Part 42 (2/2)
”That could be ant to know,” I said quickly ”Do you knohere it is?”
”Yes,” she said ”This was s were boxed and put away The scrapbooks were never touched because they were on the top shelf of the library and we didn't find them until afterward By then it didn't pay to bother”
”Can we get to thee in Miaan to feel better ”At fifty-five miles per hour”
She smiled ”At fifty-five I proht, Jonathan”
”Good night, Christina,” I said I watched the door close behind her, then undressed and got into bed I felt exhaustion seethe through my body and dived into a deep sleep
June 30, 1937 Philip Murray came to the hospital today to see Daniel, It was the first time anyone had come from the union in the month he had been there It was almost a week after the doctors had told Daniel he would never walk again Twobeside the bed, so I was the first to see them as they walked down the ward past the curtains that separated the patients froot to my feet when they stopped in front of Daniel's bed
Daniel introduced us and there was an aard pause when they heard my name, so I excused myself and walked down to the end of the ward They re silently back down the ward, never once looking back to see me I went back to Daniel
There was an expression on his face I had never seen before As if all the muscles had turned to stone and only his eyes were alive, burning with a coal-black anger There were papers lying on the bed sheet in front of hiht that I thought the knuckles would burst through the taut white skin After a few moments, he picked up one of the papers and held it toward
It was on the stationery of the Steelworkers Organizing Committee In view of his past and valuable services, the executive board had agreed not to accept his letter of resignation dated before his injury Instead, they had voted to retire him with one month's severance pay and a pension of twenty-five dollars a week for a two-year period beginning thereafter In addition, they would assume the hospital expenses over and above as supplied by the public services and wished hiht undertake It was signed by Philip Murray
I looked at hi I could say
The strike is lost, 'he said You know that ”
/ nodded
''Ten dead on Meo; less, than a stown, over a hundred men crippled and injured; and now iVs over They walk away fros We'll get theames of power, and the men ent on the line for the but junk To be throay like a lemon squeezed dry for which they have no further use'
His eyes had gone frolacial His voice had a passion I had never heard before ”They think Vain, that I won't function And that's another mistake they can chalk up to their credit Just like the strike they should never have begun A strike they knew they could not win”
His eyes tore intoto help et me out of this place where the only word you hear is 'Sorry' ”
”Where e go?” I asked
His voice was suddenly very soft ”Hoot off the train at Fitchville I left hi in a wheelchair surrounded by valises on the station platfor car for two hundred and ninety-five dollars Then we drove up the back roads far into the hills to the place he called home It was not even a ramshackle cabin anymore It was a blackened, burned'Out hulk He stared at it impassively for a o back into town, hire the four biggest colored o over to the general store and buy each man a hammer, a saw, an axe, soh victuals to keep thear Get whatever you like for us''
He saw the expression in my eyes when he turned to look at ht”
”You sure you want to do this, Daniel?” I asked 'We can still take Uncle Too that Uncle Toreed to pay for all the therapy, but only on the condition that Daniel sign an agreeain
Daniel had refused ”Nonored ht Tomorroe'll move into the house after the men clean it up”
He stretched out on the back seat as comfortably as he could I used the front seat because it was easier forthe night I woke up He was sitting on the back seat, looking out at the house When he heard ht?” I asked
He nodded ”Will you do me a favor?”
”Of course What?”
”Think you can e to sit on my face?”
”Only if you letwhile I heard hiht He held out his arms toward ust 28, 1937 Dr Pincus, the orthopedist, finished his examination All afternoon, he had tapped and probed and checked He had watched Daniel walking With crutches Then on the long runway of parallel bars,the hiain, with a brick tied under each shoe to give thereater effort was needed totake a step Finally the examination was coan to h to toe
The doctor walked out into the field with o I would have said what he just did was impossible
'You dont know Daniel, I said
''But everything hes done rong It goes against the theory of musculature repair under which ork
''Maybe theres so with your theory, I said
He looked at et his ideas?
”From two books he ordered by and Charles Atlas Don't Be a Ninety Seven Pound Weakling”
”And the therapist? Where did she coersen, who takes care of Daniels son in California She used to ith her in a hospital and wrote us about her She was an expert on orthopedic es in her own country
Dr Pincus shook his head ”I saw it, but I still dont knohether I believe it But V At this rate, in another ''
''That's what Daniel said By Septe to walk out of here”
Dr Pincus nodded '7 think I'd better come down every week now to check him out I wouldn't want him to overdo it and run into a real setback”
September 10, 1937 Daniel threay the crutches He is noalking around with the support of only two canes He is beginning to try to walk even without theo out from under him Ulla picks hi to move too quickly He must move slowly at first He shakes his head stubbornly and starts out again This time she catches him even before he falls Then, as if he were a child, she holds him up with her hands under his armpits and puts him down in a chair and makes him rest I don't knohich of us waswo legs
She knelt at his feet, unlacing his shoes ''Unbutton your pants,” she cohed ”Better do as she says or she may beat you up”
He opened his belt and unbuttoned the pants Expertly she slid thean to e them ”The trick is to keep the circulation up so that the ht”
”Sure,” he said, looking at hed and went inside It was almost ti Today was my turn