Arrowsmith - Sinclair Lewis [182]
III
The day before the Commission sailed, Martin insisted that Sondelius take his first injection of phage. He refused.
“No, I will not touch it till you get converted to humanity, Martin, and give it to everybody in St. Hubert. And you will! Wait till you see them suffering by the thousand. You have not seen such a thing. Then you will forget science and try to save everybody. You shall not inject me till you will inject all my Negro friends down there too.”
That afternoon Gottlieb called Martin in. He spoke with hesitation:
“You’re off for Blackwater tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hm. You may be gone some time. I— Martin, you are my oldest friend in New York, you and the good Miriam. Tell me: At first you and Terry t’ought I should not take up the Directorship. Don’t you t’ink I was wise?”
Martin stared, then hastily he lied and said that which was comforting and expected.
“I am glad you t’ink so. You have known so long what I have tried to do. I haf faults, but I t’ink I begin to see a real scientific note coming into the Institute at last, after the popoolarity-chasing of Tubbs and Holabird. . . . I wonder how I can discharge Holabird, that pants-presser of science? If only he dit not know Capitola so well — socially, they call it! But anyway —
“There are those that said Max Gottlieb could not do the child job of running an institution. Huh! Buying note-books! Hiring women that sweep floors! Or no — the floors are swept by women hired by the superintendent of the building, nicht wahr? But anyway —
“I did not make a rage when Terry and you doubted. I am a great fellow for allowing everyone his opinion. But it pleases me — I am very fond of you two boys — the only real sons I have —” Gottlieb laid his withered hand on Martin’s arm. “It pleases me that you see now I am beginning to make a real scientific Institute. Though I have enemies. Martin, you would t’ink I was joking, if I told you the plotting against me —
“Even Yeo. I t’ought he was my friend. I t’ought he was a real biologist. But just today he comes to me and says he cannot get enough sea-urchins for his experiments. As if I could make sea-urchins out of thin air! He said I keep him short of all materials. Me! That have always stood for — I do not care what they PAY scientists, but always I have stood, against that fool Silva and all of them, all my enemies —
“You do not know how many enemies I have, Martin! They do not dare show their faces. They smile to me, but they whisper — I will show Holabird — always he plot against me and try to win over Pearl Robbins, but she is a good girl, she knows what I am doing, but —”
He looked perplexed; he peered at Martin as though he did not quite recognize him, and begged:
“Martin, I grow old — not in years — it is a lie I am over seventy — but I have my worries. Do you mind if I give you advice as I have done so often, so many years? Though you are not a schoolboy now in Queen City — no, at Winnemac it was. You are a man and you are a genuine worker. But —
“Be sure you do not let anything, not even your own good kind heart, spoil your experiment at St. Hubert. I do not make funniness about humanitarianism as I used to; sometimes now I t’ink the vulgar and contentious human race may yet have as much grace and good taste as the cats. But if this is to be, there must be knowledge. So many men, Martin, are kind and neighborly; so few have added to knowledge. You have the chance! You may be the man who ends all plague, and maybe old Max Gottlieb will have helped, too, hein, maybe?
“You must not be just a good doctor at St. Hubert. You must pity, oh, so much the generation after generation yet to come that you can refuse to let yourself indulge in pity for the men you will see dying.
“Dying. . . . It will be peace.
“Let nothing,