AS for the Pierrona they
were all right, but In order 10 appear
as badly off as the rest lest they
| should try TO borrow, they went on
| trust at Margrat's. who would have
given the whole Of his shop TO La
Pierronne, II she had only asked for
it, Since last Saturday many fami-
lies had gone to bed supperless, But
| though confronted with the terrible
days about to commence for them, no
one complained: all obeyed the pass
word given 10 them with unobtrusive
fortitude
In spite Of everything there reigned
, an absolute confidence around Ste
, phen, religious faith, the blind sub
mission OF a people OF believers Since
he had told them that AN era of jus
tice was at hand they We're ready tC
suffer in the struggle for universe
| happiness. Hunger turned their heads
as it We're. Never had the hitherto
| closed horizon, offered more bound.
| less vision of happiness 20 these poor
| fanatics, exalted by their hardships
| When their eyes grew dim from
! weakness, they beheld the ideal city
! of their dreams. but close at hanJ
and real this time, with its brother
! hood Of workers, its golden age o
! labor. and the daily repast partakei
| OF in common 10y all Nothing shool
| their conviction as to their entering
upon TINS city at last The fund wa
! exhausted. the company would no
give in, every day would aggravAt
| their situation, and still they did no
give up hope They smiled contempt
uously at existing facts. When tn
very ground should open at their fee
TO swallow them up, even then som
miracle would happen to save then
from destruction. This faith replace
food and kept them warm Whel
the Maheus and others had too quick
ly digested their watery soup the
fell, as II were, into semi trance. 1
was like the certainty of a better m
which made the martyrs of old thrul
themselves into the lions den.
HencefOrth stephen was their nm
questioned leader In the converse
ttons thai took place each evening
he became an oracle In proportion /
his studies refining his inner man II
; was constantly reading. he received
great number Of letters, ne had eve
subscribed To The Proletaire Social
i~tic sheet published in Belgium. an
this paper the first Of It's kind tina
ever entered the village, had game
him. on the part of his fellow work
men. an extraordinary consideration
His growing popularity intoxicate
him, wrapped him in a state OF de
ughtful ecstasy. To carry on an "a
teusiye pondcnce To emit hi
views on che Workingman's condltfo
TO the four corners OF the province (
grant interviews 20 all the miners q
the NorteuN pit, above all. TO becom
"a center, To feel whole world NOV
Ing about At his inspiration. was
constant source az pride to him, tn
former engine driver the pitman Wi.
the hard and grimy hands He as
cended one rung OF the ladder. he en-
tered, as IL We're, into this hated mid
die class with a grstified sense Of in
teNectual and social progress attaine
which he dared not avow 10 himself
one thing continued To worry him
the consciousness OF his want OF edu
cation. OF his shortcomings IN that re
spect. which made him timid an
awkward the moment he found him
SELF face to face with a man dresse
In bruadcloth True. he continued (
educate himself. devouring every
thing. but want Of method retarde
the result q Kind OF confusion pro
duced itself. which ended in a super
NgAaf know edge ~ raapy fh{npo ~ 4