The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Straight Deal, by Owen Wister

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: A Straight Deal
or The Ancient Grudge

Author: Owen Wister

Posting Date: September 14, 2008 [EBook #1379]
Release Date: July, 1998

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STRAIGHT DEAL ***

Produced by Bill Brewer

A STRAIGHT DEAL

OR

THE ANCIENT GRUDGE

By Owen Wister

To Edward and Anna Martin who give help in time of trouble

Chapter I: Concerning One's Letter Box

Publish any sort of conviction related to these morose days through
which we are living and letters will shower upon you like leaves in
October. No matter what your conviction be, it will shake both yeas and
nays loose from various minds where they were hanging ready to fall.
Never was a time when so many brains rustled with hates and panaceas
that would sail wide into the air at the lightest jar. Try it and see.
Say that you believe in God, or do not; say that Democracy is the key
to the millennium, or the survival of the unfittest; that Labor is
worse than the Kaiser, or better; that drink is a demon, or that wine
ministers to the health and the cheer of man--say what you please, and
the yeas and nays will pelt you. So insecurely do the plainest, oldest
truths dangle in a mob of disheveled brains, that it is likely, did you
assert twice two continues to equal four and we had best stick to
the multiplication table, anonymous letters would come to you full of
passionate abuse. Thinking comes hard to all of us. To some it never
comes at all, because their heads lack the machinery. How many of such
are there among us, and how can we find them out before they do us harm?
Science has a test for this. It has been applied to the army recruit,
but to the civilian voter not yet. The voting moron still runs amuck in
our Democracy. Our native American air is infected with alien breath. It
is so thick with opinions that the light is obscured. Will the sane ones
eventually prevail and heal the sick atmosphere? We must at least assume
so. Else, how could we go on?

Chapter II: What the Postman Brought

During the winter of 1915 I