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the story of a pioneer-第37章

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but I found full compensation for every effort in

the glory of working with her for the Cause that was

first in both our hearts; and in the happiness of being

her friend。  Later I shall describe in more detail the

suffrage campaigns and the National and Inter…

national councils in which we took part; now it is

of her I wish to writeof her bigness; her many…

sidedness; her humor; her courage; her quickness;

her sympathy; her understanding; her force; her

supreme common…sense; her selflessness; in short; of

the rare beauty of her nature as I learned to know it。



Like most great leaders; she took one's best work

for granted; and was chary with her praise; and even

when praise was given it usually came by indirect

routes。  I recall with amusement that the highest

compliment she ever paid me in public involved her

in a tangle from which; later; only her quick wit

extricated her。  We were lecturing in an especially

pious town which I shall call B; and just before

I went on the platform Miss Anthony remarked;

peacefully:



‘‘These people have always claimed that I am ir…

religious。  They will not accept the fact that I am

a Quakeror; rather; they seem to think a Quaker

is an infidel。  I am glad you are a Methodist; for

now they cannot claim that we are not orthodox。''



She was still enveloped in the comfort of this re…

flection when she introduced me to our audience;

and to impress my qualifications upon my hearers

she made her introduction in these words:



‘‘It is a pleasure to introduce Miss Shaw; who

is a Methodist minister。  And she is not only ortho…

dox of the orthodox; but she is also my right bower!''



There was a gasp from the pious audience; and

then a roar of laughter from irreverent men; in

which; I must confess; I light…heartedly joined。  For

once in her life Miss Anthony lost her presence of

mind; she did not know how to meet the situation;

for she had no idea what had caused the laughter。 

It bubbled forth again and again during the eve…

ning; and each time Miss Anthony received the dem…

onstration with the same air of puzzled surprise。 

When we had returned to our hotel rooms I explained

the matter to her。  I do not remember now where

I had acquired my own sinful knowledge; but that

night I faced ‘‘Aunt Susan'' from the pedestal of a

sophisticated worldling。



‘‘Don't you know what a right bower is?'' I de…

manded; sternly。



‘‘Of course I do;'' insisted ‘‘Aunt Susan。''  ‘‘It's

a right…hand manthe kind one can't do without。''



‘‘It is a card;'' I told her; firmly‘‘a leading card

in a game called euchre。''



‘‘Aunt Susan'' was dazed。  ‘‘I didn't know it had

anything to do with cards;'' she mused; mournfully。 

‘‘What must they think of me?''



What they thought became quite evident。  The

newspapers made countless jokes at our expense;

and there were significant smiles on the faces in the

audience that awaited us the next night。  When

Miss Anthony walked upon the platform she at

once proceeded to clear herself of the tacit charge

against her。



‘‘When I came to your town;'' she began; cheer…

fully; ‘‘I had been warned that you were a very

religious lot of people。  I wanted to impress upon

you the fact that Miss Shaw and I are religious; too。

But I admit that when I told you she was my right

bower I did not know what a right bower was。  I

have learned that; since last night。''



She waited until the happy chortles of her hearers

had subsided; and then went on。



‘‘It interests me very much; however;'' she con…

cluded; ‘‘to realize that every one of you seemed to

know all about a right bower; and that I had to come

to your good; orthodox town to get the informa…

tion。''



That time the joke was on the audience。

Miss Anthony's home was in Rochester; New

York; and it was said by our friends that on the

rare occasions when we were not together; and I was

lecturing independently; ‘‘all return roads led

through Rochester。''  I invariably found some ex…

cuse to go there and report to her。  Together we

must have worn out many Rochester pavements;

for ‘‘Aunt Susan's'' pet recreation was walking; and

she used to walk me round and round the city

squares; far into the night; and at a pace that made

policemen gape at us as we flew by。  Some dis…

respectful youth once remarked that on these oc…

casions we suggested a race between a ruler and a

rubber ballfor she was very tall and thin; while

I am short and plump。  To keep up with her I

literally bounded at her side。



A certain amount of independent lecturing was

necessary for me; for I had to earn my living。  The

National American Woman Suffrage Association

has never paid salaries to its officers; so; when I be…

came vice…president and eventually; in 1904; presi…

dent of the association; I continued to work gratui…

tously for the Cause in these positions。  Even Miss

Anthony received not one penny of salary for all

her years of unceasing labor; and she was so poor

that she did not have a home of her own until she

was seventy…five。  Then it was a very simple one;

and she lived with the utmost economy。  I decided

that I could earn my bare expenses by making one

brief lecture tour each year; and I made an arrange…

ment with the Redpath Bureau which left me

fully two…thirds of my time for the suffrage work

I loved。



This was one result of my all…night talk with Miss

Anthony in Chicago; and it enabled me to carry

out her plan that I should accompany her in most

of the campaigns in which she sought to arouse the

West to the need of suffrage for women。  From that

time on we traveled and lectured together so con…

stantly that each of us developed an almost uncanny

knowledge of the other's mental processes。  At any

point of either's lecture the other could pick it up

and carry it ona fortunate condition; as it some…

times became necessary to do this。  Miss Anthony

was subject to contractions of the throat; which for

the moment caused a slight strangulation。  On such

occasionsof which there were severalshe would

turn to me and indicate her helplessness。  Then I

would repeat her last sentence; complete her speech;

and afterward make my own。



The first time this happened we were in Washing…

ton; and ‘‘Aunt Susan'' stopped in the middle of a

word。  She could not speak; she merely motioned

to me to continue for her; and left the stage。  At the

end of the evening a prominent Washington man

who had been in our audience remarked to me; con…

fidentially:



‘‘That was a nice little play you and Miss An…

thony made to…nightvery effective indeed。''



For an instant I did not catch his meaning; nor

the implication in his knowing smile。



‘‘Very clever; that strangling bit; and your going

on with the speech;'' he repeated。  ‘‘It hit the au…

dience hard。''



‘‘Surely;'' I protested; ‘‘you don't think it was a

deliberate thingthat we planned or rehearsed it。''



He stared at me incredulously。  ‘‘Are you going

to pretend;'' he demanded; ‘‘that it wasn't a put…up

job?''



I told him he had paid us a high compliment; and

that we must really have done very well if we had

conveyed that impression; and I finally convinced

him that we not only had not rehearsed the episode;

but that neither of us had known what the other

meant to say。  We never wrote out our speeches;

but our subject was always suffrage or some ramifica…

tion of suffrage; and; naturally; we had thoroughly

digested each other's views。



It is said by my friends that I write my speeches

on the tips of my fingersfor I always make my

points on my fingers and have my fingers named for

points。  When I plan a speech I decide how many

points I wish to make and what those points shall

be。  My mental preparation follows。  Miss An…

thony's method was much the same; but very fre…

quently both of us threw over all our plans at the last

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