WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>This is section fifteen of The Gilded Age. This LibriVox

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<v Speaker 1>recording is in the public domain. The Gilded Age, A

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<v Speaker 1>Tale of to Day by Mark Twain and C. D. Warner,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter fifteen. Eli Bolton and his wife talked over Ruth's case,

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<v Speaker 1>as they had often done before, with no little anxiety.

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<v Speaker 1>Alone of all their children. She was impatient of the

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<v Speaker 1>restraints and monotony of the friend's society, and wholly indisposed

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<v Speaker 1>to accept the inner light as a guide into a

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<v Speaker 1>life of acceptance and inaction. When Margaret told her husband

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<v Speaker 1>of Ruth's newest project, he did not exhibit so much

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<v Speaker 1>surprise as she hoped for. In fact, he said that

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<v Speaker 1>he did not see why a woman should not enter

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<v Speaker 1>the medical profession if she felt a call to it.

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<v Speaker 1>But said, Margaret, consider her total inexperience of the world

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<v Speaker 1>and her frail health. Can such a slight little body

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<v Speaker 1>endure the ordeal of the preparation for or the strain

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<v Speaker 1>of the practice of the profession? Did THEE ever think, Margaret,

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<v Speaker 1>whether she can endure being thwarted in an object on

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<v Speaker 1>which she has so set her heart as she has

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<v Speaker 1>on this THEE has trained her thyself at home in

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<v Speaker 1>her enfeebled childhood, and THEE knows how strong her will

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<v Speaker 1>is and what she has been able to accomplish in

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<v Speaker 1>self culture by the simple force of her determination. She

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<v Speaker 1>never will be satisfied until she has tried her own strength.

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<v Speaker 1>I wish, said Margaret, with an in consequence that is

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<v Speaker 1>not exclusively feminine, that she were in the way to

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<v Speaker 1>fall in love and marry by and by. I think

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<v Speaker 1>that would cure her of some of her notions. I

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<v Speaker 1>am not sure, but if she went away to some

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<v Speaker 1>distant school into an entirely new life, her thoughts would

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<v Speaker 1>be diverted. Eli Bolton almost laughed as he regarded his

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<v Speaker 1>wife with eyes that never looked at her except fondly,

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<v Speaker 1>and replied, perhaps THEE remembers that THEE had notions also

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<v Speaker 1>before we were married, and before THEE became a men

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<v Speaker 1>of meeting. I think Ruth comes honestly by certain tendencies

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<v Speaker 1>which THEE has hidden under the friend's dress. Margaret could

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<v Speaker 1>not say no to this, and while she paused, it

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<v Speaker 1>was evident that memory was busy with suggestions to shake

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<v Speaker 1>her present opinions. Why not let Ruth try the study

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<v Speaker 1>for a time, suggested Eli. There is a fair beginning

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<v Speaker 1>of a woman's medical college in the city. Quite likely

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<v Speaker 1>she will soon find that she needs first a more

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<v Speaker 1>general culture, and fall in with thy wish that she

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<v Speaker 1>should see more of the world at some large school.

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<v Speaker 1>There really seemed to be nothing else to be done,

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<v Speaker 1>and Margaret consented at length without approving, and it was

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<v Speaker 1>agreed that Ruth, in order to spare her fatigue, should

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<v Speaker 1>take lodgings with friends near the college and make a

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<v Speaker 1>trial in the pursuit of that science to which we

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<v Speaker 1>all owe our lives. And sometimes, as by a miracle

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<v Speaker 1>of escape, that day, mister Bolton brought home a stranger

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<v Speaker 1>to dinner, mister Bigler, of the great firm of Pennybacker,

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<v Speaker 1>Bigler and Small railroad contractors. He was always bringing home

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<v Speaker 1>somebody who had a scheme to build a road, or

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<v Speaker 1>open a mine, or plant a swamp with cane to

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<v Speaker 1>grow paper stock, or found a hospital, or invest in

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<v Speaker 1>a patent shadbone separator, or start a college somewhere on

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<v Speaker 1>the frontier contiguous to a land speculation. The Bolton House

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<v Speaker 1>was a sort of hotel for this kind of people.

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<v Speaker 1>They were always coming. Ruth had known them from childhood,

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<v Speaker 1>and she used to say that her father attracted them

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<v Speaker 1>as naturally as a sugar hogshead does flies. Ruth had

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<v Speaker 1>an idea that a large portion of the world lived

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<v Speaker 1>by getting the rest of the world into schemes. Mister

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<v Speaker 1>Bolton never could say no to any of them, not

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<v Speaker 1>even said Ruth again to the Society for stamping oyster

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<v Speaker 1>shells with scripture texts before they were sold at retail.

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<v Speaker 1>Mister Biggler's plan, this time about which he talked loudly

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<v Speaker 1>with his mouthful all dinner time, was the building of

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<v Speaker 1>the tunk Hannock, Rattlesnake and Young Woman'stown Railroad, which would

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<v Speaker 1>not only be a great highway to the west, but

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<v Speaker 1>would open to market inexhaustible cold fields and untold millions

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<v Speaker 1>of lumber. The plan of operations was very simple. We'll

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<v Speaker 1>buy the lands, explained he on long time, backed by

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<v Speaker 1>the notes of good men, and then mortgage them for

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<v Speaker 1>money enough to get the road well on. Then get

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<v Speaker 1>the towns on the line to issue their bonds for stock,

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<v Speaker 1>and sell their bonds for enough to complete the road

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<v Speaker 1>and partly stock it. Especially if we mortgage each section

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<v Speaker 1>as we complete it, we can then sell the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of the stock on the prospect of the business of

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<v Speaker 1>the road through an improved country, and also sell the

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<v Speaker 1>lands at a big advance on the strength of the road.

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<v Speaker 1>All we want, continued mister Biggler, in his frank manner,

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<v Speaker 1>is a few thousand dollars to start the surveys and

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<v Speaker 1>arrange things in the legislature. There is some parties we'll

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<v Speaker 1>have to be seen who might make us trouble. It

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<v Speaker 1>will take a good deal of money to start the enterprise,

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<v Speaker 1>remarked mister Bolton, who knew very well what seeing a

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<v Speaker 1>Pennsylvania legislature meant, but was too polite to tell mister

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<v Speaker 1>Bigiler what he thought of him while he was his guest.

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<v Speaker 1>What security would one have for it? Mister Bigler smiled

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<v Speaker 1>a hard kind of smile and said, you'd be inside,

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<v Speaker 1>mister Bolton, and you'd have the first chance in the deal.

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<v Speaker 1>This was rather unintelligible to Ruth, who was nevertheless somewhat

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<v Speaker 1>amused by the study of a type of character she

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<v Speaker 1>had seen before. At length, she interrupted the conversation by asking,

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<v Speaker 1>you'd sell the stock, I suppose, mister Bigler, to anybody

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<v Speaker 1>who was attracted by the prospectus, Oh, certainly serve all alike,

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<v Speaker 1>said mister Bigler, now noticing Ruth for the first time,

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<v Speaker 1>and a little puzzled by the serene, intelligent face was

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<v Speaker 1>turned towards him. Well, what would become of the poor

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<v Speaker 1>people who had been led to put their little money

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<v Speaker 1>into the speculation when you go out of it and

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<v Speaker 1>left it half way? It would be no more true

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<v Speaker 1>to say of mister Biggler that he was or could

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<v Speaker 1>be embarrassed, than to say that a brass counterfeit dollar

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<v Speaker 1>piece would change color when refused. The question annoyed him

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<v Speaker 1>a little in mister Bolton's presence, Why yes, miss, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>in a great enterprise for the benefit of the community,

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<v Speaker 1>there will little things occur which which and of course

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<v Speaker 1>the poor ought to be looked to. I tell my

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<v Speaker 1>wife that the poor must be looked to if you

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<v Speaker 1>can tell who are poor. There's so many impostors, and

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<v Speaker 1>then there's so many poor in the legislature to be

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<v Speaker 1>looked after, said the contractor with a sort of a chuckle.

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<v Speaker 1>Isn't that so, mister Bolton. Eli Bolton replied that he

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<v Speaker 1>never had much to do with the legislature. Yes, continued

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<v Speaker 1>this public benefit an uncommon poor lot this year uncommon

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<v Speaker 1>consequently an expensive lot. The fact is, mister Bolton, that

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<v Speaker 1>the price is raised so high on the United States Senator,

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<v Speaker 1>now that it affects the whole market. You can't get

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<v Speaker 1>any public improvement through on reasonable terms. Simony is what

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<v Speaker 1>I call it. Simony, repeated mister Biggler, as if he

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<v Speaker 1>had said a good thing. Mister Biggiler went on and

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<v Speaker 1>gave some very interesting details of the intimate connection between

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<v Speaker 1>railroads and politics, and thoroughly entertained himself all dinner time,

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<v Speaker 1>and as much disgusted Ruth, who asked no more questions,

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<v Speaker 1>and her father, who replied in monosyllables. I wish, said

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<v Speaker 1>Ruth to her father, after the guests had gone, that

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<v Speaker 1>you wouldn't bring home any more such horrid men do

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<v Speaker 1>all men who wear big diamond breastpins, flourish their knives

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<v Speaker 1>at table and use bad grammar and cheat. Oh child,

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<v Speaker 1>they mustn't be too observing. Mister Bigler is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most important men in the state. Nobody has more

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<v Speaker 1>influence at Harrisburg. I don't like him any more than

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<v Speaker 1>thee does, but I'd better lend him a little money

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<v Speaker 1>than to have his ill will father I think thee'd

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<v Speaker 1>better have his ill will than his company. Is it

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<v Speaker 1>true that he gave money to help build the pretty

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<v Speaker 1>little church of Saint James the less and that he

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<v Speaker 1>is one of the vestrymen. Yes, he is not such

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<v Speaker 1>a bad fellow. One of the men in Third Street

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<v Speaker 1>asked him the other day whether his was a high

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<v Speaker 1>church or a low church. Biggler said he didn't know.

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<v Speaker 1>He'd been in it once, and he could touch the

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<v Speaker 1>ceiling in the side aisle with his hand. I think

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<v Speaker 1>he's just horrid, was Ruth's final summary of him, after

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<v Speaker 1>the manner of the swift judgment of women, with no

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<v Speaker 1>consideration of the extenuating circumstances, mister Bigler had no idea

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<v Speaker 1>that he had not made a good impression on the

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<v Speaker 1>whole family. He certainly intended to be agreeable. Margaret agreed

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<v Speaker 1>with her daughter, and though she never said anything to

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<v Speaker 1>such people, she was grateful to Ruth for sticking at

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<v Speaker 1>least one pin into him. Such was the serenity of

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<v Speaker 1>the Bolton household that a stranger in it would never

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<v Speaker 1>have suspected there was any opposition to Ruth's going to

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<v Speaker 1>the medical school, and she went quietly to take her

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<v Speaker 1>residence in town, and began her attendance of the lectures

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<v Speaker 1>as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>She did not heed if she heard the busy and

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<v Speaker 1>wondering gossip of relations and acquaintances, gossip that has no

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<v Speaker 1>less currency among the friends than elsewhere, because it is

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<v Speaker 1>whispered slyly and creeps about in an undertone. Ruth was

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<v Speaker 1>absorbed and for the first time in her life, thoroughly happy,

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<v Speaker 1>happy in the freedom of her life and in the

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<v Speaker 1>keen enjoyment of the investigation that broadened its field day

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<v Speaker 1>by day. She was in high spirits when she came

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<v Speaker 1>home to spend first days. The house was full of

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<v Speaker 1>her gaiety and her merry laugh, and the children wished

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<v Speaker 1>that Ruth would never go away again. But her mother

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<v Speaker 1>noticed with a little anxiety the sometimes flushed face, and

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<v Speaker 1>the sign of an eager spirit in the kindling eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>and as well the serious air of determination and endurance

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<v Speaker 1>in her face at unguarded moments. The college was a

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<v Speaker 1>small one, and it sustained itself not without difficulty. In

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<v Speaker 1>this city which is so conservative and as yet the

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<v Speaker 1>origin of so many radical movements. There were not more

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<v Speaker 1>than a dozen attendants on the lectures altogether, so that

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<v Speaker 1>the enterprise had the air of an experiment and the

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<v Speaker 1>fascination of pioneering for those engaged in it. There was

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<v Speaker 1>one woman physician driving about town in her carriage, attacking

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<v Speaker 1>the most violent diseases in all quarters, with persistent courage,

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<v Speaker 1>like a modern Bologna in her war chariot, who was

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<v Speaker 1>popularly supposed to gather in fees to the amount ten

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<v Speaker 1>to twenty thousand dollars a year. Perhaps some of these

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<v Speaker 1>students looked forward to the near day when they would

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<v Speaker 1>support such a practice and a husband besides, But it

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<v Speaker 1>is unknown that any of them ever went further than

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<v Speaker 1>practice in hospitals and in their own nurseries, and it

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<v Speaker 1>is feared that some of them were quite as ready

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<v Speaker 1>as their sisters in emergencies to call a man. If

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<v Speaker 1>Ruth had any exaggerated expectations of a professional life, she

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<v Speaker 1>kept them to herself and was known to her fellows

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<v Speaker 1>of the class simply as a cheerful, sincere student, eager

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<v Speaker 1>in her investigations, and never impatient at anything except an

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<v Speaker 1>insinuation that women had not as much mental capacity for

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<v Speaker 1>science as men. They really say, said one young Quaker

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<v Speaker 1>sprig to another youth of his age that Ruth Bolton

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<v Speaker 1>is really going to be a sawbones, attends lectures, cuts

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<v Speaker 1>up bodies, and all that she's cool enough for a

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<v Speaker 1>surgeon anyway. He spoke feelingly, for he had very likely

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<v Speaker 1>been weighed in Ruth's calm eyes sometime and thoroughly scared

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<v Speaker 1>by the little laugh that accompanied a puzzling reply to

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<v Speaker 1>one of his conversational nothings. Such young gentlemen at this

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<v Speaker 1>time did not come very distinctly into Ruth's horizon, except

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<v Speaker 1>as amusing circumstances. About the details of her student life.

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<v Speaker 1>Ruth said very little to her friends, but they had

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<v Speaker 1>reason to know afterwards that it required all her nerve

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<v Speaker 1>and the almost complete exhaustion of her physical strength to

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<v Speaker 1>carry her through. She began her anatomical practice upon detached

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<v Speaker 1>portions of the human frame, which were brought into the

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<v Speaker 1>demonstrating room, dissecting the eye, the ear, and a small

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<v Speaker 1>tangle of muscles and nerves, an occupation which had not

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<v Speaker 1>much more savor of death in it than the analysis

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<v Speaker 1>of a portion of a plant out of which the

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<v Speaker 1>life went when it was plucked up by the roots.

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<v Speaker 1>Custom inures the most sensitive persons to that which is

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<v Speaker 1>at first most repellent, And in the late war we

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<v Speaker 1>saw the most delicate women, who could not at home

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<v Speaker 1>endure the sight of blood, become so used to scenes

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<v Speaker 1>of carnage that they walked the hospitals and the margins

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<v Speaker 1>of battlefields amid the poor remnants of torn humanity, with

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<v Speaker 1>as perfect self possession as if they were strolling in

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<v Speaker 1>a flower garden. It happened that Ruth was one evening

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<v Speaker 1>deep in a line of investigation which she could not

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<v Speaker 1>finish or understand without demonstration, and so eager was she

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<v Speaker 1>in it that it seemed as if she could not

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<v Speaker 1>wait till the next day. She therefore persuaded a fellow

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<v Speaker 1>student who was reading that evening with her, to go

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<v Speaker 1>down to the dissecting room of the college and ascertain

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<v Speaker 1>what they wanted to know by an hour's work. There.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps also Ruth wanted to test her own nerve, and

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<v Speaker 1>to see whether the power of association was stronger in

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<v Speaker 1>her mind than her own will. The janitor of the

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<v Speaker 1>shabby and comfortless old building admitted the girls not without suspicion,

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<v Speaker 1>and gave them lighted candles which they would need without

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<v Speaker 1>other remark than there's a new one, miss. As the

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<v Speaker 1>girls went up the broad stairs, they climbed to the

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<v Speaker 1>third story and paused before a door, which they unlocked,

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<v Speaker 1>and which admitted them into a long apartment with a

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<v Speaker 1>row of windows on one side and one at the end.

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<v Speaker 1>The room was without light, save from the stars and

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<v Speaker 1>the candles the girls carried, which revealed to them dimly

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<v Speaker 1>two long and several small tables, a few benches and chairs,

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<v Speaker 1>a couple of skeletons hanging on the wall, a sink,

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<v Speaker 1>and cloth covered heaps of something upon the tables. Here

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<v Speaker 1>and there the windows were open, and the cool night

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<v Speaker 1>wind came in, strong enough to flutter a white covering

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<v Speaker 1>now and then, and to shake the loose casements. But

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<v Speaker 1>all the sweet odors of the night could not take

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<v Speaker 1>from the room a faint suggestion of mortality. The young

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<v Speaker 1>ladies paused a moment. The room itself was familiar enough,

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<v Speaker 1>but night makes almost any chamber eerie, and especially such

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<v Speaker 1>a room of detention as this, where the mortal parts

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<v Speaker 1>of the unburied might almost be supposed to be visited

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<v Speaker 1>on the sighing night winds by the wandering spirits of

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<v Speaker 1>their late tenants opposite, and at some distance across the

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<v Speaker 1>roofs of lower buildings, the girls saw a tall edifice,

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<v Speaker 1>the long upper story of which seemed to be a

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<v Speaker 1>dancing hall. The windows of that were also open, and

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<v Speaker 1>through them they heard the scream of the jiggered and

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<v Speaker 1>tortured violin, and the pump pump of the oboe, and

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<v Speaker 1>saw the moving shapes of men and women in quick transition,

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<v Speaker 1>and heard the prompter's drawl. I wonder, said Ruth, what

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<v Speaker 1>the girls dancing there would think if they saw us,

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<v Speaker 1>or knew there was such a room as this so

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<v Speaker 1>near them. She did not speak very loud, and perhaps unconsciously,

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<v Speaker 1>the girls drew near to each other. As they approached

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<v Speaker 1>the long table in the center of the room, A

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<v Speaker 1>straight object lay upon it, covered with a sheet. This

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<v Speaker 1>was doubtless the new one of which the janitor spoke.

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<v Speaker 1>Ruth advanced and with a not very steady hand, and

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<v Speaker 1>lifted the white covering from the upper part of the

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<v Speaker 1>figure and turned it down. Both girls started. It was

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<v Speaker 1>a negro. The black face seemed to defy the pallor

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<v Speaker 1>of death and asserted an ugly life likeness that was

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<v Speaker 1>frightful Ruth was as pale as the white sheet, and

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<v Speaker 1>her comrade whispered, come away, Ruth, it is awful. Perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>it was the wavering light of the candles, perhaps it

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<v Speaker 1>was only the agony from a death of pain. But

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<v Speaker 1>the repulsive black face seemed to wear a scowl that said,

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<v Speaker 1>haven't you yet done with the outcast, persecuted black man?

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<v Speaker 1>But you must now haul him from his grave and

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<v Speaker 1>send even your women to dismember his body. Who is

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<v Speaker 1>this dead man one of thousands who died yesterday and

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<v Speaker 1>will be dust anon to protest that science shall not

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<v Speaker 1>turn his worthless Carcas to some account, Ruth could have

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<v Speaker 1>had no such thought, for with a pity in her

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<v Speaker 1>sweet face that for the moment overcame fear and disgust,

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<v Speaker 1>she reverently replaced the covering and went away to her

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<v Speaker 1>own table, as her companion did to hers, And there

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<v Speaker 1>for an hour they worked at their several problems, without speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>but not without an awe of the presence there the

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<v Speaker 1>new one, and not without an awful sense of life itself,

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<v Speaker 1>as they heard the pulsations of the music and the

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<v Speaker 1>light laughter from the dancing hall. When at length they

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<v Speaker 1>went away and locked the dreadful room behind them, and

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<v Speaker 1>came out into the street where people were passing. They

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<v Speaker 1>for the first time realized, in the relief they felt,

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<v Speaker 1>what a nervous strain they had been under. End of

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter fifteen.