Page:Restless Earth.djvu/132
He cursed the woman who had made him a murderer; he cursed her waking and sleeping, living and dead, with the practised invective and trained phraseology of the writer of romance and with the fervour of a fanatic priest.
“She tempted me!” he cried. “She tempted me!”
It was the feeble excuse of the original Adam mourning his lost Eden, the everlasting admission of man’s inherent weakness.
“The woman tempted me, and I did eat. . . .”
Kindly hands seized him and led him away.
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CHAPTER XVI.
“. . .This is our concern, ladies and gentlemen! The concern of every one of us! These are our people, our blood relations, our brothers and sisters, hungry and homeless, robbed of their all by this terrible disaster, robbed of their loved ones! Men, whom yesterday were accounted rich, are penniless to-day! They and their wives and children are dependent upon us, ladies and gentlemen, for sustenance and shelter!
“Shall we refuse them?
“No!
“This is no time for the indulgence of petty spites—for the futile class-distinctions upon which we pride ourselves. In this hour of national calamity we must pull together and do our utmost to bring relief to the sufferers.
“A year ago we had the West Coast shake, and the nation rose nobly to the call for aid. Now we have a much greater disaster, and again the nation rises generously. Next year—next month—to-morrow!—it may be our turn to suffer. Let us do as we would be done by.
“On behalf of the citizens of this town, I have telegraphed the Prime Minister that we will billet three hundred refugees for so long as may be desired.