The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1921-12-15

to pull the chestnuts out OF the fire for
them And the chestnuts, who are the
poor blamed decent workingmen, are
promptly dropped in the ashpit to keep
'em quiet. They all want something for
nothing. and 1 guess it can't be done.
They all think they're foOling one an
other and what's really going at the
moment is that Peterson is fOOling the
whole bunch. He wants all the strings
in his hands, and it looks to me as if
he'd got 'em there. He's got the money
and we know where he got it from
he's got the OrganizatiOn-aH either
red-hOt revOlutiOnaries, or intellectual
windstOrms, or calculating knaves.
He's amalgamated 'em, Captain; and
the whole blamed lot whatever they
may think, are really working for
him."
Drummond thoughtfully lit a Gig
arctic.
working toward a revolution in
this country" he remarked quietly.
'Sure thing" answered the Ameri-
can. And when he brings it off,
guess you won't catch Peterson for
dust. He'll pocket the Doodle. and the
bOObS will stew in their own juice. I
guessed it in Paris; that book makes
it a certainty. But it amt criminal.
In court of law he could swear it was
an organization for selling bird-seed."
For a while DrummOnd smoked in
silence, while the two sleepers shifted
uneasily in their chairs. 1t all seemed
SO simple in spite of the immensely Of
the scheme. Like most normal English
men. politics and labor disputes had
left him cold in the past; but no one
who ever glanced at a newspaper
could be ignorant of the volcano that
had been simmering just beneath the
surface for years past.
Not one in a hundred'-the Ameri-
cans voice broke into his train Of
thOught-"of the so-calIed revolution
airy leaders in this country are disin-
| terested, Captain. They're out for
Number One, and when they've talked
the boys into bloody murder, and your
| existing social system is dOwn-and-Out,
they'll be the leaders in the new one.
/ That's what they're playing for
power; and when they've got it. God
/ help the men who gave it TO en-
Drummond nodded, and lit another
/ cigarette. Odd things he had read re-
| Cured to him: trade unions refusing
/ to allow discharged soldiers to join
! them; the reiterated threats of direct
action. And to what end?
| \ passage in a part of the ledger evil
| deptly devoted to extracts from the
! speeches of the first-class general lee
| turerS caught his eve:
TO me, the big fact of modern life is
the war between classes. People
declare that the method Of direct ac-
ton inside a country will produce a
revolution. I agree . it involves
the creation of an army. ."
And beside the cutting was a note
/ by Peterson in red ink:
AN excellent man! Send for pro-
tracted tour"
The note of exclamation appealed to
Hugh; he could see the writer's
tongue in his cheek as he put it in.
1T involves the creation of an army.
!. =" The words of the inundated
rabbit came back to his mind. 1.-The
man Of stupendous organizing power,
who has brought together and welded
into one the hundreds of societies sim
liar to mine who before this have
each, on their own, been feebly strug-
Cling toward the light. Now we are
combined, and our strength is due to
him"
In other words, the army was on the
road to completion, an army where
ninety per cent of the fighters duped
by the remaining ten-wOuld struggle
blindly towards a dim, misunderstood
goal, only to find out too late that the
whip Of Solomon had been exchanged
for the scorpion Of his son.
''Why can't they be made to under
stand, Mr.. GreenY' he cried bitterly.
The working mantle decent fel-
low"
HAS anyone tried to make 'em IN
derstand, Captain? I guess I'm no In
tellectual guy, but there was a French
writer fellow-Vlctor Hugo-who
wrote something that sure hit the nail
on the head. copied it out, for II
seemed good to me-" From his pocket
book he produced a slip OF paper d" The
faults OF women, children, servants
the weak, the INDECENT and the ignorant
are the faults Of husbands, fathers
masters, the strong, the rich, and the
learned WanI'' he leaned back In his
chair, there you are. Their proper
leaders have sure failed them, 50
they're running after that bunch Of
cross-eyed skaters. And sitting here
watching 'em run, and laughing ut tC
beat the band. is your pal Peterson =
It was at that moment that the tele
phone bell rang. and after slight hes
itation Hugh picked up the receiver.
every weIl,' he grunted, after listen
ing for a while, 81 will tell him."
j He replaced the receiver and turned
to the American.