§ 83
Among the first load to be brought in was Miriam Yankovich. Miriam
had joined the Communist Party, and she had been born in Russia, so that
was all there was to her case. Peter, knew, of course that it was Miriam
who had set Rosie Stern after him and brought about his downfall. Still,
he could not help but be moved by her appearance. She looked haggard and
old, and she had a cough, and her eyes were wild and crazy. Peter
remembered her as proud and hot-tempered, but now her pride was all
gone — she flung herself on her knees before him, and caught hold of his
coat, sobbing hysterically. It appeared that she had a mother and five
young brothers and sisters who were dependent upon her earnings; all her
money had been consumed by hospital expenses, and now she was to be
deported to Russia, and what would become of her loved ones?
Peter answered, what could he do? She had violated
the law, they had her membership card in the Communist
Party, and she had admitted that she was alien born. He tried to draw
away, but she clung to him, and went on sobbing and pleading. At least
she ought to have a chance to talk with her old mother, to tell her what
to do, where to go for help, how to communicate with Miriam in future.
They were sending her away without allowing her to have a word with her
loved ones, without even a chance to get her clothing!
Peter, as we know, had always been soft-hearted towards women, so
now he was embarrassed. In the handling of these cattle he was carrying
out the orders of his superiors; he had no power to grant favors to any
one, and he told Miriam this again and again. But she would not listen
to him. "Please, Peter, please! For God's sake, Peter! You know you were
once a little in love with me, Peter — you told me so — "
Yes, that was true, but it hadn't done Peter much good. Miriam
bad been interested in Mac — in Mac, that most dangerous devil, who had
given Peter so many anxious hours! She had brushed Peter to one side,
she had hardly been willing to listen to what he said; and now she was
trying to use that love she had spurned!
She had got hold of his hand, and he could not get it
away from her without violence. "If you ever felt a spark
of love for a woman," she cried, "surely you cannot deny
such a favor — such a little favor! Please, Peter, for the
sake of old times!"
Suddenly Peter started, and Miriam too. There came a voice from
the doorway. "So this is one of your lady friends, is it?" And there
stood Gladys, staring, rigid with anger, her little hands clenched. "So
this is one of your
Red sweethearts, one of your nationalized women?" And she stamped her
foot. "Get up, you hussy! Get up, you slut!" And as Miriam continued to
kneel, motionless with surprise, Gladys rushed at her, and clutched two
handfuls of her heavy black hair, and pulled so that Miriam fell prone
on the floor. "I'll teach you, you free lover!" she screamed. "I'll
teach you to make love to my husband!" And she dragged Miriam about by
that mop of black hair, kicking her and clawing her, until finally
several of the bulls had to interfere to save the girl's life.
As a matter of fact Gladys had been told about Peter's shameful
past before she married him; Guffey had told her, and she had told Peter
that Guffey had told her, she had reminded Peter of it many, many times.
But the actual sight of one of these "nationalized women" had driven her
into a frenzy, and it was a week before peace was restored in the Gudge
family. Meantime poor Peter was buffeted by storms of emotion, both at
home and in his office. They were getting ready the first Red train, and
it seemed as if every foreign Red that Peter had ever known was
besieging him, trying to get at him and harrow his soul and his
conscience. Sadie Todd's cousin, who had been born in England, was
shipped out on this first train, and also a Finnish lumberman whom Peter
had known in the I. W. W., and a Bohemian cigar worker at whose home he
had several times eaten, and finally Michael Dubin, the Jewish boy with
whom he had spent fifteen days in jail, and who had been one of the
victims of the black-snake whippings.
Michael made no end of wailing, because he had a wife
and three babies, and he set up the claim that when the
"bulls" had raided his home they had stolen all his savings, two or
three hundred dollars. Peter, of course, insisted that he could do
nothing; Dubin was a Red and an alien, and he must go. When they were
loading them on the train, there was Dubin's wife and half a hundred
other women, shrieking and wringing their hands, and trying to break
thru the guards to get near their loved ones. The police had to punch
them in the stomachs with their clubs to hold them back, and in spite of
all these blows, the hysterical Mrs. Dubin succeeded in breaking thru
the guards, and she threw herself under the wheels of the train, and
they were barely able to drag her away in time to save her life. Scenes
like this would, of course, have a bad effect upon the public, and so
Guffey called up the editors of all the newspapers, and obtained a
gentleman's agreement that none of them would print any details.
