第 56 节
作者:浮游云中      更新:2021-02-24 23:06      字数:9322
  which he had been bred; the Americanism of individual rights; of respect
  for the convention of property; had suddenly sprung into flame。  He was
  ready to fight for it; to die for it。  The curses he hurled at these
  people sounded blasphemous in Janet's ears。
  〃Father!〃 she cried。  〃Father!〃
  He looked at her uncomprehendingly; seemingly failing to recognize her。
  〃What are you doing here?〃 he demanded; seizing her and attempting to
  draw her to the wall beside him。  But she resisted。  There sprang from
  her lips an unpremeditated question: 〃Where is Mr。 Ditmar?〃  She was;
  indeed; amazed at having spoken it。
  〃I don't know;〃 Edward replied distractedly。  〃We've been looking for him
  everywhere。  My God; to think that this should happen with me at the
  gates!〃 he lamented。  〃Go home; Janet。  You can't tell what'll happen;
  what these fiends will do; you may get hurt。  You've got no business
  here。〃  Catching sight of a belated and breathless policeman; he turned
  from her in desperation。  〃Get 'em out!  Far God's sake; can't you get
  'em out before they ruin the machines?〃
  But Janet waited no longer。  Pushing her way frantically through the
  people filling the yard she climbed the tower stairs and made her way
  into one of the spinning rooms。  The frames were stilled; the overseer
  and second hands; thrust aside; looked on helplessly while the intruders
  harangued; cajoled or threatened the operatives; some of whom were cowed
  and already departing; others; sullen and resentful; remained standing in
  the aisles; and still others seemed to have caught the contagion of the
  strike。  Suddenly; with reverberating strokes; the mill bells rang out;
  the electric gongs chattered; the siren screeched; drowning the voices。
  Janet did not pause; but hurried from room to room until; in passing
  through an open doorway in the weaving department she ran into Mr。
  Caldwell。  He halted a moment; in surprise at finding her there; calling
  her by name。  She clung to his sleeve; and again she asked the question:
  〃Where's Mr。 Ditmar?〃
  Caldwell shook his head。  His answer was the same as Edward's。  〃I don't
  know;〃 he shouted excitedly above the noise。  〃We've got to get this mob
  out before they do any damage。〃
  He tore himself away; she saw him expostulating with the overseer; and
  then she went on。  These tower stairs; she remembered; led to a yard
  communicating by a little gate with the office entrance。  The door of the
  vestibule was closed; but the watchman; Simmons; recognizing her;
  permitted her to enter。  The offices were deserted; silent; for the bells
  and the siren had ceased their clamour; the stenographers and clerks had
  gone。  The short day was drawing to a close; shadows were gathering in
  the corners of Ditmar's room as she reached the threshold and gazed about
  her at the objects there so poignantly familiar。  She took off her coat。
  His desk was littered with books and papers; and she started;
  mechanically; to set it in order; replacing the schedule books on the
  shelves; sorting out the letters and putting them in the basket。  She
  could not herself have told why she should take up again these trivial
  tasks as though no cataclysmic events had intervened to divide forever
  the world of yesterday from that of to…morrow。  With a movement
  suggestive of tenderness she was picking up Ditmar's pen to set it in the
  glass rack when her ear caught the sound of voices; and she stood
  transfixed; listening intently。  There were footsteps in the corridor;
  the voices came nearer; one; loud and angered; she detected above the
  others。  It was Ditmar's!  Nothing had happened to him!  Dropping the
  pen; she went over to the window; staring out over the grey waters;
  trembling so violently that she could scarcely stand。
  She did not look around when they entered the room Ditmar; Caldwell;
  Orcutt; and evidently a few watchmen and overseers。  Some one turned on
  the electric switch; darkening the scene without。  Ditmar continued to
  speak in vehement tones of uncontrolled rage。
  〃Why in hell weren't those gates bolted tight?〃 he demanded。  〃That's
  what I want to know!  There was plenty of time after they turned the
  corner of East Street。  You might have guessed what they would do。  But
  instead of that you let 'em into the mill to shut off the power and
  intimidate our own people。〃  He called the strikers an unprintable name;
  and though Janet stood; with her back turned; directly before him; he
  gave no sign of being aware of her presence。
  〃It wasn't the gatekeeper's fault;〃 she heard Orcutt reply in a tone
  quivering with excitement and apprehension。  〃They really didn't give us
  a chancethat's the truth。  They were down Canal Street and over the
  bridge before we knew it。〃
  〃It's just as I've said a hundred times;〃 Ditmar retorted。  〃I can't
  afford to leave this mill a minute; I can't trust anybody 〃 and he
  broke out in another tirade against the intruders。  〃By God; I'll fix 'em
  for thisI'll crush 'em。  And if any operatives try to walkout here I'll
  see that they starve before they get backafter all I've done for 'em;
  kept the mill going in slack times just to give 'em work。  If they desert
  me now; when I've got this Bradlaugh order on my hands〃 Speech became
  an inadequate expression of his feelings; and suddenly his eye fell on
  Janet。  She had turned; but her look made no impression on him。  〃Call up
  the Chief of Police;〃 he said。
  Automatically she obeyed; getting the connection and handing him the
  receiver; standing by while he denounced the incompetence of the
  department for permitting the mob to gather in East Street and demanded
  deputies。  The veins of his forehead were swollen as he cut short the
  explanations of the official and asked for the City Hall。  In making an
  appointment with the Mayor he reflected on the management of the city
  government。  And when Janet by his command obtained the Boston office; he
  gave the mill treasurer a heated account of the afternoon's occurrences;
  explaining circumstantially how; in his absence at a conference in the
  Patuxent Mill; the mob had gathered in East Street and attacked the
  Chippering; and he urged the treasurer to waste no time in obtaining a
  force of detectives; in securing in Boston and New York all the
  operatives that could be hired; in order to break the impending strike。
  Save for this untimely and unreasonable revolt he was bent on stamping
  out; for Ditmar the world to…day was precisely the same world it had been
  the day before。  It seemed incredible to Janet that he could so regard
  it; could still be blind to the fact that these workers whom he was
  determined to starve and crush if they dared to upset his plans and
  oppose his will were human beings with wills and passions and grievances
  of their own。  Until to…day her eyes had been sealed。  In agony they had
  been opened to the panorama of sorrow and suffering; of passion and evil;
  and what she beheld now as life was a vast and terrible cruelty。  She had
  needed only this final proof to be convinced that in his eyes she also
  was but one of those brought into the world to minister to his pleasure
  and profit。  He had taken from her; as his weed; the most precious thing
  a woman has to give; and now that she was here again at his side; by some
  impulse incomprehensible to herselfin spite of the wrong he had done
  her!had sought him out in danger; he had no thought of her; no word for
  her; no use save a menial one: he cared nothing for any help she might be
  able to give; he had no perception of the new light which had broken
  within her soul。。。。  The telephoning seemed interminable; yet she waited
  with a strange patience while he talked with Mr。 George Chippering and
  two of the most influential directors。  These conversations had covered
  the space of an hour or more。  And perhaps as a result of self…
  suggestion; of his repeated assurances to Mr。 Semple; to Mr。 Chippering;
  and the directors of his ability to control the situation; Ditmar's
  habitual self…confidence was gradually restored。  And when at last he
  hung up the instrument and turned to her; though still furious against
  the strikers; his voice betrayed the joy of battle; the assurance of
  victory。
  〃They can't bluff me; they'll have to guess again。  It's that damned
  Holsterhe hasn't any gutshe'd give in to 'em right now if I'd let
  him。  It's the limit the way he turned the Clarendon over to them。  I'll
  show him how to put a crimp in 'em if they don't turn up here to…morrow
  morning。〃
  He was so magnificently sure of her sympathy!  She did; not reply; but
  picked up her coat from the chair where she had laid it。
  〃Where are you going?〃  he demanded。  And she replied laconically;
  〃Home。〃
  〃Wait a minute;〃 he said; rising and taking a step toward her。
  〃You have an appointment with the Mayor;〃 she reminded him。
  〃I know;〃 he said; glancing at the clock over the door。  〃 Where have you
  been? where were you this morning?  I was worried about you; II was
  afraid you might be sick。〃
  〃Were you?〃 she said。  〃I'm all right。  I had business in Boston。〃
  〃Why didn't you telephone me?  In Boston?〃 he repeated。
  She nodded。  He started forward again; but she avoided him。
  〃What's the matter?〃 he cried。