The Witness by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (best fiction novels of all time .txt) 📖

Took Our Roughneck Insults. None Of The Fellows Did. It Made A

Big Impression On Us All. And When Court Began To Change,  Came Out

Straight And Said He Believed In Christ,  And All That,  It Knocked The

Tar Out Of Us All. Stephen Hasn't Got Done Preaching Yet. You Ought To

Hear Court Tell The Story Of His Death. It Bowled Me Over When I Heard

It,  And Everywhere He Tells It Men Believe! Wherever Paul Courtland

Tells That Story Stephen Marshall Will Be Preaching."

Chapter 31 Pg 183

 

Mother Marshall Stooped Over And Kissed Pat's Astonished Forehead. "You

Have Made Me A Proud And Happy Mother To-Day,  Laddie! I'm Glad You

Came."

 

Pat,  Suddenly Conscious Of Himself,  Stumbled,  Blushing,  To His Feet.

"Thanks,  Mother! It's Been Great! Believe Me,  I Sha'n't Ever Forget It.

It's Been Like Looking Into Heaven For This Poor Bum. If I'd Had A Home

Like This I Might Have Stood Some Chance Of Being Like Your Steve,

Instead Of Just A Roughneck Athlete."

 

"Yes,  I Know," Smiled Mother Marshall. "A Dear,  Splendid Roughneck,

Doing A Big Work With The Boys! Paul Has Told Me All About It. You're

Preaching A Lot Of Sermons Yourself,  You Know,  And Going To Preach Some

More. Now Shall We Go Down? It's Time For Evening Prayers."

 

So Pat Put His Strong Arm Around Mother Marshall's Plump Waist,  Drew One

Of Her Hands In His,  And Together They Walked Down To The Parlor,  Where

Bonnie Was Already Playing "Rock Of Ages." It Seemed To Pat The Kingdom

Of Heaven Could Be No Sweeter,  For This Was The Kingdom Come On Earth.

When He And Courtland Were Up-Stairs In Their Room,  And All The House

Quiet For The Night,  Pat Spoke:

 

"I've Sized It Up This Way,  Court. There Ain't Any Dying! That's Only An

Imaginary Line Like The Equator On The Map. It's Heaven Or Hell,  Both

Now And Hereafter! We Can Begin Heaven Right Now If We Want To,  And Live

It On Through; And That's What These Folks Have Done. You Don't Hear

Them Sitting Here Fighting Like The Professors Used To Do,  About Whether

There's A Heaven Or A Hell! They Know There's Both. They're Living In

One And Pulling Folks Out Of The Other,  Hard As They Can; And They're

Too Blamed Busy,  Following Out The Bible And Seeing It Prove Itself,  To

Listen To All The Twaddle To Prove That It Ain't So! I Sure Am Darned

Glad You Gave Me The Tip And I Got A Chance To Get In On This Little Old

Game,  For It's The Best Game I Know,  And The Best Part About It Is It

Lasts Forever!"

 

Tennelly Was Away All That Summer,  Doing The Fashionable Summer Resorts

And Taking A California Trip. The Next Winter He Spent In Washington.

Uncle Ramsey Had Him At Work,  And Courtland Ran On Him In His Office

Once,  When He Took A Hurried Trip Down To See What He Could Do For The

Eight-Hour Bill. Tennelly Looked Grave And Sad. He Was Touchingly Glad

To See Courtland. They Did Not Speak Of Gila Once,  But When Courtland

Lay In His Sleepless Sleeper On The Return Trip That Night Tennelly's

Face Haunted Him,  The Wistfulness In It.

 

A Few Months Later Tennelly Wrote A Brief Note Announcing The Birth Of A

Daughter,  Named Doris Ramsey After His Grandmother. The Tone Of His

Letter Seemed More Cheerful.

 

E Of The

Peasants In The Constituent Assembly,  And In The Revolutionary Socialist

Party,  Whose Program They Had Long Since Adopted,  And Whose Leaders And

Ways Of Acting They Knew,  The Inhabitants Of The Country Proved Themselves

In All That Concerned The Elections Wide Awake To The Highest Degree. There

Were Hardly Any Abstentions,  _90 Per Cent. Of The Population Took Part In

The Voting_. The Day Of The Voting Was Kept As A Solemn Feast; The Priest

Said Mass; The Peasants Dressed In Their Sunday Clothes; They Believed That

The Constituent Assembly Would Give Them Order,  Laws,  The Land. In The

Government Of Saratov,  Out Of Fourteen Deputies Elected,  There Were Twelve

Socialist-Revolutionists; There Were Others (Such As The Government Of

Pensa,  For Example) That Elected _Only_ Socialist-Revolutionists. The

Bolsheviki Had The Majority Only In Petrograd And Moscow And In Certain

Units Of The Army. The Elections To The Constituent Assembly Were A

Decisive Victory For The Revolutionary Socialist Party.

 

Such Was The Response Of Russia To The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_. To Violence

And Conquest Of Power By Force Of Arms,  The Population Answered By The

Elections To The Constituent Assembly; The People Sent To This

Assembly,  Not The Bolsheviki,  But,  By An Overwhelming Majority,

Socialist-Revolutionists.

 

 

 

 

Vii

 

_The Fight Against The Bolsheviki_

 

 

 

 

But The Final Result Of The Elections Was Not Established Forthwith. In

Many Places The Elections Had To Be Postponed. The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_

Had Disorganized Life,  Had Upset Postal And Telegraphic Communications,  And

Had Even Destroyed,  In Certain Localities,  The Electoral Mechanism Itself

By The Arrest Of The Active Workers. The Elections Which Began In The

Middle Of November Were Not Concluded Till Toward The Month Of January.

 

In The Mean Time,  In The Country A Fierce Battle Was Raging Against The

Bolsheviki. It Was Not,  On The Part Of Their Adversaries,  A Fight For

Power. If The Socialist-Revolutionists Had Wished They Could Have Seized

The Power; To Do That They Had Only To Follow The Example Of Those Who Were

Called "The Revolutionary Socialists Of The Left." Not Only Did They Not

Follow Their Example,  But They Also Excluded Them From Their Midst. A Short

Time After The Bolshevik Insurrection,  When The Part Taken In This

Insurrection By Certain Revolutionary Socialists Of The Left Was Found Out,

The Central Committee Of The Revolutionary Socialist Party Voted To Exclude

Chapter 31 Pg 184

Adopted Tactics Contrary To Its Principles. This Exclusion Was Confirmed

Afterward By The Fourth Congress Of The Party,  Which Took Place In

December,  1917.

 

Soon After The _Coup D'état_ Of October The Question Was Among All Parties

And All Organizations: "What Is To Be Done? How Will The Situation Be

Remedied?" The Remedy Included Three Points. First,  Creation Of A Power

Composed Of The Representatives Of All Socialist Organizations,  With The

"Populist-Socialists" On The Extreme Right,  And With The Express Condition

That The Principal Actors In The Bolshevik _Coup D'état_ Would Not Have

Part In The Ministry. Second,  Immediate Establishment Of The Democratic

Liberties,  Which Were Trampled Under Foot By The Bolsheviki,  Without Which

Any Form Of Socialism Is Inconceivable. Third,  Convocation Without Delay Of

The Constituent Assembly.

 

Such Were The Conditions Proposed To The Bolsheviki In The Name Of Several

Socialist Parties (The Revolutionary Socialist Party,  The Mensheviki,  The

Populist-Socialists,  Etc.),  And Of Several Democratic Organizations

(Railroad Workers' Union,  Postal And Telegraphic Employees' Union,  Etc.).

The Bolsheviki,  At This Time,  Were Not Sure Of Being Able To Hold Their

Position; Certain Commissaries Of The People,  Soon After They Were

Installed In Power,  Handed In Their Resignation,  Being Terrified By The

Torrents Of Blood That Were Shed At Moscow And By The Cruelties Which

Accompanied The _Coup D'état_. The Bolsheviki Pretended To Accepte,

Pat,  You And I? Let's Cut That Sign Down First,  And Then,  Pat,  I'm Going

To Hunt Up A Stone-Cutter. This Church Has Got To Have A New Name.

'Church Of God For Sale' Has Killed This One! A Church That Used To

Belong To God And Doesn't Any More Is What That Means. They Have Sold

The Church Of God,  But His Presence Is Still Here!"

 

A Few Weeks Later,  When The Two Came Down To Look Things Over,  The

Granite Arch Over The Old Front Doors Bore The Inscription In Letters Of

Stone:

 

     Church Of The Presence Of God

 

Courtland Stood Looking For A Moment,  And Then He Turned To Pat Eagerly.

"I'm Going To Get Possession Of The Whole Block If I Can; Maybe The

Opposite One,  Too,  For A Park,  And You've Got To Be Physical Director!

I'll Turn The Kids And The Older Boys Over To You,  Old Man!"

 

Pat's Eyes Were Full Of Tears. He Had To Turn Away To Hide Them. "You're

A Darned Old Dreamer!" He Said,  In A Choking Voice.

 

So The Rejuvenation Of The Old Church Went On From Week To Week. The Men

At The Seminary Grew Curious As To What Took Pat And Courtland To The

City So Much. Was It A Girl? It Finally Got Around That Courtland Had A

Rich And Aristocratic Church In View,  And Was Soon To Be Married To The

Daughter Of One Of Its Prominent Members. But When They Began To

Congratulate Him,  Courtland Grinned.

 

"When I Preach My First Sermon You May All Come Down And See," He

Replied,  And That Was All They Could Get Out Of Him.

 

Courtland Found That A Lot Had To Be Done To That Church. Plaster Was

Falling Off In Places,  The Pews Were Getting Rickety. The Pulpit Needed

Doing Over,  And The Floor Had To Be Recarpeted. But It Was Wonderful

What A Difference It All Made When It Was Done. Soft Greens And Browns

Replaced The Faded Red. The Carpet Was Thick And Soft,  The Cushions

Matched. Bonnie Had Given Careful Suggestions About It All.

 

"You Could Have Got Along Without Cushions,  You Know," Said Pat,

Frugally,  As He Seated Himself In Appreciative Comfort.

 

"I Know," Said Courtland,  "But I Want This To Look Like A _Church_! Some

Day When We Get The Rest Of The Block And Can Tear Down The Buildings

And Have A Little Sunlight And Air,  We'll Have Some _Real Windows_ With

Wonderful Gospel Stories On Them,  But These Will Do For Now. There's Got

To Be A Pipe-Organ Some Day,  And Bonnie Will Play It!"

 

Pat Always Glowed When Courtland Spoke Of Bonnie. He Never Had Ceased To

Be Thankful That Courtland Escaped From Gila's Machinations. But That

Very Afternoon,  As Courtland Was Preparing To Hurry To The Train,  There

Came A Note From Pat,  Who Had Gone Ahead,  On An Errand:

 

     Dear Court,--Tennelly's In Trouble. He's Up At His

     Old Rooms. He Wants You. I'll Wait For You Down In The

     Office.

 

                                                   Pat.

 

 

Chapter 32 Pg 185

Tennelly Was Pacing Up And Down The Room. His Face Was White,  His Eyes

Were Wild. He Had The Haggard Look Of One Who Has Come Through A Long

Series Of Harrowing Experiences Up To The Supreme Torture Where There Is

Nothing Worse That Can Happen.

 

Courtland's Knock Brought Him At Once To The Door. With Both Hands They