The Witness by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (mobi reader android TXT) 📕

"No,  I Like It," Said Mother,  With A Smile,  Brushing Away A Bright Tear

That Burst Out Unawares. "I Like It '_Hard_,' As Steve Used To Say! Do

You Know,  Father,  What I've Been Thinking--What I Thought Right Away

When I Read That Letter? I Thought,  Suppose That Girl Was The One

Stephen Would Have Loved And Wanted To Marry If He Had Lived. And

Suppose He Had Brought Her Home Here,  What A Fuss We Would Have Made

About Her,  And All! And I'd Just Have Loved To Fix Up The House And Make

It Look Pleasant For Her And Love Her As If She Were My Own Daughter."

Father's Eyes Were Moist,  Too. "H'm! Yes!" He Said,  Trying To Clear His

Throat. "I Guess She'd Be Com'ny For You,  Too,  Mother,  When I Have To Go

To Town,  And She'd Help Around With The Work Some When She Got Better."

"I've Been Thinking," Said Mother. "I've Always Thought I'd Like To Fix

Up The Spare Room. I Read In My Magazine How To Fix Up A Young Girl's

Room When She Comes Home From College,  And I'd Like To Fix It Like That

If There's Time. You Paint The Furniture White,  And Have Two Sets Of

Curtains,  Pink And White,  And Little Shelves For Her Books. Do You Think

We Could Do It?"

"Why,  Sure!" Said Father. He Was So Pleased To See Mother Interested

Like This That He Was Fairly Trembling. She Had Been So Still And Quiet

And Wistful Ever Since The News Came About Stephen. "Why,  Sure! Get Some

Pretty Wall-Paper,  Too,  While You're 'Bout It. S'posen You And I Take A

Run To Town Again In The Morning And Pick It Out. Then You Can Pick Your

Curtains And Paint,  Too,  And Get Jed Lewis To Come In The Afternoon And

Put On The First Coat. How About Calling Him Up On The 'Phone Right Now

And Asking Him About It? I'm Real Glad We've Got That 'Phone. It'll Come

In Handy Now."

Mother's Eyes Glistened. The 'Phone Was Another Thing Stephen Insisted

Upon Before He Left Home. They Hadn't Used It Half A Dozen Times Except

When The Telegrams Came,  But They Hadn't The Heart To Have It

Disconnected,  Because Stephen Had Taken So Much Pride In Having It Put

In. He Said He Didn't Like His Mother Left Alone In The House Without A

Chance To Call A Neighbor Or Send For The Doctor.

"Come To Think Of It,  Hadn't You Better Send A Telegram To That Chap

To-Night? You Know We Can 'Phone It Down To The Town Office. He'll Maybe

Be Worried How You're Going To Take That Letter. Tell Him He's Struck

The Right Party,  All Right,  And You're On The Job Writing That Little

Girl A Letter To-Night That'll Make Her Welcome And No Mistake. But Tell

Him We'll Finance This Operation Ourselves,  And He Can Save The

Ottymobeel For The Next Case That Comes Along--Words To That Effect You

Know,  Mother."

The Supper Things Were Shoved Back And The Telephone Brought Into

Requisition. They Called Up Jed Lewis First Before He Went To Bed,  And

Got His Reluctant Promise That He Would Be On Hand At Two O'clock The

Next Afternoon. They Had To Tell Him They Were Expecting Company Or He

Might Not Have Been There For A Week In Spite Of His Promise.

It Took Nearly An Hour To Reduce The Telegram To Ten Words,  But At Last

They Settled On:

     Bonnie Welcome. Am Writing You Both To-Night. No Money

     Necessary.

                    (Signed)   Stephen's Mother And Father.

The Letters Were Happy Achievements Of Brevity,  For It Was Getting Late,

And Mother Marshall Realized That They Must Be Up Early In The Morning

To Get All That Shopping Done Before Two O'clock.

First The Letter To Bonnie,  Written In A Cramped,  Laborious Hand:

     Dear Little Girl:

     You Don't Know Me,  But I've Heard About You From A Sort Of

     Neighbor Of Yours. I'm Just A Lonely Mother Whose Only Son

     Has Gone Home To Heaven. I've Heard All About Your Sorrow

     And Loneliness,  And I've Taken A Notion That Maybe You Would

     Like To Come And Visit Me For A Little While And Help Cheer

     Me Up. Maybe We Can Comfort Each Other A Little Bit,  And,

     Anyhow,  I Want You To Come.

     Father And I Are Fixing Up Your Room For You,  Just As We

     Would If You Were Our Own Daughter Coming Home From College.

     For You See We've Quite Made Up Our Minds You Will Come,  And

     Father Wants You Just As Much As I Do. We Are Sending You

     Mileage,  And A Check To Get Any Little Things You May Need

     For The Journey,  Because,  Of Course,  We Wouldn't Want To Put

     You To Expense To Come All This Long Way Just To Please Two

     Lonely Old People. It's Enough For You That You Are Willing

     To Come,  And We're So Glad About It That It Almost Seems As

     If The Birds Must Be Singing And The Spring Flowers Going To

     Bloom For You,  Even Though It Is Only The Middle Of Winter.

     Don't Wait To Get Any Fixings. Just Come As You Are. We're

     Plain Folks.

     Father Says Be Sure You Get A Good,  Comfortable Berth In The

     Sleeper,  And Have Your Trunk Checked Right Through. If

     You've Got Any Other Things Besides Your Trunk,  Have Them

     Sent Right Along By Freight. It's Better To Have Your Things

     Here Where You Can Look After Them Than Stored Away Off

     There.

     We're So Happy About Your Coming We Can'testablished By The Revolutionary Coalition Headed By

Prince Lvov. From The Very First Day It Was Evident That The Cabinet Could

Never Satisfy The Russian People. It Was An Anomaly In That The Revolution

Had Been A Popular Revolution,  While The Provisional Government Was

Overwhelmingly Representative Of The Landowners,  Manufacturers,  Bankers,

And Merchants--The Despised And Distrusted Bourgeoisie. The Very Meager

Representation Given To The Working Class,  Through Kerensky,  Was,  In The

Circumstances,  Remarkable For Its Stupid Effrontery And Its Disregard Of

The Most Obvious Realities. Much Has Been Said And Written Of The

Doctrinaire Attitude Which Has Characterized The Bolsheviki In The Later

Phases Of The Struggle,  But If By Doctrinairism Is Meant Subservience To

Preconceived Theories And Disregard Of Realities,  It Must Be Said That The

Statesmen Of The Bourgeoisie Were As Completely Its Victims As The

Bolsheviki Later Proved To Be. They Were Subservient To Dogma And

Indifferent To Fact.

The Bourgeois Leaders Of Russia--And Those Socialists Who Co-Operated With

Them--Attempted To Ignore The Biggest And Most Vital Fact In The Whole

Situation,  Namely,  The Fact That The Revolution Was Essentially A

Socialist Revolution In The Sense That The Overwhelming Mass Of The People

Were Bent Upon The Realization Of A Very Comprehensive,  Though Somewhat

Crudely Conceived,  Program Of Socialization. It Was Not A Mere Political

Revolution,  And Political Changes Which Left The Essential Social Structure

Unchanged,  Which Did Not Tend To Bring About Equality Of Democratic

Opportunity,  And Which Left The Control Of The Nation In The Hands Of

Landowners And Capitalists,  Could Never Satisfy The Masses Nor Fail To

Invite Their Savage Attack. Only The Most Hopeless And Futile Of

Doctrinaires Could Have Argued Themselves Into Believing Anything Else. It

Was Quite Idle To Argue From The Experience Of Other Countries That Russia

Must Follow The Universal Rule And Establish And Maintain Bourgeois Rule

For A Period More Or Less Prolonged. True,  That Had Been The Experience Of

Most Nations,  But It Was Foolish In The Extreme To Suppose That It Must Be

The Experience Of Russia,  Whose Conditions Were So Utterly Unlike Those

Which Had Obtained In Any Nation Which Had By Revolution Established

Constitutional Government Upon A Democratic Basis.

To Begin With,  In Every Other Country Revolution By The Bourgeoisie Itself

Had Been The Main Factor In The Overthrow Of Autocracy. Feudalism And

Monarchical Autocracy Fell In Western Europe Before The Might Of A Powerful

Rising Class. That This Class In Every Case Drew To Its Side The Masses And

Benefited By Their Co-Operation Must Not Be Allowed To Obscure The Fact

That In These Other Countries Of All The Classes In Society The Bourgeoisie

Was The Most Powerful. It Was That Fact Which Established Its Right To Rule

In Place Of The Deposed Rulers. The Russian Middle Class,  However,  Lacked

That Historic Right To Rule. In Consequence Of The Backwardness Of The

Nation From The Point Of View Of Industrial Development,  The Bourgeoisie

Was Correspondingly Backward And Weak. Never In Any Country Had A Class So

Weak And Uninfluential Essayed The Rôle Of The Ruling Class. To Believe

That A Class Which At The Most Did Not Exceed Six Per Cent. Of The

Population Could Assert And Maintain Its Rule Over A Nation Of One Hundred

And Eighty Millions Of People,  When These Had Been Stirred By Years Of

Revolutionary Agitation,  Was At Once Pedantic And Absurd.

The Industrial Proletariat Was As Backward And As Relatively Weak As The

Bourgeoisie. Except By Armed Force And Tyranny Of The Worst Kind,  This

Class Could Not Rule Russia. Its Fitness And Right To Rule Are Not

Appreciably Greater Than The Fitness And Right Of The Bourgeoisie. It

Cannot Even Be Said On Its Behalf That It Had Waged The Revolutionary

Struggle Of The Working Class,  For In Truth Its Share In The Russian

Revolutionary Movement Had Been Relatively Small,  Far Less Than That Of The

Peasant It Was Mother Marshall Who Put It Into Words: