The Co-Citizens Part 14

"And besides," she went on, "we have had the shrewdness, as you call it, to block the business of this town. You'll never be able to do anything so long as we hold you up."

"You can't stop the commerce of a whole county with twenty thousand dollars, Agatha. You may inconvenience us for a time but----"

"It isn't the interest we count upon, you see--that's the smallest part of it. It's the way we have our capital invested. It's the land beneath your feet, the boards above your head, the stock in your bank, the goods in your stores. We've got most of it! I wish you would listen to reason, Stark!" she concluded.

He had not heard half of it. He was wondering what she meant by that reference to Prim. But he caught the last sentence.

"And suppose I do listen to reason, as you call it. How would I go about it?" he asked as he would have tested the strength of an enemy, not that he had the remotest intention of following her advice.

"Go to Judge Regis in the morning and tell him that you are interested in suffrage for women. Say that you are heartily in favour of it and----"

"I'll be hanged if I do! I'll----"

The telephone bell rang. Coleman went out in the hall to answer the call.

"Yes, I'm here," his wife heard him say.

"What's the matter? Oh, all right, be glad to see you."

He returned to the library still frowning, very angry, but really thankful for any diversion which seemed to lead from an offensive discussion.

"Wonder what's up now. Stacey has just called. Wants to see me at once.

Coming right over," he explained.

"Church business. I'll go up and see if the children are comfortable.

It's very warm," Agatha said innocently as she left the room.

Five minutes later Stacey came in. He looked like a good man whose salvation had been mortgaged for its full value. He parted his long coat-tails and sat down. He regarded Coleman with a watery expression.

His mouth was pulled up in the middle and drawn down at the corners.

"I suppose Mrs. Coleman has already informed you?" he began in sepulchral tones.

"About what?" asked Coleman, who warily avoided admitting that he was not in Agatha's confidence.

"About what happened this afternoon at the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary meeting."

"My wife is still upstairs with the children," he evaded.

"I saw Mrs. Sasnett as soon as it was over. She came straight to me and told me all that had occurred. Really I could not have believed such a thing could happen in a Christian community!" he groaned.

"What did happen? Has that Walton woman garnisheed the missionary collection?" asked Coleman impatiently.

"Worse than that! I fear there will be no collection," he answered, wagging his head. Then he went on:

"Mrs. Sasnett, as you know, is a very loyal worker. She's president of the society here. She did what she could to prevent the catastrophe, but she was powerless. Then she resigned. This was Rally Day, you know. The women from all the county churches came in. There must have been two hundred of them. We looked forward to a very profitable meeting. I prayed the opening prayer myself. Then I had some calls to make. It was after I went out that it happened," the inference being that had he remained it could not possibly have happened. "The minutes were read.

Mrs. Sasnett made an address. Then, as is the custom, she opened the meeting for general discussion.

"She said that before any one else had time to get up, Mrs. Walton arose and began to speak. As president, Mrs. Sasnett told me she tried to stop her when she realized the iniquitous trend of her remarks. But she was unable to do so. The women in the congregation actually clapped their hands and insisted that she should be allowed to go on.

"That woman-- I can hardly bring myself to speak of her with respect--began by saying that she had long felt called as a Christian citizen--she used the term citizen--to inform the women of our church of the mistake they were making with their missionary dues. She had too much confidence in their motherhood to believe they would be guilty of such heathen conduct if they really understood.

"The report Mrs. Sasnett gave was so vivid I'm able to quote the very words of Mrs. Walton's outrageous a.s.sault upon the church.

"'This state ranks third from the bottom in the United States in illiteracy, and Jordan County ranks third from the bottom in this state!

We have a public school system which lasts only five months in the year!' That was her opening sentence.

"'Do you know what this means, women of Jordan County? That your children will be the bond servants of the next generation. That they will not be fitted to hold any but the lowest positions in society and in the industrial world. If your daughters marry they must marry ignorant men. If they do not marry and seek to better their condition in the world, they cannot do so, they must enter factories, become servants. They will not know how to spell well enough to be stenographers even. If your sons remain on the farms, they will be renters; they cannot hold the land. Ignorance means bankruptcy for the poor farmer now. If they leave the farm for the cities, they will become street-car drivers, porters, janitors, day labourers. The time has pa.s.sed when a country boy without education can go to the city, make a hit, and become President of the United States. Instead of that they are forced to accept the lowest society the city affords. They are the victims of its vices.

"'Now listen to me. The women of this state pay more to home and foreign missions in the various churches than the state does for the common school fund. Where does your money go? To found schools in Soochow, China, and Yokohama, j.a.pan, and in Kobe, and in Siam, and in Africa. You do not know it, but you women pay two thirds of all the money that goes to support the church. You do that much toward building churches, supporting connectional officers, prelates, pastors, missions, the whole thing, and you are not even allowed a voice in determining the way your money shall be spent. You do the "Lord's work," and the men profit by it. You pray most of the prayers that are prayed properly in secret.

You furnish four fifths of all the piety--and your own children grow up in ignorance. Do you think the Lord blesses such labour and sacrifice? I tell you He will not. Look at your children, mothers, you women from the farms, who left them this very day working in the fields, when they should be in school!'

"Mrs. Sasnett says that she wrought so upon the emotions of those women that they actually wept.

"She went on reminding them of the sacrifices they made to raise their missionary dues. She even went so far as to call attention to their clothes, their hats that were so old-fas.h.i.+oned. She calculated what they contributed one way and another to the church, Coleman, as if that were a crime. Then she concluded by telling them that they could have schools nine months in the year for their own children with the best teachers if they would only do the Lord's work and pay the same amount for this purpose. And when Mrs. Sasnett tried to interrupt her, she grew violent.

"'Hold up your right hand, every woman present who is willing to pledge herself to give never another dollar to foreign missions or to the support of the church until her children have schools nine months in the year!'

"And would you believe it, nearly all of them held up their hands. Some of the old women shouted! Mrs. Sasnett said it resembled a love-feast.

She said they crowded around Mrs. Walton as if--well, as if she'd been a preacher!"

He sighed and looked at Coleman, who made no comment. He was chairman of the Board of Stewards in the Jordantown church, and he was making a rapid mental calculation of the deficit that was likely to occur.

"Of course," Stacey went on, "they were excited. There will be a reaction when we remind them of their vows to support the inst.i.tutions of the church. But what am I to do, meanwhile? I have not taken any collections for this year."

"Don't take them now!" said Coleman quickly.

"It may be worse later on. You know that Miss Adams has been canva.s.sing the county for weeks, arranging those Co-Citizens' Leagues in every voting precinct. I hear that she has made capital out of that failure in Porter County where they tried to float a bond issue to secure a full school term. The men voted it down, especially the farmers. Claimed that they needed the children to work the crops and gather them. She's using that to prove that we need compulsory education in this county and that we'll never get it until the women can vote."

"I don't know what Marshall Adams can be thinking of, allowing his daughter to get into this mess!" said Coleman.

Stacey looked at him. He wondered if this man knew how deep his own wife was in the same "mess."

"I suppose you have heard that they are getting ready for a big ma.s.s meeting here?" he ventured.

"That so?"

"Going to announce their plans, I hear."

"Well, I hope they do. When we know what they are up to, we will know how to stop them."

"You think we can?"

"Certainly! Can women force us to the polls, or compel us to vote for this silly measure? Besides, the state const.i.tution is a perfect protection; only males can vote. This is all a form of feminine hysteria, Stacey; it's bound to pa.s.s. Just sit tight in the boat and wait. I don't mind telling you that the trustees of this--d--er--this Foundation are spending their income like water. When that gives out, they'll be at the end of their tether. They can't touch the princ.i.p.al."

"But they might borrow on it," Stacey put in doubtfully as he arose to take his departure.

This was a devilish possibility of which Coleman had not thought. He was angry with Stacey for suggesting it.

"Damphule to leave the church with Susan Walton in it!" he grumbled as he went upstairs.