Dangerous Days
Page 127"Of course he's going," she said. "He has been making the most
outrageous excuses, just to hear mother and me reply to them. And all
the time nothing would hold him back."
"My dear," said the rector solemnly. "T shall have to tell you
something. I shall have to lay bare the secrets of my heart. How are
you, Nolan? Delight, they will not take me. I have three back teeth on
a plate. I have never told you this before. I did not wish to ruin your
belief that I am perfect. But--"
In the laugh that greeted this Graham returned. He was, Clayton saw,
vaguely puzzled by the rector and rather incredulous as to Delight's
"Do you really want him to go?" he asked her.
"Of course. Aren't you going? Isn't everybody who is worth anything
going? I'd go myself if I could. You don't know how lucky you are."
"But is your Mother willing?"
"Why, what sort of a mother do you think I have?"
Clayton overheard that, and he saw Graham wince. His own hands clenched.
What a power in the world a brave woman was! And what evil could be
wrought by a woman without moral courage, a selfish woman. He brought
himself up short at that.
in evening clothes and on his way from the opera to something or other.
In a corner Graham and Delight talked. The rector, in a high state of
exaltation, was inclined to be oratorical and a trifle noisy. He dilated
on the vast army that would rise overnight, at the call. He considered
the raising of a company from his own church, and nominated Clayton as
its captain. Nolan grinned sardonically.
"Precisely," he said dryly. "Clayton, because he looks like a Greek god,
is ideally fitted to lead a lot of men who never saw a bayonet outside
of a museum. Against trained fighting men. There's a difference you
hand and a saw-toothed bayonet in the other."
"We did that in the Civil War."
"We did. And it took four years to fight a six-months war."
"We must have an army. I daresay you'll grant that."
"Well, you can bet on one thing; we're not going to have every ward boss
who wants to make a record raising a regiment out of his henchmen and
leading them to death."