第 33 节
作者:痛罚      更新:2024-04-07 11:54      字数:9322
  but I found full compensation for every effort in
  the glory of working with her for the Cause that was
  first in both our hearts; and in the happiness of being
  her friend。  Later I shall describe in more detail the
  suffrage campaigns and the National and Inter…
  national councils in which we took part; now it is
  of her I wish to writeof her bigness; her many…
  sidedness; her humor; her courage; her quickness;
  her sympathy; her understanding; her force; her
  supreme common…sense; her selflessness; in short; of
  the rare beauty of her nature as I learned to know it。
  Like most great leaders; she took one's best work
  for granted; and was chary with her praise; and even
  when praise was given it usually came by indirect
  routes。  I recall with amusement that the highest
  compliment she ever paid me in public involved her
  in a tangle from which; later; only her quick wit
  extricated her。  We were lecturing in an especially
  pious town which I shall call B; and just before
  I went on the platform Miss Anthony remarked;
  peacefully:
  ‘‘These people have always claimed that I am ir…
  religious。  They will not accept the fact that I am
  a Quakeror; rather; they seem to think a Quaker
  is an infidel。  I am glad you are a Methodist; for
  now they cannot claim that we are not orthodox。''
  She was still enveloped in the comfort of this re…
  flection when she introduced me to our audience;
  and to impress my qualifications upon my hearers
  she made her introduction in these words:
  ‘‘It is a pleasure to introduce Miss Shaw; who
  is a Methodist minister。  And she is not only ortho…
  dox of the orthodox; but she is also my right bower!''
  There was a gasp from the pious audience; and
  then a roar of laughter from irreverent men; in
  which; I must confess; I light…heartedly joined。  For
  once in her life Miss Anthony lost her presence of
  mind; she did not know how to meet the situation;
  for she had no idea what had caused the laughter。
  It bubbled forth again and again during the eve…
  ning; and each time Miss Anthony received the dem…
  onstration with the same air of puzzled surprise。
  When we had returned to our hotel rooms I explained
  the matter to her。  I do not remember now where
  I had acquired my own sinful knowledge; but that
  night I faced ‘‘Aunt Susan'' from the pedestal of a
  sophisticated worldling。
  ‘‘Don't you know what a right bower is?'' I de…
  manded; sternly。
  ‘‘Of course I do;'' insisted ‘‘Aunt Susan。''  ‘‘It's
  a right…hand manthe kind one can't do without。''
  ‘‘It is a card;'' I told her; firmly‘‘a leading card
  in a game called euchre。''
  ‘‘Aunt Susan'' was dazed。  ‘‘I didn't know it had
  anything to do with cards;'' she mused; mournfully。
  ‘‘What must they think of me?''
  What they thought became quite evident。  The
  newspapers made countless jokes at our expense;
  and there were significant smiles on the faces in the
  audience that awaited us the next night。  When
  Miss Anthony walked upon the platform she at
  once proceeded to clear herself of the tacit charge
  against her。
  ‘‘When I came to your town;'' she began; cheer…
  fully; ‘‘I had been warned that you were a very
  religious lot of people。  I wanted to impress upon
  you the fact that Miss Shaw and I are religious; too。
  But I admit that when I told you she was my right
  bower I did not know what a right bower was。  I
  have learned that; since last night。''
  She waited until the happy chortles of her hearers
  had subsided; and then went on。
  ‘‘It interests me very much; however;'' she con…
  cluded; ‘‘to realize that every one of you seemed to
  know all about a right bower; and that I had to come
  to your good; orthodox town to get the informa…
  tion。''
  That time the joke was on the audience。
  Miss Anthony's home was in Rochester; New
  York; and it was said by our friends that on the
  rare occasions when we were not together; and I was
  lecturing independently; ‘‘all return roads led
  through Rochester。''  I invariably found some ex…
  cuse to go there and report to her。  Together we
  must have worn out many Rochester pavements;
  for ‘‘Aunt Susan's'' pet recreation was walking; and
  she used to walk me round and round the city
  squares; far into the night; and at a pace that made
  policemen gape at us as we flew by。  Some dis…
  respectful youth once remarked that on these oc…
  casions we suggested a race between a ruler and a
  rubber ballfor she was very tall and thin; while
  I am short and plump。  To keep up with her I
  literally bounded at her side。
  A certain amount of independent lecturing was
  necessary for me; for I had to earn my living。  The
  National American Woman Suffrage Association
  has never paid salaries to its officers; so; when I be…
  came vice…president and eventually; in 1904; presi…
  dent of the association; I continued to work gratui…
  tously for the Cause in these positions。  Even Miss
  Anthony received not one penny of salary for all
  her years of unceasing labor; and she was so poor
  that she did not have a home of her own until she
  was seventy…five。  Then it was a very simple one;
  and she lived with the utmost economy。  I decided
  that I could earn my bare expenses by making one
  brief lecture tour each year; and I made an arrange…
  ment with the Redpath Bureau which left me
  fully two…thirds of my time for the suffrage work
  I loved。
  This was one result of my all…night talk with Miss
  Anthony in Chicago; and it enabled me to carry
  out her plan that I should accompany her in most
  of the campaigns in which she sought to arouse the
  West to the need of suffrage for women。  From that
  time on we traveled and lectured together so con…
  stantly that each of us developed an almost uncanny
  knowledge of the other's mental processes。  At any
  point of either's lecture the other could pick it up
  and carry it ona fortunate condition; as it some…
  times became necessary to do this。  Miss Anthony
  was subject to contractions of the throat; which for
  the moment caused a slight strangulation。  On such
  occasionsof which there were severalshe would
  turn to me and indicate her helplessness。  Then I
  would repeat her last sentence; complete her speech;
  and afterward make my own。
  The first time this happened we were in Washing…
  ton; and ‘‘Aunt Susan'' stopped in the middle of a
  word。  She could not speak; she merely motioned
  to me to continue for her; and left the stage。  At the
  end of the evening a prominent Washington man
  who had been in our audience remarked to me; con…
  fidentially:
  ‘‘That was a nice little play you and Miss An…
  thony made to…nightvery effective indeed。''
  For an instant I did not catch his meaning; nor
  the implication in his knowing smile。
  ‘‘Very clever; that strangling bit; and your going
  on with the speech;'' he repeated。  ‘‘It hit the au…
  dience hard。''
  ‘‘Surely;'' I protested; ‘‘you don't think it was a
  deliberate thingthat we planned or rehearsed it。''
  He stared at me incredulously。  ‘‘Are you going
  to pretend;'' he demanded; ‘‘that it wasn't a put…up
  job?''
  I told him he had paid us a high compliment; and
  that we must really have done very well if we had
  conveyed that impression; and I finally convinced
  him that we not only had not rehearsed the episode;
  but that neither of us had known what the other
  meant to say。  We never wrote out our speeches;
  but our subject was always suffrage or some ramifica…
  tion of suffrage; and; naturally; we had thoroughly
  digested each other's views。
  It is said by my friends that I write my speeches
  on the tips of my fingersfor I always make my
  points on my fingers and have my fingers named for
  points。  When I plan a speech I decide how many
  points I wish to make and what those points shall
  be。  My mental preparation follows。  Miss An…
  thony's method was much the same; but very fre…
  quently both of us threw over all our plans at the last
  moment and spoke extemporaneously on some theme
  suggested by the atmosphere of the gathering or by
  the words of another speaker。
  From Miss Anthony; more than from any one else;
  I learned to keep cool in the face of interruptions
  and of the small annoyances and disasters inevitable
  in campaigning。  Often we were able to help each
  other out of embarrassing situations; and one incident
  of this kind occurred during our campaign in South
  Dakota。  We were holding a meeting on the hottest
  Sunday of the hottest month in the yearAugust
  and hundreds of the natives had driven twenty;
  thirty; and even forty miles across the country to
  hear us。  We were to speak in a sod church; but it
  was discovered that the structure would not hold half
  the people who were trying to enter it; so we decided
  that Miss Anthony should speak from the door; in
  order that those both inside and outside might hear
  her。  To elevate her above her audience; she was
  given an empty dry…