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diff --git a/22709-h/22709-h.htm b/22709-h/22709-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed7e6fd --- /dev/null +++ b/22709-h/22709-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1023 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + At Pinney's Ranch, by Edward Bellamy + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of At Pinney's Ranch, by Edward Bellamy + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: At Pinney's Ranch + 1898 + +Author: Edward Bellamy + +Release Date: September 21, 2007 [EBook #22709] +Last Updated: March 8, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT PINNEY'S RANCH *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + AT PINNEY'S RANCH + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Edward Bellamy <br /> <br /> 1898 + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + John Lansing first met Mary Hollister at the house of his friend Pinney, + whose wife was her sister. She had soft gray eyes, a pretty color in her + cheeks, rosy lips, and a charming figure. In the course of the evening + somebody suggested mind-reading as a pastime, and Lansing, who had some + powers, or supposed powers, in that direction, although he laughed at them + himself, experimented in turn with the ladies. He failed with nearly every + subject until it came Mary Hollister's turn. As she placed her soft palm + in his, closed her eyes, and gave herself up to his influence, he knew + that he should succeed with her, and so he did. She proved a remarkably + sympathetic subject, and Lansing was himself surprised, and the spectators + fairly thrilled, by the feats he was able to perform by her aid. After + that evening he met her often, and there was more equally remarkable + mind-reading; and then mind-reading was dropped for heart-reading, and the + old, old story they read in each other's hearts had more fascination for + them than the new science. Having once discovered that their hearts beat + in unison, they took no more interest in the relation of their minds. + </p> + <p> + The action proper of this story begins four years after their marriage, + with a very shocking event,—nothing less than the murder of Austin + Flint, who was found dead one morning in the house in which he lived + alone. Lansing had no hand in the deed, but he might almost as well have + had; for, while absolutely guiltless, he was caught in one of those nets + of circumstance which no foresight can avoid, whereby innocent men are + sometimes snared helplessly, and delivered over to a horrid death. There + had been a misunderstanding between him and the dead man, and only a + couple of days before the murder, they had exchanged blows on the street. + When Flint was found dead, in the lack of any other clue, people thought + of Lansing. He realized that this was so, and remained silent as to a fact + which otherwise he would have testified to at the inquest, but which he + feared might now imperil him. He had been at Austin Flint's house the + night of the murder, and might have committed it, so far as opportunity + was concerned. In reality, the motive of his visit was anything but + murderous. Deeply chagrined by the scandal of the fight, he had gone to + Flint to apologize, and to make up their quarrel. But he knew very well + that nobody would believe that this was his true object in seeking his + enemy secretly by night, while the admission of the visit would complete a + circumstantial evidence against him stronger than had often hanged men. He + believed that no one but the dead man knew of the call, and that it would + never be found out. He had not told his wife of it at the time, and still + less afterward, on account of the anxiety she would feel at his position. + </p> + <p> + Two weeks passed, and he was beginning to breathe freely in the assurance + of safety, when, like a thunderbolt from a cloud that seems to have passed + over, the catastrophe came. A friend met him on the street one day, and + warned him to escape while he could. It appeared that he had been seen to + enter Flint's house that night. His concealment of the fact had been + accepted as corroborating evidence of his guilt, and the police, who had + shadowed him from the first, might arrest him at any moment. The + conviction that he was guilty, which the friend who told him this + evidently had, was a terrible comment on the desperateness of his + position. He walked home as in a dream. His wife had gone out to a + neighbor's. His little boy came to him, and clambered on his knee. “Papa, + what makes your face so wet?” he asked, for there were great drops on his + forehead. Then his wife came in, her face white, her eyes full of horror. + “Oh, John!” she exclaimed. “They say you were at Mr. Flint's that night, + and they are going to arrest you. Oh, John, what does it mean? Why don't + you speak? I shall go mad, if you do not speak. You were not there! Tell + me that you were not there!” The ghastly face he raised to hers might well + have seemed to confess everything. + </p> + <p> + At least she seemed to take it so, and in a fit of hysterical weeping sank + to the floor, and buried her face in her hands upon a chair. The children, + alarmed at the scene, began to cry. It was growing dark, and as he looked + out of the window, Lansing saw an officer and a number of other persons + approaching the house. They were coming to arrest him. Animal terror, the + instinct of self-preservation, seized upon his faculties, stunned and + demoralized as he was by the suddenness with which this calamity had come + upon him. He opened the door and fled, with a score of men and boys + yelling in pursuit. He ran wildly, blindly, making incredible leaps and + bounds over obstacles. As men sometimes do in nightmares, he argued with + himself, as he ran, whether this could possibly be a waking experience, + and inclined to think that it could not. It must be a dream. It was too + fantastically horrible to be anything else. + </p> + <p> + Presently he saw just before him the eddying, swirling current of the + river, swollen by a freshet. Still half convinced that he was in a + nightmare, and, if he could but shake it off, should awake in his warm + bed, he plunged headlong in, and was at once swirled out of sight of his + pursuers beneath the darkening sky. A blow from a floating object caused + him to throw up his arms, and, clutching something solid, he clambered + upon a shed carried away by the freshet from an up-river farm. All night + he drifted with the swift current, and in the morning landed in safety + thirty miles below the village from which he had fled for life. + </p> + <p> + So John Lansing, for no fault whatever except an error of judgment, if + even it was that, was banished from home, and separated from his family + almost as hopelessly as if he were dead. To return would be to meet an + accusation of murder to which his flight had added overwhelming weight. To + write to his wife might be to put the officers of the law, who doubtless + watched her closely, upon his scent. + </p> + <p> + Under an assumed name he made his way to the far West, and, joining the + rush to the silver mines of Colorado, was among the lucky ones. At the end + of three years he was a rich man. What he had made the money for, he could + not tell, except that the engrossment of the struggle had helped him to + forget his wretchedness. Not that he ever did forget it. His wife and + babies, from whose embraces he had been so suddenly torn, were always in + his thoughts. Above all, he could not forget the look of horror in his + wife's eyes in that last terrible scene. To see her again, and convince + her, if not others, that he was innocent, was a need which so grew upon + him that, at the end of three years, he determined to take his life in his + hand and return home openly. This life of exile was not worth living. + </p> + <p> + One day, in the course of setting his affairs in order for his return, he + was visiting a mining camp remote from the settlements, when a voice + addressed him by his old name, and looking around he saw Pinney. The + latter's first words, as soon as his astonishment and delight had found + some expression, assured Lansing that he was no longer in danger. The + murderer of Austin' Flint had been discovered, convicted, and hanged two + years previous. As for Lansing, it had been taken for granted that he was + drowned when he leaped into the river, and there had been no further + search for him. His wife had been broken-hearted ever since, but she and + the children were otherwise well, according to the last letters received + by Pinney, who, with his wife, had moved out to Colorado a year previous. + </p> + <p> + Of course Lansing's only idea now was to get home as fast as steam could + carry him; but they were one hundred miles from the railroad, and the only + communication was by stage. It would get up from the railroad the next + day, and go back the following morning. Pinney took Lansing out to his + ranch, some miles from the mining camp, to pass the interval. The first + thing he asked Mrs. Pinney was if she had a photograph of his wife. When + she brought him one, he durst not look at it before his hosts. Not till he + had gone to his room and locked the door did he trust himself to see again + the face of his beloved Mary. + </p> + <p> + That evening Mrs. Pinney told him how his wife and children had fared in + his absence. Her father had helped them at first, but after his death Mary + had depended upon needlework for support, finding it hard to make the two + ends meet. + </p> + <p> + Lansing groaned at hearing this, but Mrs. Pinney comforted him. It was + well worth while having troubles, she said, if they could be made up to + one, as all Mary's would be to her when she saw her husband. + </p> + <p> + The upcoming stage brought the mail, and next day Pinney rode into camp to + get his weekly newspaper, and engage a passage down the next morning for + Lansing. The day dragged terribly to the latter, who stayed at the ranch. + He was quite unfit for any social purpose, as Mrs. Pinney, to whom a guest + in that lonely place was a rare treat, found to her sorrow, though indeed + she could not blame him for being poor company. He passed hours, locked in + his room, brooding over Mary's picture. The rest of the day he spent + wandering about the place, smiling and talking to himself like an + imbecile, as he dreamed of the happiness so soon to crown his trials. If + he could have put himself in communication with Mary by telegraph during + this period of waiting, it would have been easier to get through, but the + nearest telegraph station was at the railroad. In the afternoon he saddled + a horse and rode about the country, thus disposing of a couple of hours. + </p> + <p> + When he came back to the house, he saw that Pinney had returned, for his + horse was tethered to a post of the front piazza. The doors and windows of + the living-room were open, and as he reached the front door, he heard + Pinney and his wife talking in agitated tones. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, how could God let such an awful thing happen?” she was exclaiming, in + a voice broken by hysterical sobbing. “I 'm sure there was never anything + half so horrible before. Just as John was coming home to her, and she + worshiping him so, and he her! Oh, it will kill him! Who is going to tell + him? Who can tell him?” + </p> + <p> + “He must not be told to-day,” said Pinney's voice. “We must keep it from + him at least for to-day.” + </p> + <p> + Lansing entered the room. “Is she dead?” he asked quietly. He could not + doubt, from what he had overheard, that she was. + </p> + <p> + “God help him! He 'll have to know it now,” exclaimed Pinney. + </p> + <p> + “Is she dead?” repeated Lansing. + </p> + <p> + “No, she is n't dead.” + </p> + <p> + “Is she dying, then?” + </p> + <p> + “No, she is well.” + </p> + <p> + “It's the children, then?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” answered Pinney. “They are all right.” + </p> + <p> + “Then, in God's name, what is it?” demanded Lansing, unable to conceive + what serious evil could have happened to him, if nothing had befallen his + wife and babies. + </p> + <p> + “We can't keep it from him now,” said Pinney to his wife. “You 'll have to + give him her letter.” + </p> + <p> + “Can't you tell me what it is? Why do you keep me in suspense?” asked + Lansing, in a voice husky with a dread he knew not of what. + </p> + <p> + “I can't, man. Don't ask me!” groaned Finney. “It's better that you should + read it.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Finney's face expressed an agony of compassion as, still half + clutching it, she held out a letter to Lansing. “John, oh, John,” she + sobbed; “remember, she's not to blame! She doesn't know.” + </p> + <p> + The letter, was in his wife's handwriting, addressed to Mrs. Pinney, and + read as follows:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + You will be surprised by what I am going to tell you. You, + who know how I loved John, must have taken it for granted + that I would never marry again. Not that it could matter to + him. Too well I feel the gulf between the dead and living to + fancy that his peace could be troubled by any of the + weaknesses of mortal hearts. Indeed, he often used to tell + me that, if he died, he wanted me to marry again, if ever I + felt like doing so; but in those happy days I was always + sure that I should be taken first. It was he who was to go + first, though, and now it is for the sake of his children + that I am going to do what I never thought I could. I am + going to marry again. As they grow older and need more, I + find it impossible for me to support them, though I do not + mind how hard I work, and would wear my fingers to the bone + rather than take any other man's name after being John's + wife. But I cannot care for them as they should be cared + for. Johnny is now six, and ought to go to school, but I + cannot dress him decently enough to send him. Mary has + outgrown all her clothes, and I cannot get her more. Her + feet are too tender to go bare, and I cannot buy her shoes. + I get less and less sewing since the new dressmaker came to + the village, and soon shall have none. We live, oh so + plainly! For myself I should not care, but the children are + growing and need better food. They are John's children, and + for their sake I have brought myself to do what I never + could have done but for them. I have promised to marry Mr. + Whitcomb. I have not deceived him as to why alone I marry + him. He has promised to care for the children as his own, + and to send Johnny to college, for I know his father would + have wanted him to go. It will be a very quiet wedding, of + course. Mr. Whitcomb has had some cards printed to send to a + few friends, and I inclose one to you. I cannot say that I + wish you could be present, for it will be anything but a + joyful day to me. But when I meet John in heaven, he will + hold me to account for the children he left me, and this is + the only way by which I can provide for them. So long as it + is well with them, I ought not to care for myself. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Your sister, + + Maky Lansing. +</pre> + <p> + The card announced that the wedding would take place at the home of the + bride, at six o'clock on the afternoon of the 27th of June. + </p> + <p> + It was June 27 that day, and it was nearly five o'clock. “The Lord help + you!” ejaculated Pinney, as he saw, by the ashen hue which overspread + Lansing's face, that the full realization of his situation had come home + to him. “We meant to keep it from you till to-morrow. It might be a little + easier not to know it till it was over than now, when it is going on, and + you not able to lift a finger to stop it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, John,” cried Mrs. Pinney once more; “remember, she does n't know!” + and, sobbing hysterically, she fled from the room, unable to endure the + sight of Lansing's face. + </p> + <p> + He had fallen into a chair, and was motionless, save for the slow and + labored breathing which shook his body. As he sat there in Pinney's ranch + this pleasant afternoon, the wife whom he worshiped never so passionately + as now, at their home one thousand miles away, was holding another man by + the hand, and promising to be his wife. + </p> + <p> + It was five minutes to five by the clock on the wall before him. It + therefore wanted but five minutes of six, the hour of the wedding, at + home, the difference in time being just an hour. In the years of his + exile, by way of enhancing the vividness of his dreams of home, he had + calculated exactly the difference in time from various points in Colorado, + so that he could say to himself, “Now Mary is putting the babies to bed;” + “Now it is her own bedtime;” “Now she is waking up;” or “Now the + church-bells are ringing, and she is walking to church.” He was accustomed + to carry these two standards of time always in his head, reading one by + the other, and it was this habit, bred of doting fondness, which now would + compel him to follow, as if he were a spectator, minute by minute, each + step of the scene being enacted so far away. + </p> + <p> + People were prompt at weddings. No doubt already the few guests were + arriving, stared at by the neighbors from their windows. The complacent + bridegroom was by this time on his way to the home of the bride, or + perhaps knocking at the door. Lansing knew him well, an elderly, + well-to-do furniture-maker, who had been used to express a fatherly + admiration for Mary. The bride was upstairs in her chamber, putting the + finishing touches to her toilet; or, at this very moment, it might be, was + descending the stairs to take the bridegroom's arm and go in to be + married. + </p> + <p> + Lansing gasped. The mountain wind was blowing through the room, but he was + suffocating. + </p> + <p> + Pinney's voice, seeming to come from very far away, was in his ears. + “Rouse yourself, for God's sake! Don't give it all up that way. I believe + there's a chance yet. Remember the mind-reading you used to do with her. + You could put almost anything into her mind by just willing it there. + That's what I mean. Will her to stop what she is doing now. Perhaps you + may save her yet. There's a chance you may do it. I don't say there's more + than a chance, but there 's that There's a bare chance. That's better than + giving up. I 've heard of such things being done. I 've read of them. Try + it, for God's sake I Don't give up.” + </p> + <p> + At any previous moment of his life the suggestion that he could, by mere + will power, move the mind of a person a thousand miles away, so as to + reverse a deliberate decision, would have appeared to Lansing as wholly + preposterous as no doubt it does to any who read these lines. But a man, + however logical he may be on land, will grasp at a straw when drowning, as + if it were a log. Pinney had no need to use arguments or adjurations to + induce Lansing to adopt his suggestion. The man before him was in no mood + to balance probabilities against improbabilities. It was enough that the + project offered a chance of success, albeit infinitesimal; for on the + other hand there was nothing but an intolerable despair, and a fate that + truly seemed more than flesh and blood could bear. + </p> + <p> + Lansing had sprung to his feet while Pinney was speaking. “I 'm going to + try it, and may God Almighty help me!” he cried, in a terrible voice. + </p> + <p> + “Amen!” echoed Pinney. + </p> + <p> + Lansing sank into his chair again, and sat leaning slightly forward, in a + rigid attitude. The expression of his eyes at once became fixed. His + features grew tense, and the muscles of his face stood out. As if to + steady the mental strain by a physical one, he had taken from the table a + horseshoe which had lain there, and held it in a convulsive grip. + </p> + <p> + Pinney had made this extraordinary suggestion in the hope of diverting + Lansing's mind for a moment from his terrible situation, and with not so + much faith even as he feigned that it would be of any practical avail. But + now, as he looked upon the ghastly face before him, and realized the + tremendous concentration of purpose, the agony of will, which it + expressed, he was impressed that it would not be marvelous if some marvel + should be the issue. Certainly, if the will really had any such power as + Lansing was trying to exert, as so many theorists maintained, there could + never arise circumstances better calculated than these to call forth a + supreme assertion of the faculty. He went out of the room on tiptoe, and + left his friend alone to fight this strange and terrible battle with the + powers of the air for the honor of his wife and his own. + </p> + <p> + There was little enough need of any preliminary effort on Lansing's part + to fix his thoughts upon Mary. It was only requisite that to the intensity + of the mental vision, with which he had before imagined her, should be + added the activity of the will, turning the former mood of despair into + one of resistance. He knew in what room of their house the wedding party + must now be gathered, and was able to represent to himself the scene there + as vividly as if he had been present. He saw the relatives assembled; he + saw Mr. Davenport, the minister, and, facing him, the bridal couple, in + the only spot where they could well stand, before the fireplace. But from + all the others, from the guests, from the minister, from the bridegroom, + he turned his thoughts, to fix them on the bride alone. He saw her as if + through the small end of an immensely long telescope, distinctly, but at + an immeasurable distance. On this face his mental gaze was riveted, as by + conclusive efforts his will strove to reach and move hers against the + thing that she was doing. Although his former experiments in mental + phenomena had in a measure familiarized him with the mode of addressing + his powers to such an undertaking as this, yet the present effort was on a + scale so much vaster that his will for a time seemed appalled, and refused + to go out from him, as a bird put forth from a ship at sea returns again + and again before daring to essay the distant flight to land. He felt that + he was gaining nothing. He was as one who beats the air. It was all he + could do to struggle against the influences that tended to deflect and + dissipate his thoughts. Again and again a conviction of the uselessness of + the attempt, of the madness of imagining that a mere man could send a + wish, like a voice, across a continent, laid its paralyzing touch upon his + will, and nothing but a sense of the black horror which failure meant + enabled him to throw it off. If he but once admitted the idea of failing, + all was lost. He must believe that he could do this thing, or he surely + could not. To question it was to surrender his wife; to despair was to + abandon her to her fate. So, as a wrestler strains against a mighty + antagonist, his will strained and tugged in supreme stress against the + impalpable obstruction of space, and, fighting despair with despair, + doggedly held to its purpose, and sought to keep his faculties + unremittingly streaming to one end. Finally, as this tremendous effort, + which made minutes seem hours, went on, there came a sense of efficiency, + the feeling of achieving something. From this consciousness was first born + a faith, no longer desperate, but rational, that he might succeed, and + with faith came an instantaneous tenfold multiplication of force. The + overflow of energy lost the tendency to dissipation and became steady. The + will appeared to be getting the mental faculties more perfectly in hand, + if the expression may be used, not only concentrating but fairly fusing + them together by the intensity with which it drove them to their object. + It was time. Already, perhaps, Mary was about to utter the vows that would + give her to another. Lansing's lips moved. As if he were standing at her + side, he murmured with strained and labored utterance ejaculations of + appeal and adjuration. + </p> + <p> + Then came the climax of the stupendous struggle. He became aware of a + sensation so amazing that I know not if it can be described at all,—a + sensation comparable to that which comes up the mile-long sounding-line, + telling that it touches bottom. Fainter far, as much finer as is mind than + matter, yet not less unmistakable, was the thrill which told the man, + agonizing on that lonely mountain of Colorado, that the will which he had + sent forth to touch the mind of another, a thousand miles away, had found + its resting-place, and the chain between them was complete. No longer + projected at random into the void, but as if it sent along an established + medium of communication, his will now seemed to work upon hers, not + uncertainly and with difficulty, but as if in immediate contact. + Simultaneously, also, its mood changed. No more appealing, agonizing, + desperate, it became insistent, imperious, dominating. For only a few + moments it remained at this pitch, and then, the mental tension suddenly + relaxing, he aroused to a perception of his surroundings, of which toward + the last he had become oblivious. He was drenched with perspiration and + completely exhausted. The iron horseshoe which he had held in his hands + was drawn halfway out. + </p> + <p> + Thirty-six hours later, Lansing, accompanied by Pinney, climbed down from + the stage at the railroad station. During the interval Lansing had neither + eaten nor slept. If at moments in that time he was able to indulge the + hope that his tremendous experiment had been successful, for the main part + the overwhelming presumption of common sense and common experience against + such a notion made it seem childish folly to entertain it. + </p> + <p> + At the station was to be sent the dispatch, the reply to which would + determine Mary's fate and his own. Pinney signed it, so that, if the worst + were true, Lansing's existence might still remain a secret; for of going + back to her in that case, to make her a sharer of his shame, there was no + thought on his part. The dispatch was addressed to Mr. Davenport, Mary's + minister, and merely asked if the wedding had taken place. + </p> + <p> + They had to wait two hours for the answer. When it came, Lansing was + without on the platform, and Pinney was in the office. The operator + mercifully shortened his suspense by reading the purport of the message + from the tape: “The dispatch in answer to yours says that the wedding did + not take place.” + </p> + <p> + Pinney sprang out upon the platform. At sight of Lansing's look of ghastly + questioning, the tears blinded him, and he could not speak, but the wild + exultation of his face and gestures was speech enough. + </p> + <p> + The second day following, Lansing clasped his wife to his breast, and this + is the story she told him, interrupted with weepings and shudderings and + ecstatic embraces of reassurance. The reasons which had determined her, in + disregard of the dictates of her own heart, to marry again, have been + sufficiently intimated in her letter to Mrs. Pinney. For the rest, Mr. + Whitcomb was a highly respectable man, whom she esteemed and believed to + be good and worthy. When the hour set for the marriage arrived, and she + took her place by his side before the minister and the guests, her heart + indeed was like lead, but her mind calm and resolved. The preliminary + prayer was long, and it was natural, as it went on, that her thoughts + should go back to the day when she had thus stood by another's side. She + had ado to crowd back the scalding tears, as she contrasted her present + mood of resignation with the mingling of virginal timidity and the abandon + of love in her heart that other day. Suddenly, seeming to rise out of this + painful contrast of the past and the present, a feeling of abhorrence for + the act to which she was committed possessed her mind. She had all along + shrunk from it, as any sensitive woman might from a marriage without love, + but there had been nothing in that shrinking to compare in intensity with + this uncontrollable aversion which now seized upon her to the idea of + holding a wife's relation to the man by her side. It had all at once come + oyer her that she could not do it. Nevertheless she was a sensible and + rational woman as well as a sweet and lovely one. Whatever might be the + origin of this sudden repugnance, she knew it had none in reason. She was + fulfilling a promise which she had maturely considered, and neither in + justice to herself nor the man to whom she had given it could she let a + purely hysterical attack like this prevent its consummation. She called + reason and common sense to her aid, and resolutely struggled to banish the + distressing fancies that assailed her. The moisture stood out upon her + forehead with the severity of the conflict, which momentarily increased. + At last the minister ended his prayer, of which she had not heard a word. + The bridal pair were bidden to take each other by the hand. As the + bridegroom's fingers closed around hers, she could not avoid a shudder as + at a loathsome contact. It was only by a supreme effort of self-control + that she restrained from snatching her hand away with a scream. She did + not hear what the minister went on to say. Every faculty was concentrated + on the struggle, which had now become one of desperation, to repress an + outbreak of the storm that was raging within. For, despite the shuddering + protest of every instinct and the wild repulsion with which every nerve + tingled, she was determined to go through the ceremony. But though the + will in its citadel still held out, she knew that it could not be for + long. Each wave of emotion that it withstood was higher, stronger, than + the last. She felt that it was going, going. She prayed that the minister + might be quick, while yet she retained a little self-command, and give her + an opportunity to utter some binding vow which should make good her solemn + engagement, and avert the scandal of the outbreak on the verge of which + she was trembling. “Do you,” said the minister to Mr. Whitcomb, “take this + woman whom you hold by the hand to be your wife, to honor, protect, and + love while you live?” “I do,” replied the bridegroom promptly. “Do you,” + said the minister, looking at Mary, “take the man whom you hold by the + hand to be your husband, to love and honor while you live?” Mary tried to + say “Yes,” but at the effort there surged up against it an opposition that + was almost tangible in its overpowering force. No longer merely operating + upon her sensibilities, the inexplicable influence that was conquering her + now seized on her physical functions, and laid its interdict upon her + tongue. Three times she strove to throw off the incubus, to speak, but in + vain. Great drops were on her forehead; she was deadly pale, and her eyes + were wild and staring; her features twitched as in a spasm, while she + stood there struggling with the invisible power that sealed her lips. + There was a sudden movement among the spectators; they were whispering + together. They saw that something was wrong. “Do you thus promise?” + repeated the minister, after a pause. “Nod, if you can't speak,” murmured + the bridegroom. His words were the hiss of a serpent in her ears. Her will + resisted no longer; her soul was wholly possessed by unreasoning terror of + the man and horror of the marriage. “No! no! no!” she screamed in piercing + tones, and snatching her hand from the bridegroom, she threw herself upon + the breast of the astonished minister, sobbing wildly as she clung to him, + “Save me, save me! Take me away! I can't marry him,—I can't! Oh, I + can't!” + </p> + <p> + The wedding broke up in confusion, and that is the way, if you choose to + think so, that John Lansing, one thousand miles away, saved his wife from + marrying another man. + </p> + <p> + “If you choose to think so,” I say, for it is perfectly competent to argue + that the influence to which Mary Lansing yielded was merely an hysterical + attack, not wholly strange at such a moment in the case of a woman devoted + to her first husband, and reluctantly consenting to second nuptials. On + this theory, Lansing's simultaneous agony at Pinners ranch in Colorado was + merely a coincidence; interesting, perhaps, but unnecessary to account for + his wife's behavior. That John and Mary Lansing should reject with + indignation this simple method of accounting for their great deliverance + is not at all surprising in view of the common proclivity of people to be + impressed with the extraordinary side of circumstances which affect + themselves; nor is there any reason why their opinion of the true + explanation of the facts should be given more weight than another's. The + writer, who has merely endeavored to put this story into narrative form, + has formed no opinion on it which is satisfactory to himself, and + therefore abstains from any effort to influence the reader's judgment. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of At Pinney's Ranch, by Edward Bellamy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT PINNEY'S RANCH *** + +***** This file should be named 22709-h.htm or 22709-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/7/0/22709/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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