The Crimson Tide: A Novel

“5. The military and naval organisations will immediately dissolve and reorganise themselves upon a democratic basis for speedy mobilisation.

“6. All working classes and political prisoners will be immediately freed and all indictments quashed.

“7. All vacant and unused land shall immediately revert to the people and remain common property until suitable regulations for its disposition can be made.

“8. All telephones, telegraphs, cables, railroads, steamship lines and other means of communication and transportation shall be immediately taken over by the workers and treated henceforth as the property of the people.

“9. As speedily as possible the workers in the various industries will proceed to take over these industries and organise them in the spirit of the new epoch now beginning.

“10. The flag of the new society shall be plain red, marking our unity and brotherhood with similar republics in Russia, Germany, Austria and elsewhere–”

“That’ll be about all from you, Professor,” interrupted the police captain, strolling down to the platform. “Come on, now. Kiss your friends good-night!”

A sullen roar rose from the audience; Le Vey lifted one hand:

“I told you how to argue,” he said in his emotionless voice. “Anybody can talk with their mouths.” And he turned on his heel and went back to his seat on the bench.

Sondheim stood up:

“Comrade Bromberg!” he shouted.

A small, shabby man arose from a bench and shambled forward. His hair grew so low that it left him practically no forehead. Whiskers blotted out the remainder of his features except two small and very bright eyes that snapped and sparkled, imbedded in the hairy ensemble.

“Comrades,” he growled, “it has come to a moment when the only law worth obeying is the law of force!–”

“You bet!” remarked the police captain, genially, and, turning his back, he walked away up the aisle toward the rear of the hall, while all around him from the audience came a savage muttering.

Bromberg’s growling voice grew harsher and deeper as he resumed: “I tell you that there is only one law left for proletariat and tyrant alike! It is the law of force!”

As the audience applauded fiercely, a man near them stood up and shouted for a hearing.

“Comrade Bromberg is right!” he cried, waving his arms excitedly. “There is only one real law in the world! The fit survive! The unfit die! The strong take what they desire! The weak perish. That is the law of life! That is the–”

An amazing interruption checked him–a clear, crystalline peal of laughter; and the astounded audience saw a tall, fresh, yellow-haired girl standing up midway down the hall. It was Ilse Westgard, unable to endure such nonsense, and quite regardless of Brisson’s detaining hand and Shotwell’s startled remonstrance.

“What that man says is absurd!” she cried, her fresh young voice still gay with laughter. “He looks like a Prussian, and if he is he ought to know where the law of force has landed his nation.”

In the ominous silence around her, Ilse turned and gaily surveyed the audience.

“The law of force is the law of robbers,” she said. “That is why this war has been fought–to educate robbers. And if there remain any robbers they’ll have to be educated. Don’t let anybody tell you that the law of force is the law of life!–”

“Who are you?” interrupted Bromberg hoarsely.

“An ex-soldier of the Death Battalion, comrade,” said Ilse cheerfully. “I used a rifle in behalf of the law of education. Sometimes bayonets educate, sometimes machine guns. But the sensible way is to have a meeting, and everybody drink tea and smoke cigarettes and discuss their troubles without reserve, and then take a vote as to what is best for everybody concerned.”

And she seated herself with a smile just as the inevitable uproar began.

All around her now men and women were shouting at her; inflamed faces ringed her; gesticulating fists waved in the air.

“What are you–a spy for Kerensky?” yelled a man in Russian.

“The bourgeoisie has its agents here!” bawled a red-haired Jew. “I offer a solemn protest–”

“Agent provocateur!” cried many voices. “Pay no attention to her! Go on with the debate!”

An I. W. W.–a thin, mean-faced American–half arose and pointed an unwashed finger at Ilse.

“A Government spy,” he said distinctly. “Keep your eye on her, comrades. There seems to be a bunch of them there–”

“Sit down and shut up!” said Shotwell, sharply. “Do you want to start a riot?”

“You bet I’ll start something!” retorted the man, showing his teeth like a rat. “What the hell did you come here for–”

“Silence!” bawled Bromberg, hoarsely, from the platform. “That woman is recognised and known. Pay no attention to her, but listen to me. I tell you that your law is the law of hatred!–”

Palla attempted to rise. Jim tried to restrain her: she pushed his arm aside, but he managed to retain his grasp on her arm.

“Are you crazy?” he whispered.

“That man lies!” she said excitedly. “Don’t you hear him preaching hatred?”

“Well, it’s not your business–”

“It is! That man is lying to these ignorant people! He’s telling them a vile untruth! Let me go, Jim–”

“Better keep cool,” whispered Brisson, leaning over. “We’re all in dutch already.”

Palla said to him excitedly: “I’m afraid to stand up and speak, but I’m going to! I’d be a coward to sit here and let that man deceive these poor people–”

“Listen to Bromberg!” motioned Ilse, her blue eyes frosty and her cheeks deeply flushed.

The orator had come down into the aisle. Every venomous word he was uttering now he directed straight at the quartette.

“Russia is showing us the way,” he said in his growling voice. “Russia makes no distinctions but takes them all by the throat and wrings their necks–aristocrats, bourgeoisie, cadets, officers, land owners, intellectuals–all the vermin, all the parasites! And that is the law, I tell you! The unfit perish! The strong inherit the earth!–”

Palla sprang to her feet: “Liar!” she said hotly. “Did not Christ Himself tell us that the meek shall inherit the earth!”

“Christ?” thundered Bromberg. “Have you come here to insult us with legends and fairy-tales about a god?”

“Who mentioned God?” retorted Palla in a clear voice. “Unless we ourselves are gods there is none! But Christ did live! And He was as much a god as we are. And no more. But He was wiser! And what He told us is the truth! And I shall not sit silent while any man or woman teaches robbery and murder. That’s what you mean when you say that the law of the stronger is the only law! If it is, then the poor and ignorant are where they belong–”

“They won’t be when they learn the law of life!” roared Bromberg.

“There is only one law of life!” cried Palla, turning to look around her at the agitated audience. “The only law in the world worth obedience is the Law of Love and of Service! No other laws amount to anything. Under that law every problem you agitate here is already solved. There is no injustice that cannot be righted under it! There is no aspiration that cannot be realised!”

She turned on Bromberg, her hazel eyes very bright, her face surging with colour.

“You came here to pervert the exhortation of Karl Marx, and unite under the banner of envy and greed every unhappy heart!