THEY walked out into the clear yellow sunshine. The camp looked bedraggled and grey in the clean light. A litter had accumulated since Burton was gone, bits of paper, strings, overalls hung on the guy-ropes of the tents. Mac and Jim walked out of the camp and across the surrounding field, to the edge of the orchard. At the line of trees Mac stopped. His eyes moved slowly across the horizontal fields of vision. “Look close, Jim,” he advised. “It’s probably a damn fool thing to go over alone. I know it isn’t good sense.” He studied the orchard. The long, sun-spotted aisles were silent. There was no movement. “It’s so quiet. Makes me suspicious. It’s too quiet.” He reached to a limb and took down a small, misshapen apple the pickers had left. “God, that tastes good. I’d forgot about apples. Always forget what’s so easy.”
“I don’t see anybody moving,” said Jim. “Not a soul.”
“Well look, we’ll edge down in line with the trees. Anybody looking down a row won’t see us, then.” They stepped slowly in under the big apple trees. Their eyes moved restlessly about. They walked through shadows of branches and leaves, and the sun struck them with soft, warm blows.
Jim asked, “Mac, do you s’pose we could get a leave of absence some time and go where nobody knows us, and just sit down in an orchard?”
“’Bout two hours of it, and you’d be raring to go again.”
“I never had time to look at things, Mac, never. I never looked how leaves come out. I never looked at the way things happen. This morning there was a whole line of ants on the floor of the tent. I couldn’t watch them. I was thinking about something else. Some time I’d like to sit all day and look at bugs, and never think of anything else.”
“They’d drive you nuts,” said Mac. “Men are bad enough, but bugs’d drive you nuts.”
“Well, just once in a while you get that feeling—I never look at anything. I never take time to see anything. It’s going to be over, and I won’t know—even how an apple grows.”
They moved on slowly. Mac’s restless eyes roved about among the trees. “You can’t see everything,” he said. “I took a leave and went into the woods in Canada. Say, in a couple of days I came running out of there. I wanted trouble, I was hungry for a mess.”
“Well, I’d like to try it sometime. The way old Dan talks about timber——”
“Damn it, Jim, you can’t have everything! We’ve got something old Dan hasn’t got. You can’t have everything. In a few days we’ll be back in town, and we’ll be so damned anxious to get into another fuss we’ll be biting our nails. You’ve got to take it easy till that shoulder heals. I’ll take you to a flop-house where you can watch all the bugs you want. Keep back of the line of trees. You’re standing out like a cow on a side-hill.”
“It’s nice out here,” said Jim.
“It’s too damn nice. I’m scared there’s a trap someplace.”
Through the trees they could see Anderson’s little white house, and its picket fence, and the burning geraniums in the yard. “No one around,” said Jim.
“Well, take it easy.” At the last row Mac stopped again and let his eyes travel slowly across the open. The great black square on the ground, where the barn had been, still sent up a lazy, pungent smoke. The white tank-house looked tall and lonely. “Looks O.K.,” Mac said. “Let’s go in the back way.” He tried to open the picket gate quietly, but the latch clicked and the hinges growled. They walked up the short path to the porch with its yellowing passion vine. Mac knocked on the door.
A voice from inside called, “Who is it?”
“Is that you, Al?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yeah. Who are you?”
“It’s Mac.”
“Oh, come on in, Mac. The door ain’t locked.”
They went into the kitchen. Al lay on his narrow bed against the wall. He seemed to have grown gaunt in the few days. The skin hung loosely on his face. “Hi, Mac. I thought nobody’d ever come. My old man went out early.”
“We tried to get over before, Al. How’s all the hurts?”
“They hurt plenty,” said Al. “And when you’re all alone they hurt worse. Who burned the barn, Mac?”
“Vigilantes. We’re sorry as hell, Al. We had guards here, but they got a fast one pulled on ’em.”
“My old man just raised hell all night, Mac. Talked all night. Give me hell about four times an hour, all night.”
“We’re damn sorry.”
Al cleared one hand from the bedclothes and scratched his cheek. “I’m still with you, Mac. But the old man wants to blast you. He went in this morning to get the sheriff to kick you off’’n the place. Says you’re trespassin’, an’ he wants you off. Says he’s punished for listenin’ to guys like you. Says I can go to hell if I string along with you. He was mad as a hornet, Mac.”
“I was scared he would be, Al. Listen, we know you’re with us, see? It don’t do no good to make that old man any sorrier than he is. If it’d do any good, it’d be different. You just pretend to come around to his side. We’ll understand that, Al. You can keep in touch with us. I’m awful sorry for your old man.”
Al sighed deeply. “I was scared you’d think I double-crossed you. If you know I ain’t, I’ll tell him t’hell with you.”
“That’s the stuff, Al. And we’ll give you a boost in town, too. Oh, say, Al, did Doc look in on you last night?”
“No. Why?”
“Well, he started over here before the fire, an’ he ain’t been back.”
“Jesus! What do you think happened to him?”
“I’m scared they snatched the poor devil.”
“They been pushing you all around, ain’t they?”
“Yeah. But our guys got in some good licks this morning. But if your old man turns us in, I guess they’ll roll over us tomorrow.”
“Whole thing flops, huh, Mac?”
“That don’t mean anything. We done what we came to do. The thing goes right on, Al. You just make peace an’ pretend you ain’t ever goin’ to get burned no more.” He listened. “Is that somebody coming?” He ran through the kitchen and into the front of the house, and looked out a window.
“It’s my old man, I recognize his step,” said Al.
Mac returned. “I wanted to see if anybody was with him. He’s all alone. We could make a sneak, I guess. I’d rather tell him I’m sorry.”
“You better not,” Al advised. “He won’t listen to nothing from you. He hates your guts.”
There were steps on the porch and the door burst open. Anderson stood, surprised and glaring. “God damn it,” he shouted. “You bastards get out of here. I’ve been and turned you in. The sheriffs goin’ kick the whole smear of you off my land.” His chest swelled with rage.
Mac said, “We just wanted to tell you we’re sorry. We didn’t burn the barn. Some of the boys from town did.”
“What th’ hell do I care who burned it? It’s burned, the crop’s burned. What do you damn bums know about it? I’ll lose the place sure, now.” His eyes watered with rage. “You bastards never owned nothing. You never planted trees an’ seen ’em grow an’ felt ’em with your hands. You never owned a thing, never went out an’ touched your own apple trees with your hands. What do you know?”
“We never had a chance to own anything,” Mac said. “We’d like to own something and plant trees.”
Anderson ignored his words. “I listened to your promises. Look what happened. The whole crop’s burned, there’s paper coming due.”
Mac asked, “How about the pointers?”
Anderson’s hands settled slowly to his sides. A look of cold, merciless hatred came into his eyes. He said slowly, softly, “The kennel was—against—the barn.”
Mac turned to Al and nodded. For a moment Al questioned with his eyes, and then he scowled. “What he says goes. You guys get the hell out, and don’t never come back.”
Anderson ran to the bed and stood in front of it. “I could shoot you men now,” he said, “but the sheriff’s goin’ to do it for me, an’ damn quick.”
Mac touched Jim on the arm, and they went out and shut the door. They didn’t bother to look around when they went out the gate. Mac set out so rapidly that Jim had to stretch his stride to keep up. The sun was cutting downward now, and the shadows of whole trees lay between the rows, and the wind was stirring in the branches, so that both trees and ground seemed to quiver nervously.
“It keeps you hopping, keeping the picture,” Mac said. “You see a guy hurt, or somebody like Anderson smashed, or you see a cop ride down a Jew girl, an’ you think, what the hell’s the use of it. An’ then you think of the millions starving, and it’s all right again. It’s worth it. But it keeps you jumping between pictures. Don’t it ever get you, Jim?”
“Not very much. It isn’t long ago I saw my mother die; seems years, but it wasn’t long ago. She wouldn’t speak to me, she just looked at me. She was hurt so bad she didn’t even want a priest. I guess I got something burned out of me that night. I’m sorry for Anderson, but what the hell. If I can give up my whole life, he ought to be able to give up a barn.”
“Well, to some of those guys property’s more important than their lives.”
Jim said, “Slow down, Mac. What’s your hurry? I seem to get tired easy.”
Mac did slow his steps a little. “I thought that’s what he went to town for. I want to get back before anything happens. I don’t know what this sheriff’ll do, but he’ll be happy as hell to split us up.” They walked silently over the soft, dark earth, and the shadows flickered on them. At the clearing they slowed down. Mac said, “Well, nothing’s happened yet, anyway.”
The smoke rose slowly from the stoves. Jim asked, “Where do you s’pose all the guys are?”
“In sleeping off the drunk, I guess. It wouldn’t be a bad idea if we got some sleep, too. Prob’ly be up all night.”
London moved over and met them. “Everything all right?” Mac asked.
“Just the same.”
“Well, I was right. Anderson’s been in and asked the sheriff to kick us off.”
“Well?”
“Well, we wait. Don’t tell the guys about it.”
“Maybe you was right about that,” London said, “but you was sure wrong about what them guys would eat. They cleaned us out. There ain’t a damn drop o’ beans left. I saved you a couple of cans, over in my tent.”
“Maybe we won’t need anything more to eat,” said Mac.
“How do you mean?”
“We prob’ly won’t any of us be here tomorrow.”
In the tent London pointed to the two food cans on the box. “D’you s’pose the sheriff’ll try to kick us off?” he asked.
“Damn right. He won’t let a chance like that go by.”
“Well, will he come shootin’, d’you suppose? Or will he give the guys a warnin’?”
Mac said, “Hell, I don’t know. Where’s all the men?”
“All under cover, asleep.”
Mac said, “I heard a car. May be our guys coming back.”
London cocked his head. “Too big,” he said. “That’s one of them big babies.”
They ran outside. Up the road from Torgas a huge Mack dump-truck rolled. It had a steel bed and sides, supported by two sets of double tires. It pulled up in front of the camp and stopped. A man stood up in the steel bed, and in his hands he held a submachine-gun with a big cartridge cylinder behind the forward grip. The heads of other men showed above the truck sides. Strikers began to boil out of the tents.
The standing man shouted, “I’m sheriff o’ this county. If there’s anyone in authority I want to see him.” The mob approached closer and looked curiously at the truck.
Mac said softly, “Careful, London. They may pop us off. They could do it now if they wanted to.” They walked forward, to the edge of the road, and stopped; and the mob was lining the road now, too.
London said, “I’m the boss, mister.”
“Well, I’ve got a trespass complaint. We’ve been fair to you men. We’ve asked you to go back to work, or, if you wanted to strike, to do it peacefully. You’ve destroyed property and committed homicide. This morning you sent out men to destroy property. We had to shoot some of those men, and we caught the rest.” He looked down at the men in the truck, and then up again. “Now we don’t want any bloodshed, so we’re going to let you out. You have all night tonight to get out. If you head straight for the county line, nobody’ll bother you. But if this camp is here at daylight tomorrow, we’re going through it.”
The men stood silently and watched him. Mac whispered to London. London said, “Trespassin’ don’t give you no right to shoot guys.”
“Maybe not, but resisting officers does. Now I’m talking fair with you, so you’ll know what to expect. At daylight tomorrow a hundred men, in ten trucks like this, are coming out. Every man will have a gun, and we have three cases of Mills bombs. Some of you men who know can tell the others what a Mills bomb is. That’s all. We’re through fooling with you. You have till daylight to get out of the county. That’s all.” He turned forward. “Might as well drive along, Gus.” He sank from sight behind the steel truck side. The wheels turned slowly, and gathered speed.
One of the strikers leaped into the shallow ditch and picked up a rock. And he stood holding it in his hand and looking at it as the truck rolled away. The men watched the truck go, and then they turned back into the camp.
London sighed. “Well, that sounds like orders. He didn’t mean no funny business.”
Mac said impatiently, “I’m hungry. I’m going to eat my beans.” They followed him back into the tent. He gobbled his food quickly and hungrily. “Hope you got some, London.”
“Me? Oh, sure. What we goin’ to do now, Mac?”
“Fight,” said Mac.
“Yeah, but if he brings the stuff he said, pineapples an’ stuff, it ain’t goin’ to be no more fight than the stockyards.”
“Bull,” said Mac, and a little jet of chewed beans shot from his mouth. “If he had that stuff, he wouldn’t need to tell us about it. He just hopes we’ll get scattered so we can’t put up a fight. If we move out tonight, they’ll pick us off. They never do what they say.”
London looked into Mac’s face, hung on to his eyes. “Is that straight, Mac? You said I was on your side. Are you puttin’ somethin’ over?”
Mac looked away. “We got to fight,” he said. “If we get out without a scrap ever’thing we’ve been through’ll be wasted.”
“Yeah, but if we fight, a lot of guys that ain’t done no harm is goin’ get shot.”
Mac put his unfinished food down on the box. “Look,” he said. “In a war a general knows he’s going to lose men. Now this is a war. If we get run out o’ here without a fight, it’s losing ground.” For a moment he covered his eyes with his hand. “London,” he said. “It’s a hell of a responsibility. I know what we should doj you’re the boss; for Christ’s sake, do what you want. Don’t make me take all the blame.”
London said plaintively, “Yeah, but you know about things. You think we ought to fight, really?”
“Yes, we ought.”
“Well, hell then, we’ll fight—that is, if we can get the guys to fight.”
“I know,” said Mac. “They may run out on us, every one of ’em. The ones that heard the sheriff will tell the others. They may turn on us and say we caused the trouble.”
London said, “Some ways, I hope they clear out. Poor bastards, they don’t know nothing. But like you say, if they’re ever goin’ to get clear, they got to take it now. How about the hurt guys?” London went on, “Burke and old Dan, and the guy with the busted ankle?”
“Leave ’em,” said Mac. “It’s the only thing we can do. The county’ll have to take care of ’em.”
“I’m going to take a look around,” London said. “I’m gettin’ nervous as a cat.”
“You ain’t the only one,” said Mac.
When he was gone, Jim glanced at Mac, and then began to eat the cold beans and strings of beef. “I wonder if they’ll fight?” he asked. “D’you think they’d really let the guys through if they wanted to run?”
“Oh, the sheriff would. He’d be only too damn glad to get rid of ’em, but I don’t trust the vigilante boys.”
“They won’t have anything to eat tonight, Mac. If they’re scared already, there won’t be any dinner to buck ’em up.”
Mac scraped his can and set it down. “Jim,” he said, “If I told you to do something, would you do it?”
“I don’t know. What is it?”
“Well, the sun’s going down pretty soon, and it’ll be dark. They’re going to lay for you and me, Jim. Don’t make any mistake about that. They’re going to want to get us, bad. I want you to get out, soon as it gets dark, get clear and go back to town.”
“Why in hell should I do that?”
Mac’s eyes slid over Jim’s face and went to the ground again. “When I came out here, I thought I was hell on wheels. You’re worth ten of me, Jim. I know that now. If anything happened to me, there’s plenty of guys to take my place, but you’ve got a genius for the work. We can’t spare you, Jim. If you was to get knocked off in a two-bit strike—well, it’s bad economy.”
“I don’t believe it,” said Jim. “Our guys are to be used, not saved. I couldn’t run out. Y’said yourself this was a part of the whole thing. It’s little, but it’s important.”
“I want you to go, Jim. You can’t fight with that arm. You’d be no damn good here. You couldn’t help at all.”
Jim’s face was rigid. “I won’t go,” he said. “I might be of some use here. You protect me all the time, Mac. And sometimes I get the feeling you’re not protecting me for the Party, but for yourself.”
Mac reddened with anger. “O.K. then. Get your can knocked off. I’ve told you what I think’s the best thing. Be pig-headed, if you want. I can’t sit still. I’m going out. You do anything you damn please.” He went out angrily.
Jim looked up at the back wall of the tent. He could see the outline of the red sun on the canvas. His hand stole up and touched his hurt shoulder, and pressed it gently, all around, in a circle that narrowed to the wound. He winced a little as his exploring fingers neared the hurt. For a long time he sat quietly.
He heard a step in the door and looked around. Lisa stood there, and her baby was in her arms. Jim could see past her, where the line of old cars stood against the road; and on the other side of the road the sun was on the tree-tops, but in the rows the shade had come. Lisa looked in, with a bird-like interest. Her hair was damp, plastered against her head, and little, uneven finger-waves were pressed into it. The short blanket that covered her shoulders was draped and held to one side with a kind of coquetry. “I seen you was alone,” she said. She went to the mattress and sat down and arranged her gingham dress neatly over her legs. “I heard guys say the cops’ll throw bombs, an’ kill us all,” she said lightly.
Jim was puzzled. “It doesn’t seem to scare you much.”
“No. I ain’t never been ascared o’ things like that.”
“The cops wouldn’t hurt you,” Jim said. “I don’t believe they’ll do all that. It’s a bluff. Do you want anything?”
“I thought I’d come an’ set. I like to—just set here.”
Jim smiled. “You like me, don’t you Lisa?’
“Yes.”
“I like you, too, Lisa.”
“You he’ped me with the baby.”
Jim asked, “How’s old Dan? Did you take care of him?”
“He’s all right. Just lays there mumblin’.”
“Mac helped you more than I did.”
“Yes, but he don’t look at me—nice. I like t’hear you talk. You’re just a young kid, but you talk nice.”
“I talk too much, Lisa. Too much talk, not enough doing things. Look how the evening’s coming. We’ll light the lantern before long. You wouldn’t like to sit here in the dark with me.”
“I wouldn’ care,” she said quickly.
He looked into her eyes again, and his face grew pleased. “Did you ever notice, in the evening, Lisa, how you think of things that happened a long time ago—not even about things that matter? One time in town, when I was a little kid, the sun was going down, and there was a board fence. Well, a grey cat went up and sat on that fence for a moment, long-haired cat, and that cat turned gold for a minute, a gold cat.”
“I like cats,” Lisa agreed softly. “I had two cats onct, two of them.”
“Look. The sun’s nearly gone, Lisa. Tomorrow we’ll be somewhere else. I wonder where? You’ll be on the move, I guess. Maybe I’ll be in jail. I’ve been in jail before.”
London and Mac came quietly into the tent together. London looked down at the girl. “What you doing here, Lisa? You better get out. We got business.” Lisa got up and clutched her blanket close. She looked sideways at Jim as she passed. London said, “I don’t know what’s goin’ on. There’s about ten little meetin’s out there, an’ they don’t want me at none o’ them.”
“Yeah, I know,” Mac said. “The guys’re scared. I don’t know what they’ll do, but they’ll want to scram tonight.” And then the conversation died. London and Mac sat down on boxes, facing Jim. They sat there while the sun went down and the tent grew a little dusky.
At last Jim said softly, “Even if the guys get out, it won’t all be wasted. They worked together a little.”
Mac roused himself. “Yeah, but we ought to make a last stand.”
“How you goin’ to get guys to fight when they want to run?” London demanded.
“I don’t know. We can talk. We can try to make ’em fight talkin’ to ’em.”
“Talk don’t do much good when they’re scared.”
“I know.”
The silence fell again. They could hear the low talk of many voices outside, scattered voices that gradually drew together and made a babble like water. Mac said, “Got a match, London? Light the lantern.”
“It ain’t dark yet.”
“Dark enough. Light it up. This God damn half-light makes me nervous.”
The shade screeched as London raised it, and screeched when he let it down.
Mac looked startled. “Something happened. What’s wrong?”
“It’s the men,” said Jim. “They’re quiet now. They’ve all stopped talking.” The three men sat listening tensely. They heard footsteps coming closer. In the doorway the two short Italian men stood. Their teeth showed in self-conscious grins.
“C’n we come in?”
“Sure. Come on in, boys.”
They stood in the tent like pupils preparing to recite. Each looked to the other to begin. One said, “The men out there—they want to call a meeting.”
“Yeah? What for?”
The other answered quickly, “Those men say they vote the strike, they can vote again. They say What’s the use all the men get killed?’ They say they can’t strike no more.” They were silent, waiting for London’s answer.
London’s eyes asked advice from Mac. “Of course you’ll call a meeting,” Mac said. “The men are the bosses. What they say goes.” He looked up at the waiting emissaries. “Go out and tell the guys London calls a meeting in about half an hour, to vote whether we fight or run.”
They looked at London for corroboration. He nodded his head slowly. “That’s right,” he said. “In a half hour. We do what the guys vote to do.” The little men made foreign bows, and wheeled and left the tent.
Mac laughed loudly. “Why that’s fine,” he said. “Why that makes it better. I thought they might sneak out. But if they want to vote, that means they’re still working together. Oh, that’s fine. They can break up, if they do it by their own consent.”
Jim asked, “But aren’t you going to try to make them fight?”
“Oh, sure. We have to make plans about that. But if they won’t fight, well anyway they don’t just sneak off like dogs. It’s more like a retreat, you see. It isn’t just getting chased.”
“What’ll we do at the meeting?” London demanded.
“Well, let’s see. It’s just about dark now. You talk first, London. Tell ’em why they should fight, not run. Now I better not talk. They don’t like me too well since I told ’em off this morning.” His eyes moved to Jim. “You’re it,” he said. “Here’s your chance. You do it. See if you can bring ’em around. Talk, Jim. Talk. It’s the thing you’ve been wanting.”
Jim’s eyes shone with excitement. “Mac,” he cried, “I can pull off this bandage and get a flow of blood. That might stir ’em up.”
Mac’s eyes narrowed and he considered the thought. “No—” he decided. “Stir ’em up that way, an’ they got to hit something quick. If you make ’em sit around, they’ll go way down. No, just talk, Jim. Tell ’em straight what a strike means, how it’s a little battle in a whole war. You can do it, Jim.”
Jim sprang up. “You’re damn right I can do it. I’m near choking, but I can do it.” His face was transfigured. A furious light of energy seemed to shine from it.
They heard running footsteps. A young boy ran into the tent. “Out in the orchard,” he cried. “There’s a guy says he’s a doctor. He’s all hurt.”
The three started up. “Where?”
“Over the other side. Been lyin’ there all day, he says.”
“How’d you find him?” Mac demanded.
“I heard ’im yell. He says come and tell you.”
“Show us the way. Come on now, hurry up.”
The boy turned and plunged out. Mac shouted, “London, bring the lantern.” Mac and Jim ran side by side. The night was almost complete. Ahead, they saw the flying figure of the boy. Across the open space they tore. The boy reached the line of trees and plunged among them. They could hear him running ahead of them. They dashed into the dark shadow of the trees.
Suddenly Mac reached for Jim. “Jim! Drop, for Christ’ sake!” There was a roar, and two big holes of light. Mac had sprawled full length. He heard several sets of running footsteps. He looked toward Jim, but the flashes still burned on his retinas. Gradually he made Jim out. He was on his knees, his head down. “You sure got down quick, Jim.”
Jim did not move. Mac scrambled over to him, on his knees. “Did you get hit, Jim?” The figure kneeled, and the face was against the ground. “Oh, Christ!” Mac put out his hand to lift the head. He cried out, and jerked his hand away, and wiped it on his trousers, for there was no face. He looked slowly around, over his shoulder.
The lantern bounced along toward him, lighting London’s running legs. “Where are you?” London shouted.
Mac didn’t answer. He sat back on his heels, sat very quietly. He looked at the figure, kneeling in the position of Moslem prayer.
London saw them at last. He came close, and stopped 5 and the lantern made a circle of light. “Oh,” he said. He lowered the lantern and peered down. “Shot-gun?”
Mac nodded and stared at his sticky hand.
London looked at Mac, and shivered at his frozen face. Mac stood up, stiffly. He leaned over and picked Jim up and slung him over his shoulder, like a sack; and the dripping head hung down behind. He set off, stiff-legged, toward the camp. London walked beside him, carrying the lantern.
The clearing was full of curious men. They clustered around, until they saw the burden. And then they recoiled. Mac marched through them as though he did not see them. Across the clearing, past the stoves he marched, and the crowd followed silently behind him. He came to the platform. He deposited the figure under the hand-rail and leaped to the stand. He dragged Jim across the boards and leaned him against the corner post, and steadied him when he slipped sideways.
London handed the lantern up, and Mac set it carefully on the floor, beside the body, so that its light fell on the head. He stood up and faced the crowd. His hands gripped the rail. His eyes were wide and white. In front he could see the massed men, eyes shining in the lamplight. Behind the front row, the men were lumped and dark. Mac shivered. He moved his jaws to speak, and seemed to break the frozen jaws loose. His voice was high and monotonous. “This guy didn’t want nothing for himself—” he began. His knuckles were white, where he grasped the rail. “Comrades! He didn’t want nothing for himself——”