FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137  
138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   >>   >|  
yd George. What are you going to do?" "I was thinking," Nolan observed, advancing, "of blowing up Washington. We'd have a fresh start, you see. With Washington gone root and branch we would have some sort of chance, a clear sweep, with the capital here or in Boston. Or London." Clayton laughed. Behind Nolan's cynicism he felt a real disturbance. But Dunbar eyed him uncertainly. He didn't know about some of these Irish. They'd fight like hell, of course, if only they'd forget England. "Don't worry about Washington," Clayton said. "Let it work out its own problems. We will have our own. What do you suppose men like you and myself are going to do? We can't fight." Nolan settled himself in a long chair. "Why can't we fight?" he asked. "I heard something the other day. Roosevelt is going to take a division abroad--older men. I rather like the idea. Wherever he goes there'll be fighting. I'm no Rough Rider, God knows; but I haven't spent a half hour every noon in a gymnasium for the last ten years for nothing. And I can shoot." "And you are free," Clayton observed, quietly. Nolan looked up. "It's going to be hard on the women," he said. "You're all right. They won't let you go. You're too useful where you are. But of course there's the boy." When Clayton made no reply Nolan glanced at him again. "I suppose he'll want to go," he suggested. Clayton's face was set. For more than an hour now Graham had been closeted with his mother, and as the time went on, and no slam of a door up-stairs told of his customary method of leaving a room, he had been conscious of a growing uneasiness. The boy was soft; the fiber in him had not been hardened yet, not enough to be proof against tears. He wanted desperately to leave Nolan, to go up and learn what arguments, what coaxing and selfish whimperings Natalie was using with the boy. But he wanted, also desperately, to have the boy fight his own fight and win. "He will want to go, I think. Of course, his mother will be shaken just now. It'll all new to her. She wouldn't believe it was coming." "He'll go," Nolan said reflectively. "They'll all go, the best of them first. After all, we've been making a lot of noise about wanting to get into the thing. Now we're in, and that's the first price we pay--the boys." A door slammed up-stairs, and Clayton heard Graham coming down. He passed the library door, however, and Clayton suddenly realized that he was going out.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137  
138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Clayton

 

Washington

 

stairs

 

suppose

 

desperately

 

wanted

 

mother

 
observed
 

Graham

 

coming


method
 

customary

 

leaving

 

uneasiness

 
suggested
 
growing
 

conscious

 

glanced

 

closeted

 

whimperings


wanting

 

making

 

reflectively

 

library

 
passed
 

suddenly

 

realized

 
slammed
 

wouldn

 

arguments


coaxing

 

hardened

 

selfish

 

shaken

 

Natalie

 

uncertainly

 

Dunbar

 

disturbance

 
Behind
 

cynicism


England

 

forget

 

laughed

 

London

 

blowing

 

George

 

thinking

 

advancing

 
branch
 

Boston