A Man of Two Countries Part 16

A Man of Two Countries

On the Sunday spent in Helena the doctor proposed to Danvers that they give over politics and call at the Blairs. "They won't stand on formalities, and we both need to get our minds out of this political struggle. I'll be glad when I can go home to Fort Benton!"

"Charlie seems to be doing well in Helena," remarked Philip, as they approached the house next Judge Latimer's.

"He's up, then down. He isn't much of a business man, and hasn't head enough to keep in the swim. He wors.h.i.+ps that sister of his, and just now he's doing pretty well. I fancy that she knows nothing of his financial standing."

"I imagine Miss Blair knows more about Charlie's difficulties than either you or he give her credit for. She sees more than she tells."

The callers found brother and sister on the wide porch, and after the greetings and a half-hour of general conversation, Charlie Blair asked the doctor if he would come inside and give a little advice on a private matter.

"Good," cried Winifred. "For once I'm glad that Charlie can think of nothing but business. Now I can talk to Mr. Danvers."

"See that you do!" commanded Philip. "Yesterday I went away feeling like a garrulous dame; it is your turn to-day."

Winifred affected to reflect. "What shall be my theme--art, music, literature or our mutual friends?"

"Tell me of yourself."

"As a subject of conversation, that would be soon exhausted. Women, you know, are too idle to be good; too conventional to be bad."

"Indeed!" returned the cattleman, catching her mood. "I have known many women of that description. Pardon me, but I had imagined you were a different type."

"You say the nicest things! I feel that we are going to be very good friends."

Danvers bowed. "Thank you. I think we are."

She returned his frank gaze, and settled herself comfortably for an afternoon's enjoyment.

"Now talk!" she in turn commanded, with the sweeping imperialism she sometimes manifested toward a chance companion.

"I refuse. It is your turn."

"How you like to put on the mask of silence! Do you bolt the door to everyone but the doctor and Judge Latimer?"

"Thoughts are hard things to express, unless one forgets himself, and they come spontaneously."

"Go ahead and forget yourself, then!"

"You are inexorable," laughing. "Your demand makes me think of an Indian Council. Of course, you know that when they meet to discuss problems, they sit silent for hours. The avowed purpose of conferring paralyzes their tongues, apparently, as you have paralyzed mine. If I ever had an idea I could not produce it now."

"The Quakers have a prettier custom. They sit in silence till the spirit moves. I will be the spirit that moves you;" and so adroitly did she continue that unconsciously the man spoke of more serious things--his likings, his beliefs.

"Why did you become an American?" she asked at length, the question that had often puzzled her.

"My mother was an American." His voice took a note of tenderness which Winifred remembered long. "But when I left the service it was with no thought of choosing this as my country. I had no desire to return to England, however, and the chances for business seemed greater on this side of the line."

The girl's deep eyes gazed directly into his with flattering intentness.

"And so the years slipped by until I found that my interests were all here, and I could not leave, even if I had cared to. Isn't that true, judge?" he remarked, as Arthur Latimer came across the lawn. "You wanted to make a voter of me, for your own dark purposes----"

"Philip always. .h.i.ts the bull's-eye," admitted the judge, interrupting with a menacing gesture of affection at the implication. "You would not leave the State. That's just it. The most of us came into the Northwest, as we thought, to make a fortune and go back East or South to enjoy it.

But whether we have made money or not, we discovered that we are here to stay. The old ties in other communities are gone. Old friends are dead.

Old memories faded. We aren't all such enthusiasts as the doctor, who lives at Fort Benton for sheer love of the place, but----"

"I know just how he feels," cried Winifred, quick to defend her old friend. "I could go back there myself to live. We have a love-feast every time we speak of the dear old town, and that's every time I see him."

"I think," said Danvers, slowly, making sure of his words, "that I have come to love Montana more than my native land, though that was certainly very far from my feeling when I came back to Fort Benton as a civilian, and asked for work. I told the man that I was an Englishman, but I made a mistake. There was a long list of applicants ahead of me--Americans--to whom preference would be given. I thanked the manager, but from that day I determined to succeed without being forced into citizens.h.i.+p. I did succeed, and of my own choice I became an American!"

"Words, words! What are you talking about?" the doctor asked, breezily, as he appeared with Blair. "Let us into your charmed circle. I, for one, promise to be silent. Any occasion gains dignity by having an audience, and I'll promise not to be critical. I will consider your youth."

After a general laugh, the judge gave the trend of the conversation, and the doctor quite forgot his promise. The discussion of good citizens.h.i.+p became general, and presently Philip was appealed to for testimony on the subject of foreigners becoming naturalized.

"I hardly think I can tell you much that you do not already know," he said, "concerning Englishmen becoming American citizens. We must give the inhabitants of every great European country the credit for believing their own country to be the greatest. With the possible exception of Russia and Turkey, I am inclined to the opinion that they think their liberty is not infringed upon, any more than it should be; and they are, I suppose, contented with their lot. John Bull has every reason to think himself a favored being. He is proud of the inst.i.tutions of his country--royalty, aristocracy. The knight, the 'squire, the merchant, manufacturer, skilled workman and laborer--each has his place. The laborer, cap in hand, bows to his master. So, too, aristocracy bends the knee to royalty--being taught to keep allotted rank in society, and to defer to those above. What is more, all have a supreme regard for the law itself, as well as for those who administer it."

Winifred listened. Her bright, upturned face was an incentive for Danvers to continue.

"When we Englishmen come to this country," he said, "knowing but little of the government, we care nothing for it. We generally come to better our condition financially, not politically. When we see the actions of political heelers at elections we are often astounded. We hear of Tweed, of Tammany, and it is not surprising that we have a certain contempt for American politics. If we watch very closely we see men elected to office who are entirely incompetent, and we even have suspicions of their honesty."

The girl laughed lightly.

"You choose to be very sarcastic," she commented. But Danvers had more to say.

"As time goes on we watch events, comparing the government of this country with that of our own. Little by little we are brought to feel that these States are being fairly well governed, after all. In my own case, when Judge Latimer asked me to take an active part in politics, I hesitated. But I had cast my lot in Fort Benton, and it seemed wrong to accept all that America had to give with no return from myself."

The Anglo-American looked around his circle of friends. Never before had he expressed himself so fully. He could not understand how he had been beguiled. But never before had he felt that a woman's brain would grasp every reason adduced, and understand--that was it; he felt that he was understood!

"Montana politics are like an Englishman's game--high. They smell to heaven," said Charlie Blair, after the men had further discussed the political situation.

"I don't believe that Montana is any worse than many other States,"

defended Winifred, quickly.

"We are building history," said the doctor, dreamily, "and history repeats itself. As the powerful n.o.bles of Greece and Rome dictated harsh terms to the common people and ruined their nations, so it will be with us. Machine politics, money and whiskey, millionaires and monopolies--truly the outlook is depressing."

"You are not usually so pessimistic, doctor," reproached Winifred.

"Well"--Blair's contented philosophy was refres.h.i.+ng--"politicians seldom get more than one-fourth their money's worth, when they use it unlawfully. Three-quarters of it is wasted by giving it to hangers-on."

"Public men should be unhampered by demands for spoils."

"They invite the demands, Phil," replied the doctor, dryly. "If it were not openly known that a man could get a position as a corporation lawyer, or timekeeper in a big mine, or some other inducement, do you think any would-be senator, for instance, would be troubled by distributing 'spoils of office'?"

"He would not be troubled with superfluous votes, either," remarked the judge, caustically.

"Oh," cried Winifred, with a vision of what might be, "if only the candidates and the voters could be brought to see that public office is a public trust; that the honor of election is enough!"

"That is the way it is in England," answered Danvers. "There, for instance, a man is elected to a city council for his personal fitness and ability to hold office. No questioning of his political affiliations. No perquisites--no privileges. Only the honor of his fellow citizens, which is enough. It is the same in other positions, even in Parliament."