Read Online God's Little Acre by Erskine Caldwell - Free Book Online
Authors: Erskine Caldwell
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us out. But they still charge rent for these God damn privies we have to live in. You know why we’re going to run it ourselves now, don’t you?”
“But some of the other mills in the Valley are running,” Pluto said. “We passed five or six lighted mills when we drove over from Augusta tonight. Maybe they’ll start this one again soon.”
“Like so much hell they will, at a dollar-ten. They are running the other mills because they starved the loom-weavers into going back to work. That was before the Red Cross started passing out sacks of flour. They had to go back to work and take a dollar-ten, or starve. But, by God, we don’t have to do it in Scottsville. As long as we can get a sack of flour once in a while we can hold out. And the State is giving out yeast now. Mix a cake of yeast in a glass of water and drink it, and you feel pretty good for a while. They started giving out yeast because everybody in the Valley has got pellagra these days from too much starving. The mill can’t get us back until they shorten the hours, or cut out the stretchout, or go back to the old pay. I’ll be damned if I work nine hours a day for a dollar-ten, when those rich sons-of-bitches who own the mill ride up and down the Valley in five thousand dollar automobiles.”
Will had got warmed to the subject, and once started, he could not stop. He told Pluto something of their plans for taking over the mill from the owners and running it themselves. The mill workers in Scottsville had been out of work for a year and a half already, he said, and they were becoming desperate for food and clothing. During that length of time the workers had reached an understanding among themselves that bound every man, woman, and child in the company town to a stand not to give in to the mill. The mill had tried to evict them from their homes for nonpayment of rent, but the local had got an injunction from a judge in Aiken that restrained the mill from turning the workers out of the company houses. With that, Will said, they were prepared to stand for their demands just as long as the mill stood in Scottsville.
Rosamond came over to Will and placed her hand on his shoulder. She stood silently beside him until he finished. Pluto was glad she had come. He felt uneasy in Scottsville then; Will talked as though there might be violence at any minute.
“It’s time to go to bed, Will,” she said softly. “If we’re going back with Darling Jill and Pluto in the morning, we ought to get some sleep. It’s after midnight now.”
Will put his arm around her and kissed her on the lips. She lay in his arms with her eyes closed, and her fingers were interlocked with his.
“All right,” he said, raising her from his lap. “I reckon it is time.”
She kissed him again and went to the door. She stood there for a moment, partly turned, looking at Will.
“Come on to bed, Darling Jill,” she said.
They went into the bedroom across the hall and closed the door. Pluto began taking off his tie and shirt. After he had removed them, he began to unlace his shoes. He was ready after that to lie down on the floor and go to sleep. Will brought him a pillow and a quilt and tossed them on the floor at his feet. After leaving Pluto, he went into the room across the hall and closed the door.
“Where am I going to sleep?” he asked, standing in the middle of the room and watching Darling Jill undress.
“In the other bed, Will,” Rosamond said. “Now please go along, Will, and don’t bother Darling Jill. She’s going to sleep with me. Please don’t try to start a row. It’s awfully late. It’s after midnight.”
Without another word he opened the door and went into the adjoining room. He took off his clothes and got into bed. It was too hot to sleep in nightclothes, or even in underwear. He stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes. He still felt a little drunk, and his head was beginning to hurt behind his temples. If he had not felt so badly just then,
“But some of the other mills in the Valley are running,” Pluto said. “We passed five or six lighted mills when we drove over from Augusta tonight. Maybe they’ll start this one again soon.”
“Like so much hell they will, at a dollar-ten. They are running the other mills because they starved the loom-weavers into going back to work. That was before the Red Cross started passing out sacks of flour. They had to go back to work and take a dollar-ten, or starve. But, by God, we don’t have to do it in Scottsville. As long as we can get a sack of flour once in a while we can hold out. And the State is giving out yeast now. Mix a cake of yeast in a glass of water and drink it, and you feel pretty good for a while. They started giving out yeast because everybody in the Valley has got pellagra these days from too much starving. The mill can’t get us back until they shorten the hours, or cut out the stretchout, or go back to the old pay. I’ll be damned if I work nine hours a day for a dollar-ten, when those rich sons-of-bitches who own the mill ride up and down the Valley in five thousand dollar automobiles.”
Will had got warmed to the subject, and once started, he could not stop. He told Pluto something of their plans for taking over the mill from the owners and running it themselves. The mill workers in Scottsville had been out of work for a year and a half already, he said, and they were becoming desperate for food and clothing. During that length of time the workers had reached an understanding among themselves that bound every man, woman, and child in the company town to a stand not to give in to the mill. The mill had tried to evict them from their homes for nonpayment of rent, but the local had got an injunction from a judge in Aiken that restrained the mill from turning the workers out of the company houses. With that, Will said, they were prepared to stand for their demands just as long as the mill stood in Scottsville.
Rosamond came over to Will and placed her hand on his shoulder. She stood silently beside him until he finished. Pluto was glad she had come. He felt uneasy in Scottsville then; Will talked as though there might be violence at any minute.
“It’s time to go to bed, Will,” she said softly. “If we’re going back with Darling Jill and Pluto in the morning, we ought to get some sleep. It’s after midnight now.”
Will put his arm around her and kissed her on the lips. She lay in his arms with her eyes closed, and her fingers were interlocked with his.
“All right,” he said, raising her from his lap. “I reckon it is time.”
She kissed him again and went to the door. She stood there for a moment, partly turned, looking at Will.
“Come on to bed, Darling Jill,” she said.
They went into the bedroom across the hall and closed the door. Pluto began taking off his tie and shirt. After he had removed them, he began to unlace his shoes. He was ready after that to lie down on the floor and go to sleep. Will brought him a pillow and a quilt and tossed them on the floor at his feet. After leaving Pluto, he went into the room across the hall and closed the door.
“Where am I going to sleep?” he asked, standing in the middle of the room and watching Darling Jill undress.
“In the other bed, Will,” Rosamond said. “Now please go along, Will, and don’t bother Darling Jill. She’s going to sleep with me. Please don’t try to start a row. It’s awfully late. It’s after midnight.”
Without another word he opened the door and went into the adjoining room. He took off his clothes and got into bed. It was too hot to sleep in nightclothes, or even in underwear. He stretched out on the bed and closed his eyes. He still felt a little drunk, and his head was beginning to hurt behind his temples. If he had not felt so badly just then,
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