been held, and the parties of the two extremes had made tremendous gains; the middle classes
were being wiped out, and with them the middle-class point of view. Hansi said that the battle
for the streets of the German cities, which had been waged for the last two or three years, was
going against the Communists; their foes had the money and the arms. Hansi had witnessed a
battle in broad daylight in Berlin. A squad of Stormtroopers had been marching with their
stones through the windows; the men inside had rushed out and there had been a general
clubbing and stabbing. The Jewish violinist hadn't stayed to see the outcome. "I don't suppose
I ought to use my hands to beat people," he said, spreading them out apologetically.
"Poor Hansi!" thought Irma. He and Freddi were unhappy, having discovered how their
father was dealing with all sides in this German civil war. The Nazis were using Budd machine
guns in killing the workers, and how could that have come about without the firm of "R & R"
knowing about it? The boys hadn't quarreled with their father—they couldn't bear to—but their
peace of mind was gone and they were wondering how they could go on living in that home.
Also Irma thought: "Poor Lanny!" She saw her husband buffeted between the warring
factions. The Reds were polite to him in this crowd because he was Jesse's nephew, and also
because he was paying for the supper, a duty he invariably assumed. He seemed to feel that he
had to justify himself for being alive: a person who didn't enjoy fighting, and couldn't make up
his mind even to hate wholeheartedly.
Yet he couldn't keep out of arguments. When the Communist candidate for the Chamber of
Deputies put on his phonograph record and remarked that the Social-Democrats were a
greater barrier to progress than the Fascists, Lanny replied: "If you keep on asking for it,
Uncle Jesse, you may have the Fascists to deal with."
Said the phonograph: "Whether they mean to or not, they will help to smash the capitalist
system."
"Go and tell that to Mussolini!" jeered Lanny. "You've had ten years to deal with him, and
how far have you got?"
"He knows that he's near the end of his rope."
"But we're talking about capitalism! Have you studied the dividend reports of Fiat and
Ansaldo?"
So they sparred, back and forth; and Irma thought: "Oh, dear, how I dislike the
intelligentsia!"
But she couldn't help being impressed when the elections came off, and Zhess Block-less, as
the voters called him, showed up at the top of the poll in his district. On the following Sunday
came a runoff election, in which the two highest candidates, who happened to be the Red and
the Pink, fought it out between them. Uncle Jesse came to Irma secretly to beg for funds, and
she gave him two thousand francs, which cost her seventy-nine dollars. As it happened, the
Socialist candidate was a friend of Jean Longuet, and went to Lanny and got twice as much; but
even so, Zhess Block-less came out several hundred votes ahead, and Lanny had the distinction
of having an uncle who was a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the French Republic.
Many a young man had made his fortune from such a connection, but all Lanny could expect
was a few more
restaurants.
IV
The Pomeroy-Nielsons had gone to London, where Rick was engaging a stage director and a
business manager. The Budds and the Robins went for a visit to Les Forêts, where Emily
Chattersworth had just arrived. Hansi and Bess played for her; and later, while Bess and Lanny
practiced piano duets, Irma sought out the hostess to ask her advice about the problems of a
Pink husband and a Red uncle-in-law.
Mrs. Chattersworth had always been open-minded in the matter of politics; she had allowed
her friends and guests to believe and say what they chose, and as a
content to steer the conversation away from quarrels. Now, she said, the world appeared to be
changing; ever since the war it had been becoming more difficult for gentlemen—yes, and ladies,
too—to keep their political discussions within the limits of courtesy. It seemed to have begun
with the Russian Revolution, which had been such an impolite affair. "You have to be either for
it or against it," remarked Emily; "and whichever you are, you cannot tolerate anyone's being on
the other side."
Said Irma: "The trouble with Lanny is that he's willing to tolerate anybody, and so he's
continually being imposed upon."
"I watched him as a little boy," replied her friend. "It seemed very sweet, his curiosity about
people and his efforts to understand them. But like any virtue, it can be carried to extremes."
Lanny's ears would have burned if he could have heard those two women taking him to pieces
and trying to put him together according to their preferences. The wise and kind Emily, who
