第17章
“Bettergetonwi’it，“saidMcNishcurtly。
“Ishallgetonw’enIamgoodandready，BrotherMcNish，“answeredSimmons。
“Allr-r-right，brother，butAdootye’reooto’order。Whoisthechairmano’thisCommittee？“askedMcNishcalmly。
“BrotherPhillips，“answeredtwoorthreevoices。
“Allright。Isuggestyouproceedregularlyandcallthemeetingtoorder，“saidMcNishquietly。Simmons，recognisingthatitwasGreekmeetingGreek，agreedtothis。
ClumsilyandhesitatinglyBrotherPhillipsbeganstatingthebusinessoftheCommittee。HehadnotgonefarbeforeSimmonsinterrupted。
“Mr。Chairman，withyourpermissionIwouldjustliketosaythattheresolutionpassedattherepresentativejointmeetin’oftheMaitlandMillsandBoxFactory(h)employeeslastnightwillsufficiently(h)explainthe(h)objectofthismeetin’’ere。“
BrotherSimmons’tonesuggestedinfinitepityforthelumberingeffortsofthechairman。
“Yes，Iguessitwill，“saidthechairman，blushinginhisconfusion。BrotherPhillipswasnewtohispositionanditsduties。
“Iwouldsuggestthatthatresolutionberead，“saidBrotherSimmons，thepityinhistonehardlyveilinghiscontempt。
“Yes！Yes！Ofcourse！“saidBrotherPhillipshurriedly。“Eh——
wouldyoupleasereadit，Mr——thatis——BrotherSimmons？“
WithgreatshowofdeliberationandofentiremasteryofthesituationMr。SimmonsproducedaMinuteBookandbegan:
“Mr。Chairmanandbrothers，Imaysaythatthis’ereresolutionwaspassedatajointrepresentativemeetin’ofallthe(h)employeesoftheMaitlandCompany——“
“Thereisnosichcompany，Mr。Chairman，“saidMcNish。“Asayletusheartheresolution。We’llhearthespeechafterwardsifwemust。“ItwasagainGreekmeetingGreek，andthelittlemanturnedwithasarcasticsmiletoMcNish。
“IsupposeBrotherMcNishis(h)anxioustogetreadyforthisgaimewe’vebin’earingabaht。Ishouldjustliketoremind’imthatwe’aveabiggergaimeon’and，if’ewantstogetintoit。PersonallyIdon’t’avenouseforthese’eregaimes。I’aveseenthesamekindofcapitalisticdodgetodistracttheworkin’man’s(h)attentionfrom’isrealgaimeinlife。Thesecircumventions——“
“MaisterChair-r-man！Arise——“
“Mr。Chairman，I’avethefloorandifBrotherMcNishknows(h)anythinkabahtconstitootionalproceedin’s——“
“MaisterChair-r-man——Maister-rChair-r-r-man！“BrotherMcNish’sDoricwasominouslyrasping。“Arisetaeapintofor-r-de-r-r。
AndBrotherSimmons，whoclaimstobeanexpertinconstitutionallawandprocedureknowsIhavethefloor。Mapintoforderisthis，thatthereisnobusinessbeforethemeetingandasapparentlyonlyaboothalfthemembersareabsent——“
“And’oo’sfaultisthat？’Ewastogetthem’isself，“shoutedMr。
Simmons。
“Asearchedthetoonforthembutcudnafindthem，butasAwassayin’——asthesecretaryhasnobusinesstaebringbeforethemeetingbutawheenhavers，Amoveweadjourntaetomorrowat12:30
p。m。inthisplace，andIbelievethatasBritherMaitlandisalsoamembero’thiscommitteehewillsecondthemotion。“
Maitland，notknowingintheleastwhatthewholethingwasabout，butseeingawayoutofthepresentmix-up，promptlysecondedthemotion。
“Mr。Chairman！“shoutedSimmons。“Iampreparedto——“
“MaisterChair-r-man，Aneednotremindyouthatthereisnodiscussiononamotiontoadjourn。“
“Thatisquiteright，“saidthechairman，inwhosememorybysomeobscurementalprocessthisfactseemedtohavefoundalodging。
“Itismovedthatthiscommitteedonowadjourn。“
“Mr。Chairman！Iprotest，“shriekedBrotherSimmonsfrantically。
“Ay，he’sagrandprotester！“saidBrotherMcNish。
Themotionwascarriedbyamajorityofone，BrothersWigglesworth，McNishandMaitlandvotingintheaffirmative。
“Traitors！“shriekedBrotherSimmons。“Capitalistictraitors！“
“Hootmon！Ye’renoinHydePark。Saveyerebreathforyereporritchthemorn——“saidMcNish，relaxingintoagrimsmileashelefttherooms。
“We’llget’im，“saidSimmonstohisallyandfriend。“’E’sinwiththatthereyoungpup。’Eknows’owtowork’imand’e’dsellusallup，’ewould。“BrotherSimmons’brandofprofanitystronglysavouredoftheLondonpavementsinitspicturesquefluency。
“Getinhere，McNish，“saidMaitland，whowaswaitingatthedoor。
WithsomehesitationMcNishacceptedtheinvitation。
“Now，whatdoesthismean？“saidMaitlandsavagely，thencheckinghisrage，“butIoughttothankyouforgettingmeoutofthegripofthatfranticidiot。Whatisthisfoolthing？“
“It’snaethat，“saidMcNishshortly。“Itisanythingbutthat。
ButIgrantyethiswasnotimetobringiton。Thatwasbeyondme。Adootyonpuircraturhadapurposeinit，however。Hedisna——doesnotthinkmuchofthesegamesofyours。Butthat’sanither——another“——McNishwascarefulofhisspeech——“matter。“
“Butwhatin——“
“Iamjusttellingyou。Thereisastrong，averystrongmovementunderwayamongtheunionsatpresent。“
“Amovement？Strike，doyoumean？“
“Itmaybe，orworse。“McNish’stonewasverygrave。“Andasagoodunionmantheyexpectyourassistance。“
“Wagesagain？“
“Ay，andcondeetionsandthelike。“
“Butitisnotsixmonthssincethelastagreementwassignedandthatagreementisrunningstill。“
“Ay，itis，butcondeetions，conditionshavechangedsincethatdate，“saidMcNish，“andtheremustbereadjustment——atleast，thereisafeelingthatway。“
“Readjustment？ButIhavehadnohintofthisinourmeetings。
Thishasnotcomeupfordiscussion。“
Agentlepitysmiledfromtheruggedfaceofthemanbesidehim。
“Hardly，“hesaid。“It’snodonethatway。“
TheycametoMcNish’sdoor。
“Willyoucomein？“hesaidcourteously。ArefusalwasatMaitland’slipswhenthedoorwasopenedbyanoldladyinawhitefrilledcapandwithoutbeingabletoexplainhowitcameabouthefoundhimselfinthequaintlyfurnishedbutdelightfullycosyliving-room，soakinginthecomfortofagreatblazingfire。
“Thisisreallysolidcomfort，“hesaid，spreadinghishandstotheglowingpineslabs。
“Ay，yeneedittheday。Thefirecheerstheheart，“saidtheoldlady。
“Butyoudon’tneeditforthat，Mrs。McNish，“saidhervisitor，smilingatthestrong，serenefaceunderthewhitefrilledcap。
“DoInotthen？An’whatabootyersel’？“Thekeengreyeyesearchedhisface。Maitlandwasimmediatelyconsciousofavastdrearinessinhislife。Hesatsilentlookingintotheblazingfire。
“Ay，“continuedtheoldlady，“buttherearethebrightspotstae，an’it’silltaegloweratacauldhearthstone。“Maitlandglancedquicklyattheshrewdandkindlyface。Whatdidsheknowabouthimandhislifeandhis“cauldhearthstone“？Sohesaidnothingbutwaited。Suddenlysheswervedtoanothertheme。
“Malcolm，“shesaid，“haveyesecuredtheticketsforthematch？“
“Aw，mither，nowitistheterribleauldsportyeare。Shedragsmeouttoallthesethings。“HiseyestwinkledatMaitland。“I
can’tfindtimeforanystudy。“
“Hootsyeandye’restudy。Adootaralehearteningscrambleontheicewaddaeyemairguidthananoorwi’yongodlessJewbuddie。“
“ShemeansMarx，ofcourse，“saidMcNish，inanswertoMaitland’slookofperplexity。“Shehasnouseforhim。“
“Butthetickets，Malcolm，“insistedhismother。
“Well，mither，A’llconfessIcleanforgotthem。Yesee，“hehurriedtosay，“AwasthatfashedoveryonCommitteemaitter——“
“Committeemaitter！“exclaimedtheoldladyindignantly。“DidI
nottellyenotoheedyonscreamin’Englishcraturwi’hisrevolutionarynonsense？“
“ShemeansSimmons，“interjectedMalcolmwithalittlesmile。“Hemeanswell，mither，butA’mvexedabootthetickets。“
“Mrs。McNish，“saidMaitland，“IhappentohavetwoticketsthatI
canletyouhave。“Foraninstantshehesitated。
“Wecanfindawayin，Ithink，Mr。Maitland，“saidMalcolm，forestallinghismother’sanswer。Butwithsimpledignityhismotherputhimaside。
“Ashallbeverrapleasedindeedtohavethetickets，providedyoucansparethem，Mr。Maitland。Nevermind，noo，Malcolm。Akenwellwhatye’rethinkin’。He’sgeyindependentandhismindisonthaerevolutionarybuddieso’his。A’mayetellin’himthisisnaelandforyonnonsense。GinwewereinRooshie，orGermanywhaurthepeoplehavelivedinblackslaveryorevenintheauldlandwhaurthefowkarehauddendoonwi’generationso’classbondage，theremightbeachanceforarevolutionary。Butwhatcanyedaeinalandwhaurthefowkareayeclimbin’throughither，nooup，noodown，noomaister，nooman？YecannamakeCanadiansrevolutionaries。Theyarea’ontheroadtobemaisters。Malcolmisacleverloonbuthehasaweebeeinhisbonnet。“Theoldladysmiledquizzicallyatherbig，serious-facedson。
“Noo，mither，ye’rejusttalkin’havers，“hesaid。“MymotherisasgreataSocialistasIam。“
“Ay，butAkeepmaheid。“
“Thatyedo，mither。Ye’regeycannie，“repliedherson，shakinghishead，andsotheypassedthewordtoandfro，andMaitlandsatlisteningtothechat。Thedelightfulspiritofcamaraderiebetweenmotherandsonremindedhimofasimilarrelationshipbetweenmotherandsonsinhisownhomeinpre-wardays。Hecouldnottearhimselfaway。Itwaswellontohisdinnerhourbeforeherosetogo。
“Youhavegivenmeadelightfulhour，Mrs。McNish，“hesaidasheshookhands。“Youmademethinkofmyownhomeintheolddays，——I
meanbeforethewarcameandsmashedeverything。“Theoldlady’seyeswerekindlyscanninghisface。
“Ay，thewarsmashedyerehame？“Maitlandnoddedinsilence。
“Hisbrither，“saidMalcolm，quietly。
“Puirladdie，“shesaid，pattinghishand。
“Andmymother，“addedMaitland，speakingwithdifficulty，“andthat，ofcourse，meantourhome——andeverything。SoIthankyouforaveryhappyhour，“headdedwithasmile。
“Wadyecaretocomeagain？“saidtheoldladywithaquietdignity。“We’replainfowkbutye’llbealwayswelcome。“
“Ijustwill，Mrs。McNish。AndIwillsendyouthetickets。“
“Man！Iwishyegrandluckthenight。Agrandvictory。“
“Thankyou。Wearegoingtomakeatryforit，“saidMaitland。
“Youmustshoutforus。“
“Ay，wullI，“sheansweredgrimly。AndshekeptherwordforofallthecompanythatmadeuptheMaitlandparty，nonewasmoreconspicuouslyenthusiasticinapplausethanwasawhite-hairedoldladyinarespectableblackbonnetwhosewildandweirdDoricexpletivesandexclamationswerethejoyofthewholepartyabouther。