Read Online The Coal War by Upton Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Upton Sinclair
Ads: Link
Harrigan. There were certain courtesies one owed in the world of affairs; and while it was certainly true that working-people ought to be kindly treated, one must remember that they were foreigners, ignorant and excitable, and that it was very wrong to stir them up to disobedience.
Hal was careful and gentle in his reply. He gave a few details about the evils he was opposing. Yes, the old gentleman admitted that American business-men worked their employes too hard; they worked themselves too hard, they lost the enjoyment of life. Also, there was no doubt that Peter Harrigan was a harsh man; a good man in his own peculiar way, generous if you came to him right, and useful in the churchâbut thinking a great deal of his worldly power, and driving his business machine at a cruel pace.
Hal knew that in the days before his fatherâs illness he would not have had such an easy time in a discussion. Edward Warner Senior had himself been a business-man, and had driven his machine at the usual American pace. But in one dreadful night he had been turned into a feeble old man; his hair was white, and the very gentleness of his smile wrung your heart. He was getting stout, because he sat about all day, or was driven in his car. His ideas had a tendency to wander, and he craved to be entertained.
More than anything else in the world he craved the companionship of his favorite son. His delight in life was to have Hal and Jessie play tennis with Laurence Arthur and his fiancée; the old gentleman would come to the court and sit, watching every stroke, keeping up a constant run of comment, applauding gleefully the good shotsâespecially if they were Halâs. There was one business-man in the family, Edward Junior, and the old gentlemanâs idea was that Hal should be its ornament, its holiday part. Hal was so designed by Nature, with the grace and the charm; but instead of filling his proper role, he went off and bound himself in a treadmill of killing toil! He cast away and trampled upon the heritage his father had won for him, he put himself before the world as a living indictment of his fatherâs life-work; and to keep him from such madness there was no way save to ship him off to Europe, five thousand miles away from a lonely old invalid!
Hal announced that he would go; and great was the joy of Jessie, and the satisfaction of those two master-diplomats, Edward Junior and Garret Arthur, who met in secret at the club and drank high-balls in tribute to their own astuteness. They had got the young madman safe, for a few months at least; for of course neither of these capable and hard-headed young business-men had any idea of that âEuropeâ to which they were sending their patient. To them the name meant a place for boarding-school-girl tours, personally conducted, for honeymoons, and such play affairs; the home of a venerable thing called âcultureââcathedrals, guide-books, endlessly multiplied Madonnas. There would be Jessie, to administer to the patient the daily medicine of love, and Mrs. Arthur to watch his symptoms and report; surely a promising course of treatment for a youth gone mad on socialistic moon-shine!
[19]
There now began a whirl of excitement for Jessie. She would buy things in New York, of course, and still more things in Europe; but it was necessary to buy some things at once, in order to develop the holiday atmosphere. As for Hal, he had to see his radical friends and explain his decision, making them understand that he was not running away.
In particular he had to explain to Mary Burke. Why should he have been so much embarrassed to tell Mary that he was going to spend a summer in Europe, studying the Socialist and Syndicalist movements? Was it because he was to be with Jessie Arthur? Or was it because he could not keep out of his mind the preposterous thought that Mary too would have enjoyed spending a summer in Europe, studying the Socialist and Syndicalist
Hal was careful and gentle in his reply. He gave a few details about the evils he was opposing. Yes, the old gentleman admitted that American business-men worked their employes too hard; they worked themselves too hard, they lost the enjoyment of life. Also, there was no doubt that Peter Harrigan was a harsh man; a good man in his own peculiar way, generous if you came to him right, and useful in the churchâbut thinking a great deal of his worldly power, and driving his business machine at a cruel pace.
Hal knew that in the days before his fatherâs illness he would not have had such an easy time in a discussion. Edward Warner Senior had himself been a business-man, and had driven his machine at the usual American pace. But in one dreadful night he had been turned into a feeble old man; his hair was white, and the very gentleness of his smile wrung your heart. He was getting stout, because he sat about all day, or was driven in his car. His ideas had a tendency to wander, and he craved to be entertained.
More than anything else in the world he craved the companionship of his favorite son. His delight in life was to have Hal and Jessie play tennis with Laurence Arthur and his fiancée; the old gentleman would come to the court and sit, watching every stroke, keeping up a constant run of comment, applauding gleefully the good shotsâespecially if they were Halâs. There was one business-man in the family, Edward Junior, and the old gentlemanâs idea was that Hal should be its ornament, its holiday part. Hal was so designed by Nature, with the grace and the charm; but instead of filling his proper role, he went off and bound himself in a treadmill of killing toil! He cast away and trampled upon the heritage his father had won for him, he put himself before the world as a living indictment of his fatherâs life-work; and to keep him from such madness there was no way save to ship him off to Europe, five thousand miles away from a lonely old invalid!
Hal announced that he would go; and great was the joy of Jessie, and the satisfaction of those two master-diplomats, Edward Junior and Garret Arthur, who met in secret at the club and drank high-balls in tribute to their own astuteness. They had got the young madman safe, for a few months at least; for of course neither of these capable and hard-headed young business-men had any idea of that âEuropeâ to which they were sending their patient. To them the name meant a place for boarding-school-girl tours, personally conducted, for honeymoons, and such play affairs; the home of a venerable thing called âcultureââcathedrals, guide-books, endlessly multiplied Madonnas. There would be Jessie, to administer to the patient the daily medicine of love, and Mrs. Arthur to watch his symptoms and report; surely a promising course of treatment for a youth gone mad on socialistic moon-shine!
[19]
There now began a whirl of excitement for Jessie. She would buy things in New York, of course, and still more things in Europe; but it was necessary to buy some things at once, in order to develop the holiday atmosphere. As for Hal, he had to see his radical friends and explain his decision, making them understand that he was not running away.
In particular he had to explain to Mary Burke. Why should he have been so much embarrassed to tell Mary that he was going to spend a summer in Europe, studying the Socialist and Syndicalist movements? Was it because he was to be with Jessie Arthur? Or was it because he could not keep out of his mind the preposterous thought that Mary too would have enjoyed spending a summer in Europe, studying the Socialist and Syndicalist
Similar Books
