The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-12-18

a MEW
NOVEL
aae. sa.l-ir
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TX.
Well, Paul got out, and Bunny
was supposed to be satisfied. To be
sure, seven other fellows were in,
and Bunny knew them all; but 1t
would have cost fifty-two thousand,
five hundred dollars to release them.
and that would certainly be carry
ing idealism to unreasonable ex-
tremes. So Bunny let Wee carry
him and Dad off to that camp" on
lake with long Indian name, and
there they swan, and canoed, and
fished, and tramped the forests, and
took pictures OF moose in the water,
they had Indian guides, and everl
thing romantic-and at the sam
time hot and cold water in thei*
bedrooms, and steam heat if they
wanted it, all the comforts of Broad
way and Forty-second street.
Here, if ever, they had chance
to get enough of each other; there
were no distractions, no social du-
ties, no visitors dropping in, no
dressing to be done; they were to,
gether all day and all night What
Bunny found was that they were
perfectly happy so long az they
were doing physical things: canoe
trips to other places, new fishing
stunts, hunting with the camera,
shooting rapids, learning to make
camp, to start a fire like the In.
dians-anything it might be. But
they must be playing all the time,
otherwise a great gulf opened ba,
tween them. If Bunny wanted to
read, what was Wee to do?
Once a day a little steamer came
the length of the lake and put OF
supplies and a packet of mail. There
were papers from Angel City, and
also, once a week, the strike bulle-
tin of the oil workers, which Bunny
had very unwisely subscribed for.
What was the use of running three
thousand miles away from trouble.
and then having it sent to you in .
mail sack? Reading of the scenes
that he knew so well--the meetings,
the relief work, the raising OF funds,
the struggles with the guards, the
arrests, the sufferings of the men in
jail, the beating up of strike pickets.
the insolence of the sheriff and
other officials, the dishonesty of the
same as II Bunny were in Paradise.
Paul was one of the executive COM
mittee, Paul had become Tom Ak
toms right-hand man, and his
speeches were quoted, and his ex-
periences in the San Elido county
jail-when Bunny had finished that
little paper he was so shaken he
was not the same all day. Wee
found out about 1t, Of course, and
began trying to PERSUADE him TO
stop reading it. Had he not done
his share by giving the strikers
back their leader? And had he not
promised to repay her, his darling
Vee-Vee, with love and affection
for a whole summer?
Bunny wrestled it out with his
own soul in such free moments an
he could get. He told himself that
it was to help his father-a more
respectable excuse than entertain
ing a mistress! But did his father
have a right to expect so much?
Did any one person have right
to replace all the rest of humanity?
If 1t was the duty of the young TO
sacrifice themselves for the old, how
could there ever be any progress in
the world? AS time passed and the
struggle in the oil fields grew more
tense. the agony of the workers
more evident, Bunny came to the
clear decision that his fight had
been cowardly.
He tried to explain HIS point of
view to Wee, but only to run into q
stone wall 1t was not subject for
reasoning, IT was a matter OF in
stinct with her. She believed in
her money; she had starved for II,
sold herself, body and mind, for 1t.
and she meant to hang onto II.
Bunny's so-called radical move
ment, meant to her that others
wanted to take It away. He discoy-
cred a strange, hard streak in her;
she would spend money lavishly for
silks and furs and jewels for motor
cars and parties-but that was all
professional. 1t was part of her sd-
vertising bill. But, on the other
hand. where no display was In
volved, where the public did not
enter--there she hated to spend
money. He overheard he wrangling
with washerwoman over the
amount for the ironing Of her lin
gerie. and those filmy night-dresses
in which she seduced his soul.
Continued tomorrow