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Auditing and Assurance Services, 16e (Arens/Elder/Beasley)
Chapter 6 Audit Responsibilities and Objectives
6.1 Learning Objective 6-1
1) The objective of an audit of the financial statements is an expression of an opinion on

A) the fairness of the financial statements in all material respects.
B) the accuracy of the financial statements.
C) the accuracy of the annual report.
D) the accuracy of the balance sheet and income statement.
Answer: A
Terms: Objective of ordinary audit of financial statements
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-1
AACSB: Reflective thinking
2) If the auditor believes that the financial statements are not fairly stated or is unable to reach a
conclusion because of insufficient evidence, the auditor
A) should withdraw from the engagement.
B) should request an increase in audit fees so that more resources can be used to conduct the
audit.
C) has the responsibility of notifying financial statement users through the auditor's report.
D) should notify regulators of the circumstances.
Answer: C
Terms: Auditor believes that financial statements are nor fairly presented
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-1
3) Auditors accumulate evidence to

A) defend themselves in the event of a lawsuit.
B) determine if the financial statements are correct.
C) satisfy the requirements of the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934.
D) reach a conclusion about the fairness of the financial statements.
Answer: D
Terms: Auditors accumulate evidence
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-1
1
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
4) Which of the following is not one of the steps used to develop audit objectives?
A) know the proper type of audit opinion to issue
B) divide the financial statements into cycles
C) know the management assertions about the financial statements
D) know the specific audit objectives for classes of transactions
Answer: A
Terms: Steps the AICPA and accounting profession taking to reduce practitioner's exposure to
lawsuits
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-1
5) When developing the audit objectives, the first step is to divide the financial statements into
cycles.
Answer: FALSE
Terms: Steps to develop audit objectives
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-1
1) The responsibility for adopting sound accounting policies and maintaining adequate internal
control rests with the
A) board of directors.
B) company management.
C) financial statement auditor.
D) company's internal audit department.
Answer: B
Terms: Responsibility for adopting sound accounting policies and maintaining adequate internal
controls
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
2
2) If management insists on financial statement disclosures that the auditor finds unacceptable,
the auditor can withdraw from the engagement or
A)
Issue an adverse opinion Issue a qualified opinion
Yes Yes
B)
No No
C)
Yes No
D)
No Yes
Answer: A
Terms: Auditor insists on financial statement disclosures that management finds unacceptable
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
3) In certifying their annual financial statements, the CEO and CFO of a public company certify
that the financial statements comply with the requirements of
A) GAAP.
B) the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
C) the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
D) GAAS.
Answer: C
Terms: Certifying annual financial statements by CEO and CFO
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
Topic: Public
3
4) Which of the following statements is true of a public company's financial statements?
A) Sarbanes-Oxley requires only the CEO to certify the financial statements.
B) Sarbanes-Oxley requires only the CFO to certify the financial statements.
C) Sarbanes-Oxley requires both the CEO and CFO to certify the financial statements.
D) Sarbanes-Oxley requires neither the CEO nor the CFO to certify the financial statements.
Answer: C
Terms: Public company's financial statements
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
Topic: SOX
5) The responsibility for the preparation of the financial statements and the accompanying
footnotes belongs to
A) the auditor.
B) management.
C) both management and the auditor equally.
D) management for the statements and the auditor for the notes.
Answer: B
Terms: Responsibility for preparation of the financial statements and the accompanying
footnotes
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-2
6) Because they operate the business on a daily basis, a company's management knows more
about the company's transactions and related assets, liabilities, and equity than the auditors.
Answer: TRUE
Terms: Responsibility for fair presentation of financial statements
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
7) The annual reports of many public companies include a statement about management's
responsibilities and relationship with the CPA firm.
Answer: TRUE
Terms: Management's responsibility and relationship with CPA firm
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
8) The auditors determine which disclosures must be presented in the financial statements.
Answer: FALSE
Terms: Responsibility for fair presentation of financial statements
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
4
9) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act provides for criminal penalties.
Answer: TRUE
Terms: Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-2
Topic: SOX
1) The auditor's best defense when material misstatements are not uncovered is to have
conducted the audit
A) in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.
B) as effectively as reasonably possible.
C) in a timely manner.
D) only after an adequate investigation of the management team.
Answer: A
Terms: Auditors' best defense when material misstatements are not uncovered
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
2) Which of the following is not one of the reasons that auditors provide only reasonable
assurance on the financial statements?
A) The auditor commonly examines a sample, rather than the entire population of transactions.
B) Accounting presentations contain complex estimates which involve uncertainty.
C) Fraudulently prepared financial statements are often difficult to detect.
D) Auditors believe that reasonable assurance is sufficient in the vast majority of cases.
Answer: D
Terms: Reasons auditors provide only reasonable assurance on financial statements
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
3) Which of the following statements is the most correct regarding errors and fraud?
A) An error is unintentional, whereas fraud is intentional.
B) Frauds occur more often than errors in financial statements.
C) Errors are always fraud and frauds are always errors.
D) Auditors have more responsibility for finding fraud than errors.
Answer: A
Terms: Errors and fraud
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
5
4) When an auditor believes that an illegal act may have occurred, the auditor should first
A) obtain an understanding of the nature and circumstances of the act.
B) consult with legal counsel or others knowledgeable about the illegal act.
C) discuss the matter with the audit committee.
D) withdraw from the engagement.
Answer: A
Terms: Auditor believes an illegal act may have occurred
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
5) The auditor has no responsibility to plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance
that misstatements that are not ________ are detected.
A) important to the financial statements
B) statistically significant to the financial statements
C) material to the financial statements
D) identified by the client
Answer: C
Terms: Auditor has no responsibility to plan and perform audit to obtain reasonable assurance
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
6) Fraudulent financial reporting is most likely to be committed by whom?

A) line employees of the company
B) outside members of the company's board of directors
C) company management
D) the company's auditors
Answer: C
Terms: Fraudulent financial reporting
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
7) Which of the following would most likely be deemed a direct effect illegal act?
A) violation of federal employment laws
B) violation of federal environmental regulations
C) violation of federal income tax laws
D) violation of civil rights laws
Answer: C
Terms: Direct-effect illegal act
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
6
8) The concept of reasonable assurance indicates that the auditor is
A) not a guarantor of the correctness of the financial statements.
B) not responsible for the fairness of the financial statements.
C) responsible only for issuing an opinion on the financial statements.
D) responsible for finding all misstatements.
Answer: A
Terms: Concept of reasonable assurance
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
9) Which of the following is the auditor least likely to do when aware of an illegal act?
A) discuss the matter with the client's legal counsel
B) obtain evidence about the potential effect of the illegal act on the financial statements
C) contact the local law enforcement officials regarding potential criminal wrongdoing
D) consider the impact of the illegal act on the relationship with the company's management
Answer: C
Terms: Illegal acts
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
10) An auditor discovers that the company's bookkeeper unintentionally made an mistake in
calculating the amount of the quarterly sales. This is an example of
A) employee fraud.
B) an error.
C) misappropriation of assets.
D) a defalcation.
Answer: B
Terms: Errors and fraud
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
11) An auditor has a duty to

A) provide reasonable assurance that material misstatements will be detected.
B) be a guarantor of the fairness in the statements.
C) be equally responsible with management for the preparation of the financial statements.
D) be an insurer of the fairness in the statements.
Answer: A
Terms: Auditor responsibility for notifying users as to whether statements are properly stated
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
7
12) If the auditor were responsible for making certain that all of management's assertions in the
financial statements were absolutely correct,
A) bankruptcies could no longer occur.
B) bankruptcies would be reduced to a very small number.
C) audits would be much easier to complete.
D) audits would not be economically practical.
Answer: D
Terms: Auditor responsible for making certain that all of management's assertions were
absolutely correct
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
13) When dealing with laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial
statements, the auditor
A) should inquire of management about whether the entity is in compliance with such laws and
regulations.
B) has no responsibility to determine if any violations of these laws has occurred.
C) must report all violations, including inconsequential violations, to the audit committee.
D) should perform the same procedures as for violations having a direct effect on the financial
statements.
Answer: A
Terms: Indirect-effect illegal acts
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
14) Which of the following statements is usually true?

A) Materiality is easy to quantify.
B) Fraudulent financial statements are often easy for the auditor to detect, especially when there
is collusion among management.
C) Reasonable assurance is a low level of assurance that the financial statements are free from
material misstatement.
D) An item is considered material if it would likely have changed or influenced the decisions of
a reasonable person using the statements.
Answer: D
Terms: Materiality
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
8
15) Auditing standards make ________ distinction(s) between the auditor's responsibilities for
searching for errors and fraud.
A) little
B) a significant
C) no
D) various
Answer: C
Terms: Auditor responsibility for searching for errors and fraud
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
16) In comparing management fraud with employee fraud, the auditor's risk of failing to discover
the fraud is
A) greater for management fraud because managers are inherently more deceptive than
employees.
B) greater for management fraud because of management's ability to override existing internal
controls.
C) greater for employee fraud because of the higher crime rate among blue collar workers.
D) greater for employee fraud because of the larger number of employees in the organization.
Answer: B
Terms: Management fraud vs. employee fraud and auditor failure to detect both
Diff: Challenging
Objective: LO 6-3
17) Misappropriation of assets

A) is generally committed by company management.
B) harms the users of the financial statements by providing them incorrect financial data for their
decision making.
C) causes harm to stockholders because the assets are no longer available to their rightful
owners.
D) causes the financial statements to be misstated since the misappropriation usually involves
material amounts.
Answer: C
Terms: Misappropriation of assets
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
9
18) When comparing the auditor's responsibility for detecting employee fraud and for detecting
errors, the profession has placed the responsibility
A) more on discovering errors than employee fraud.
B) more on discovering employee fraud than errors.
C) equally on discovering errors and employee fraud.
D) on the senior auditor for detecting errors and on the manager for detecting employee fraud.
Answer: C
Terms: Fraud and errors
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
19) If there is collusion among management, the chance a normal audit would uncover such acts
is
A) very low.
B) very high.
C) zero.
D) none of the above.
Answer: A
Terms: Employees collude to falsify documents
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
20) When the auditor becomes aware of or suspects noncompliance with laws and regulations
A) the auditor should evaluate the effects of the noncompliance on other aspects of the audit.
B) the auditor should discuss the matter with management at a level above those suspected of the
noncompliance.
C) the auditor should obtain additional information to evaluate the possible effects on the
financial statements.
D) all of the above
Answer: D
Terms: Audit procedures when noncompliance is identified or suspected
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
10
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21) When the auditor identifies or suspects noncompliance with laws and regulations, the auditor
A) should discuss the matter with those whom they believe committed the illegal act.
B) begin communication with the FASB in accordance with PCAOB regulations.
C) may disclaim an opinion on the basis of scope limitations if he is precluded by management
from obtaining sufficient appropriate evidence.
D) should withdraw from the engagement.
Answer: C
Terms: Noncompliance with laws and regulations
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
22) When an auditor knows that an illegal act has occurred, she must
A) report it to the proper governmental authorities.
B) consider the effects on the financial statements, including the adequacy of disclosure.
C) withdraw from the engagement.
D) issue an adverse opinion.
Answer: B
Terms: Auditor knows illegal act occurred
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
Topic: Public
23) Which of the following is an accurate statement concerning the auditor's responsibility to
consider laws and regulations?
A) Auditors can follow an easy, step-by-step procedure to determine how laws and regulations
impact the financial statements.
B) The auditor's responsibility will depend on whether the laws or regulations are expected to
have a direct impact on the financial statements.
C) It is the responsibility of the auditor to determine if an act constitutes noncompliance.
D) The auditor must inform an outside party if management has knowingly not complied with a
law or regulation.
Answer: B
Terms: Illegal acts, effect on financial statements
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
11
24) Which of the following statements best describes the auditor's responsibility with respect to
illegal acts that do not have a material effect on the client's financial statements?
A) Generally, the auditor is under no obligation to notify parties other than personnel within the
client's organization.
B) Generally, the auditor is under an obligation to inform the PCAOB.
C) Generally, the auditor is obligated to disclose the relevant facts in the auditor's report.
D) Generally, the auditor is expected to compel the client to adhere to requirements of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Answer: A
Terms: Auditor responsibility with respect to illegal acts
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
25) Which of the following statements best describes the auditor's responsibility regarding the
detection of fraud?
A) The auditor is responsible for the failure to detect fraud only when such failure clearly results
from nonperformance of audit procedures specifically described in the engagement letter.
B) The auditor is required to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free
of both material errors and fraud.
C) The auditor is responsible for detecting material financial statement fraud, but not a material
misappropriation of assets.
D) The auditor is responsible for the failure to detect fraud only when an unqualified opinion is
issued.
Answer: B
Terms: Auditor responsibility regarding detection of fraud
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
26) When reporting identified or suspected noncompliance,

A) the auditor must report inconsequential noncompliance to the audit committee.
B) the auditor should communicate all material noncompliance matters to those charged with
governance.
C) any intentional noncompliance must be reported to local law enforcement.
D) all noncompliance, whether material or not, must result in a disclaimer of opinion.
Answer: B
Terms: Reporting of identified or suspected noncompliance
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
12
27) Another term for misappropriation of assets is
A) management fraud.
B) collusion.
C) employee fraud.
D) illegal acts.
Answer: C
Terms: Misappropriation of assets
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
28) The provisions of many laws and regulations affect the financial statements
A) directly.
B) only indirectly.
C) both directly and indirectly.
D) materially if direct; immaterially if indirect.
Answer: B
Diff: Challenging
Objective: LO 6-3
29) If a client has violated federal tax laws,

A) the auditor must notify the IRS.
B) and the amount is significant, the auditor should communicate with those charged with
governance.
C) the noncompliance generally will not impact the financial statements.
D) the auditor does not need to evaluate the effects of the noncompliance on other aspects of the
audit.
Answer: B
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
30) Discuss the differences between errors, frauds, and illegal acts. Give an example of each.
Answer: The primary difference between errors and frauds is that errors are unintentional
misstatements of the financial statements, whereas frauds are intentional misstatements. Illegal
acts are violations of laws or government regulations, other than frauds. An example of an error
is a mathematical mistake when footing the columns in the sales journal. An example of a fraud
is the creation of fictitious accounts receivable. An example of an illegal act is the dumping of
toxic waste in violation of the federal environmental protection laws.
Terms: Errors, frauds, and illegal acts
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
13
31) Discuss the actions an auditor should take when an illegal act is identified or suspected.
Answer: When an auditor discovers or suspects noncompliance with a law or regulation (illegal
act), unless the matters involved are inconsequential, the auditor should:
1. Obtain an understanding of the nature and circumstances of the act. Additional information
should be obtained to evaluate the possible effects on the financial statements. The auditor
should discuss the matter with management at a level above those involved with the suspected
noncompliance, and, when appropriate, those charged with governance. If the auditor is
precluded by management or those charged with governance from obtaining sufficient
appropriate evidence to provide sufficient information that supports that the entity is in
compliance with the laws and regulations, and the auditor believes the effect of the
noncompliance may be material to the financial statements, the auditor should consider the need
to obtain legal advice. The auditor should also evaluate the effects of the noncompliance on other
aspects of the audit.
2. Communicate with those charged with governance matters involving noncompliance with
laws and regulations that came to the auditor's attention during the course of the audit. If the
matter is believed to be intentional and material, it should be communicated to those charged
with governance, such as the board of directors, as soon as practicable.
3. Identify whether a responsibility exists to report the identified or suspected noncompliance to

parties outside the entity, such as regulatory authorities.
4. If the noncompliance has a material effect and has not been adequately reflected in the
financial statements, the auditor should express a qualified or adverse opinion. If the auditor has
been precluded by management from obtaining sufficient appropriate evidence to determine if
the noncompliance is material, the auditor should express a qualified opinion or disclaim an
opinion.
Terms: Actions auditor should take when auditor discovers illegal act
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
32) Discuss three reasons why auditors are responsible for "reasonable" but not "absolute"
assurance.
Answer:
• Most audit evidence results from testing a sample of a population. Sampling involves some
risk of not uncovering material misstatements.
• Accounting presentations contain complex estimates, which inherently involve uncertainty
and can be affected by future events. As a result, the auditor has to rely on evidence that is
persuasive but not convincing.
• Fraudulently prepared financial statements are often very difficult for the auditor to detect,
especially when there is collusion among management.
Terms: Reasons auditors are responsible for reasonable but not absolute assurance
Diff: Moderate
Objective: LO 6-3
14
33) Discuss the differences in the auditor's responsibilities for discovering (1) material errors, (2)
material fraud (3) illegal acts having a direct effect on the financial statements, and (4) illegal
acts that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements.
Answer: Auditing standards make no distinction between the auditor's responsibilities for
searching for errors and fraud. In either case, the auditor must obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the statements are free of material misstatements. The standards also recognize that
fraud is often more difficult to detect because management or the employees perpetrating the
fraud attempt to conceal the fraud. Still, the difficulty of detection does not change the auditor's
responsibility to properly plan and perform the audit to detect material misstatements, whether
caused by error or fraud.
The auditor's responsibility for uncovering illegal acts that have a direct effect on the financial
statements is the same as for errors and fraud. However, the auditor is not required to search for
illegal acts that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements unless there is reason to
believe they exist.
Terms: Auditor responsibilities for discovering material errors, material fraud, direct-effect
illegal acts, and indirect-effect illegal acts
Diff: Challenging
Objective: LO 6-3
34) Errors are usually more difficult for an auditor to detect than frauds.
Answer: FALSE
Terms: Auditor detection of errors and frauds
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
35) Other than inquiring of management about policies they have established to prevent illegal
acts and whether management knows of any laws or regulations that the company has violated,
the auditor should not search for illegal acts that do not have a direct effect on the financial
statements unless there is reason to believe they may exist.
Answer: TRUE
Terms: Auditor responsibility for searching for illegal acts that do not have a direct effect on the
financial statements
Diff: Easy
Objective: LO 6-3
15
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
I were coal-black—it would have saved me from the heartache that’s
coming to me now!”
She looked away from him for a while, with a veritable mêlée of fear,
brave indifference to the revelation, and self-doubt contending
within her. Eric Starling was a negro, and she had fallen in love with
him, and ... would she be averse to touching him, now? Would it
make any difference? She reached for his hand and held it tightly for
a moment, almost in an absurd effort to discover the answer to the
question. Oh, what were words, anyway? He could tell her that he
was negro until he became blue in the face, but he didn’t give her
the feeling of one. Somehow, he just didn’t have the physical
essence which she had always felt in the presence of other negroes,
even those at the Vanderin party. He just didn’t have it. There was a
fresh, lovely sturdiness attached to his body, and she wanted to be
in his arms, and she couldn’t help herself. She loved him with every
last blood-drop in her heart.
But the future, with all its ghastly dangers and troubles. If she
married him, or if they lived together, her father and brothers would
try to kill him, or injure him—she knew what they would do well
enough, the stupid roughnecks—and her mother would weep and
shriek, and perhaps try to kill herself, and other people would shun
them, or make trouble for them. Even the dirty newspapers might
take it up—hadn’t she read last week about a negro who had been
hounded out of a New Jersey town because he loved a white girl
and they wanted to marry each other? People were always like
wolves, waiting to leap upon you if you dared to disregard any of
their cherished “Thou Shalt Nots” ... just like wolves. The whole
world seemed to be in a conspiracy to prevent people from
becoming natural beings and doing as they pleased, even when their
acts couldn’t possibly injure anybody. It was terrible.
And she herself, would she have courage enough to defy everything
for his sake, and would her love for him continue in spite of all the
threats and intrusions? She turned to look at him again. He was
slumping down on the couch, with his hands resting limply on his
outstretched legs, and his head lowered. All of her heart bounded
toward him, and she flung herself against him and cried: “I don’t
care what you are, Eric! I love you and I’m going to stick to you. I
love you, Eric, dear one.”
With hosannas in his heart, he placed his arms around her, and they
passed into an incoherence of weeping, and kissing, and whispered
endearments, and sighs, and strainings. A full hour passed in this
way before they could slowly return to some semblance of
composure. Then, gradually, they tried to discuss the predicament
facing them.
“You’re sure that you love me now, dear, but you’ve got to be doubly
sure,” he said. “We won’t see each other for the next two weeks,
and we’ll have a chance to think things over then. It’ll be hard, hard,
but we’ve simply got to do it. Our minds will work better when we’re
alone.”
“Perhaps you’re right, Eric,” she said, slowly, “but it wouldn’t change
me any ’f I didn’t see you for a year, ’r a lifetime. Don’t be afraid of
that.”
“You think so now, and, God, I hope it’s true, but you must realize
what we’re going to be up against,” he answered. “Your family will
raise hell, of course, and other people will turn their backs on us,
and you’ll have to mingle with negro friends of mine and live among
them.... Are you sure you’ll be able to face all these things?”
She hid her head on the couch for a while, and then raised it.
“I’ll be honest with you, Eric,” she said. “I’ll love you for the rest of
my life, and I’ll never have anything to do with any other man, but I
don’t know whether I’m brave enough to marry you and ... and take
all the blows you’ve been talking about. I just don’t know.”
“If I were less selfish I’d give you up for your own good,” he
answered, moodily.
“How about myself?” she asked. “Don’t you know I’m afraid that my
father and my brothers will try to hurt you, ’r even kill you? Why, I
can see the anger and the meanness on their faces right now, and it
won’t do any good to talk to them! ’F I were less selfish, I’d want to
give you up, just to save you, Eric.”
He kissed her again, and they murmured promises and were loath to
withdraw from each other. Finally, she rose from the couch and tried
to bring a brave smile to her face.
“I’ve simply got to be going now, Eric,” she said. “I’ll come up here
the Saturday after next, two weeks from now, dear, ’r I’ll write you ’f
I just must see you sooner.... I know I will marry you, Eric, in spite
of everything—I know I will—but it’ll be better for both of us ’f we
take our time about it.”
“Yes, that’s true,” he answered, as he fondled her cheek. “I’ll spend
most of the two weeks writing poems to you, when I’m not in
harness down at Tony’s. It’ll be some consolation, anyway.”
She donned her hat, and they exchanged several “last” hugs before
they descended to the street, where he called a cab for her and, in
spite of her protestations, slipped a bill into the driver’s hands. When
she reached her home, the family were seated in the kitchen,
smoking, reading the Sunday papers, and occasionally debating on
the subject of her whereabouts.
“Well, give ’n account of y’rself, come on,” her father said, gruffly, as
she removed her hat and desperately tried to straighten out the
wrinkles in her dress. “’F you was out with Campbell again, I’ll make
him talk turkey this time. He can’t fool around with one of my girls
and not expect to do the right thing by her.”
His little eyes were tense with irritation and suspicion as he watched
her.
“Yeh, you’ve got a nerve, all right,” Mabel piped up. “I never come
trotting in at three in the afternoon! You’re just losing all respect for
yourself, that’s what.”
“Say, listen, I’m not a child, any more,” Blanche answered, wearily
resuming the old, useless blah-blahing. “I went to a party down in
the Village and stayed overnight at my girl-friend’s studio, Margaret
Wheeler, but I don’t see why I have to make any excuses about it. If
the rest of you don’t like the way I act, I’ll pack up my things and
leave, that’s all.”
“You will, huh?” her father asked. “Well, maybe we’ll tell you
ourselves to clear outa here. ’F you can’t show any respect for your
folks, then it’s high time somethin’ was done about it!”
“Yeh, that goes for me, too,” Harry said.
He suspected that his sister had rejoined Campbell, and he
determined to look Joe up and frighten him into marrying her. The
damn fool—she didn’t have sense enough to look out for herself, and
if she kept it up, she’d wind up by becoming little better than the
easy skirts he knocked around with. He wouldn’t let that happen to
his sister—not he.
Kate Palmer stuck to her invariable rôle of peacemaker, though she
felt sick at heart at her daughter’s silliness and looseness. She was
staying out overnight with men and getting to be a regular bad
woman. It was really terrible.
“Of course, we won’t let you leave home,” she said, “but you’re actin’
sim-ply awful nowadays. You’ll be disgracin’ all of us the next thing
we know, gettin’ into some trouble ’r somethin’. Won’t you promise
your ma not to stay out all night? Won’t you, Blanie?”
“You know I don’t want to hurt you, ma,” Blanche replied, as she
stroked her mother’s hair, “but just the same, I’ve got to lead my
own life from now on. I’m a grown-up person, ma, and not a slave.”
“You know we’re just askin’ you to act decint-like, you know it,” her
mother said, sadly. “We’re none of us tryin’ to hold you down.”
“Yeh, that’s right, you’re getting too bold,” Mabel cut in, with
disguised envy.
She scarcely ever “went the limit” with men, and why should her
sister be privileged to be more brazen about it.
During all of these tirades, Blanche had wondered at her own
indifference—the battle was on again, but now it had only a comical
aspect. These pent-up, dense, jealous people—could they really be
related to her own flesh and blood? They seemed to be so remote
and impossible. None of them, except her mother, stirred her in the
least, and even there it was only a mild compassion. Yet, once she
had loved them in a fashion, and felt some degree of a warm
nearness that even wrangling had never quite been able to remove.
What marvels happened to you, once your mind began to expand.
That was it—their minds were still and hard, and little more than the
talking slaves of their emotions—while hers was restless and
separate, and had slowly overcome the blindness of her former
emotions toward them.
And now ... ah, if they had only known what they really had to rave
about. How they would have pounced upon her! The sick fear
returned to her as she reclined upon the bed in her room. Perhaps it
might be wiser to pack up and leave home immediately. Yet, that
would only be a breathing spell. If she married Starling, or lived with
him, they would inevitably investigate and discover his negro blood,
and the storm would burst, anyway. She tossed about in a brooding
indecision.
During the next week she surprised her family by remaining in her
room each night. What had come over her?—she must be sick, or in
some secret difficulty. When a girl moped around and didn’t care to
enjoy herself at night, something must be wrong, especially a girl
like Blanche, who had always been “on the go” for the past four
years. They suspected that Campbell or some other man might have
given her an unwelcome burden, and they questioned her in this
respect, but her laughing denials nonplussed them. Harry had an
interview with Campbell, and had grudgingly become convinced that
Blanche was no longer going out with him. The Palmer family finally
became convinced that she had really taken their objections to heart
and had decided to become a good girl.
Blanche wrote feverishly in her room, every night, with a little
grammar which she had purchased to aid her—descriptions of places
which she knew, such as cafeterias, dance halls and amusement
parks. Her anger at human beings, and her sense of humor, fought
against each other in these accounts, and the result was frequently
a curious mixture of indignations and grimaces. Starling was ever a
vision, standing in her room and urging on her hands ... she was
writing for his sake as well as her own. If the rest of her life was to
be interwoven in his, she would have to make herself worthy of him,
and try to equal his own creations, and give him much more than
mere physical contacts and adoring words. Otherwise, he might
become quickly tired of her!
Her courage grew stronger with each succeeding night, and a
youthful, though still sober, elasticity within her began to make plans
that slew her prostrate broodings. Eric and she would simply run off
to some remote spot—Canada, Mexico, Paris, anywhere—and then
the specters and hatreds in their immediate scene would be
powerless to injure or interfere with them. What was the use of
remaining and fighting, when all of the odds were against them, and
when the other side was so stubbornly unscrupulous, so utterly
devoid of sympathy and understanding? In such a case, they would
only be throwing themselves open to every kind of attack and
intrusion, if not to an almost certain defeat. Eric might be a “nigger,”
yes, but he certainly didn’t look like one, and he was better than any
of the white men she had ever met ... dear, sweet boy ... and she
loved him with every particle of her heart. She was sure of that now.
She had never before felt anything remotely equal to the huge,
restless emptiness which her separation from him had brought her—
a sort of can’t-stand-it-not-to-see-him feeling that rose within her,
even when she was in the midst of writing, and kept her pencil idly
poised over the paper for minutes, while in her fancy she teased his
hair, or chided some witticism of his. She’d go through ten thousand
hells rather than give him up!
After a week and a half had passed, she determined to visit
Margaret and “talk it over” with the other girl. It wasn’t that
Margaret could convince her one way or the other—she had made
her decision—but still, she craved the possible sympathy and
encouragement of at least one other person besides Eric. It was
hard to stand so utterly alone.
After telephoning, and finding that Margaret would be alone that
night, she hurried down to see her.
The two girls sparred pleasantly and nervously with each other for a
while as though they were both dreading the impending subject—
which Margaret had sensed—and futilely trying to delay its
appearance. Finally, Blanche blurted out, after a silence: “I suppose
you know I’m in love with Eric Starling, Mart. You must have
guessed it, the way I fooled around with him at Tony’s.”
“Yes, I’ve been worrying quite a bit about that,” Margaret answered.
“Do you know that he’s, well—”
“Yes, I know that he’s a negro,” Blanche interrupted. “It’s true, Eric
has just a little negro blood in him, but you must admit, dear, that
he’s the whitest-looking one you ever saw.”
“Of course, he’d have fooled me, too, when I first met him, if Max
hadn’t told me about it,” Margaret said. “I like him, too. He’s
certainly not fatiguing to look at, and he has a lovely sense of
humor, but still, can you quite forget about his negro blood when ...
oh, when you’re petting together, I mean.”
“Can I forget it?—why, I go mad, stark mad, ’f he just puts his hand
over mine,” Blanche cried. “I’ve never fallen so hard for any man in
all my life—I mean it, Mart. I arranged not to meet him for two
weeks—just to see ’f I wouldn’t cool down about him, you know—
but it’s only convinced me all the more. I’ll never be able to get
along without him ... never.”
“Well, after all, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a little
affair with him, if you’re careful about it,” Margaret replied.
“But it’s much deeper than that,” Blanche said slowly. “We’re both
perm’nently in love with each other, we really are. It’s a big, precious
thing, and not just ... well ... not just wanting to have a few parties,
you know. I’m going to live with him for years and years, and maybe
marry him right now. It’s the first time I’ve ever loved any one.”
“But, Blanche, you’re going to let yourself in for an endless
nightmare, if that’s the case,” Margaret replied, sorrowfully. “Your
people will simply raise the roof off, if they’re anything like you say
they are. And then, all the other things—children, and living among
his negro friends, and getting snubbed right and left.... Are you
really sure you love him enough for all that? Are you, really?”
“Yes, I am sure,” Blanche said, in a slow, sick-at-heart, stubborn
voice. “I’ve thought of everything, don’t worry about that, and it
hasn’t given me much rest, either. Oh, how I hate this blind, mean
world of ours!”
“Yes, I know, but hating it never solves anything,” Margaret
answered, dully.
“Well, I’m going to solve it by running off with him,” Blanche
continued. “We’ll go far away, to Paris or London—some place where
nobody’ll know that Eric’s a negro, and we’ll stay there for the rest
of our lives, that’s all. I don’t care ’f we both have to wash dishes for
a living, I don’t. It’s all right to fight back when you’ve got a chance,
but not when everything’s against you.”
“Funny, I never thought of that,” Margaret said, more cheerfully. “It
might work out that way. Of course, it is cowardly in a way, but after
all, there’s little sense to being brave in the lions’ den and getting
devoured. It might work out fine, if you’re both certain your love’s
going to last. Somehow or other, it’s hard for me to believe in a
permanent love. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed it in any of the people
around me. Are you sure you’re not just in a sentimental dream,
Blanche?”
Blanche reflected for a while.
“Well, ’f we’re both making a mistake, we’ll be happy, anyway, till we
find it out,” she said at last. “Good Lord, ’f you never take any risks
in life, why then you’ll be sad all the time, and you won’t have any
happiness at all, no matter how short it is!”
“Yes, I agree with you there,” Margaret answered, with a sigh.
They fell into a discussion of the practical details of Blanche’s
possible departure, and the money that would be required, and the
difficulty of earning a living in Europe, both trying to lose themselves
in a bright animation. When Blanche parted with Margaret, a little
after midnight, she felt more confident, and almost light-hearted.
After all, if two human beings were wise, and brave, and forever
alert, they simply couldn’t be separated from each other, no matter
what the dangers were.
The mood remained with her and grew more intense each day, and
when she rang Starling’s bell at the end of the week, she was almost
fluttering with hope and resolution. For the first hour they did little
more than remain in each other’s arms, in a daze and maze of
kisses, sighs, and simple, reiterated love words. To Starling, huge
violins and cornets were ravishing the air of the room, and the street
sounds outside, floating in through an open window, were only the
applause of an unseen audience. After all, only times like this gave
human beings any possible excuse for existing—the rest of life was
simply a series of strugglings, and dodgings, and tantalizings, and
defeats. The least pressure of her fingertips provoked a fiery
somersault within him, and the grazing of her bosom and face
against his aroused revolving conflagrations within his breast.
Blanche had become a stunned child, scarcely daring to believe in
the compensations which were ruffling her blood to something more
than music, and yet desperately guarding them, incoherently
whispering over them, endlessly testing them with her fingers and
lips, lest they prove to be the cruellest of fantasies.
When Blanche and Starling had made a moderate return to a
rational condition, they began to discuss their future.
“Don’t you see that we must run away, Eric, dear?” she asked. “We’ll
just be crushed and beaten down, otherwise. My brother Harry, he’d
never rest till he’d put you in a hospital—oh, but don’t I know him—
and he might even try to do worse. I get the shivers when I think of
it.”
Her words were an affront to his courage, and he said: “Listen, I can
take care of myself—I’ve been through a pretty tough mill.”
“Of course you can, but they wouldn’t fight fair,” she answered,
impatiently. “They’d just proceed to get you by hook or crook. And
that’s not half of it. Why, I can just see ev’rybody turning their backs
on us, ’r making nasty remarks, ’r trying to poison us against each
other. We’ve just got to run away and live where nobody knows us!”
“No, it would be too yellow,” he replied, stubbornly. “All the things
you mention will only be a test of our love for each other. If we can’t
stand the gaff, then our love isn’t what we thought it was.”
“I’m not afraid of that,” she said. “I’d go through anything with you ’f
I thought it was the best thing we could do, but why should we stay
here and run up against all kinds of suff’rings and insults, and
dangers, too, just to show how darn brave we are? It’s not cowardly
to run off when everything’s against us—it’s not.”
“Well, let’s think it over for another week, anyway,” he answered,
slowly. “I don’t like to slink away, with my tail between my legs, but
maybe it’s the only thing to do. If we were only starting a little affair,
like most of the mixed couples that hang out at Vanderin’s shack,
then it would be different, of course, but we’re probably facing a
whole lifetime together, and it’s a much more serious matter. The
trouble is I’ve a great deal of pride in me, honey, and it always
wants to fight back.”
“I have, too,” she said, “but in a time like this it’s just foolish to be so
proud—it’ll only help other people to make us unhappy, that’s all.”
They were silent for a while, and then he said, with a smile: “Good
Lord, we’re getting morbid and theatrical. The whole thing may not
be half as bad as we think it is. Anyway, let’s forget it for one night,
at least.”
They spent the remainder of the evening in an idyllic way. He read
her his sensuous, symbolistic poems, and talked about them, and
told her exciting stories of his past life, while she tried to describe
some of the struggles and hesitations which had attended the birth
of her mind, and her search for happiness in the face of sordid
punches, and stupid jeers, and all the disappointments with which
ignorance slays itself. They resolved not to become complete lovers
until they were really living together and removed from fears and
uncertainties. When they parted at 2 a. m. they were both wrapped
up in a warmly exhausted but plotting trance. They arranged to
meet on the following Wednesday, at Tony’s Club, and Blanche felt
feathery and on tiptoes, as she rode back to the uninviting home
which she would soon leave forever.
The next four days were excruciating centuries to her, and she was
barely able to stagger through the nagging, drab details of her work
at Madame Jaurette’s. She spent her nights writing in her room, and
the even trend of her days remained uninvaded until Tuesday
evening, when she found a letter waiting for her at home. It was
from Oppendorf, who told her that he had polished up her account
of the Vanderin party and had sold it to a New York magazine of the
jaunty, trying-hard-to-be-sophisticated kind. She was overjoyed as
she stared at the fifty-dollar check which he had enclosed, and she
could scarcely wait to tell the news to Eric. Now she had proved her
mettle, and was on the road to becoming a creative equal of his—
blissful thought.
When she met him at Tony’s, she gayly extracted the check from her
purse and waved it in front of his face.
“Now what do you think of your stupid, hair-curling Blanche?” she
asked elatedly.
He laughed at her excitement as he led her to a table.
“You haven’t made me believe in your ability just because you’ve
been accepted by a frothy, snippy magazine,” he said. “I knew all
about it the first night I met you.”
“Never mind, this means I’m going to make a name for myself,” she
answered, proudly.
He gave her a fatherly smile—what a delicious combination of
naïvetés and instinctive wisdoms she was.
“I felt the same way when I first broke into print,” he said. “The
excitement dies down after a while, and then you don’t care so
much whether people like your stuff or not. You get down to a
grimly plodding gait, old dear, and you start to write only for
yourself. Then each acceptance means only so many dollars and
cents.”
She retorted merrily: “Wet ra-ag—don’t try to dampen my spirits. It
can’t be done.”
The brazenly sensual clatter and uproar of Tony’s pounded against
their minds, and even Starling, more skeptically inured to it, and
knowing every hidden, sordid wrinkle in the place, became more
flighty and swaggering as he danced with Blanche. It meant
something, now that the girl whom he really loved was stepping out
beside him, and it had become something less gross than a
collection of rounders, sulky or giggling white and colored flappers,
fast women, and hoodwinked sugar-papas spending their rolls to
impress the women beside them. Now it was an appropriate
carnival-accompaniment to his happiness.
Immersed in Starling, Blanche did not notice the group of
newcomers who had seated themselves two tables behind her. They
consisted of her brother Harry, another wooden-faced, overdressed
man of middle age, and their thickly painted, sullen-eyed ladies of
the evening. Harry was settling the details of a whisky-transaction
with Jack Compton, the other man.
“We’ll have the cases there by midnight on the dot,” he said, in a low
voice. “I’ve got a cop fixed up, an’ he’s gonna stand guard for us an’
say it’s K.O., ’f any one tries to butt in. We’ll have to hand him a
century, though.”
“That’s all right with me,” Compton replied. “You put this deal
through without slipping up and there’ll be a coupla hundred in it for
you.”
“It’s as good as done,” Harry answered, with a heavy nod.
Then, glancing around, he spied Blanche at the other table.
“Say, there’s my crazy sis, Blanche,” he said, pointing to her. “In the
red pleated skirt, two tables down by the railing. See her, Jack?”
“Yeh ... she’s a good looker, Harry,” Compton replied.
“Say, I know the fellow with her,” one of the woman broke in. “He
works here—he’s public’ty-man for the joint. Name’s Starling—Eric
Starling. I met him down here about a week ago. What’s your sister
doing out with a nigger, Harry? She seems to be mighty thick with
him from the way she’s cutting up.”
“Go o-on, he looks damn white to me,” Harry answered, intently
scowling toward the other table.
“Well, he is a nigger just the same,” the second woman said. “It’s
known all around here—he don’t deny it any. I’ve seen them like him
before. They’re only about one-eighth black, I guess.”
“Can’t your sister get any white fellows to go around with?”
Compton asked. “She must be hard up, trotting around with a
shine.”
“Yeh, she’s sure crazy about dark meat, I’ll say,” the first woman
commented, with a laugh.
The taunts pierced Harry’s thick skin, and a rage grew within him.
He’d stood for her going with Jews, and wops, and dopey weak-
sisters, but a nigger was too much! It affronted his family-pride and
erectness, and made him feel that his friends had been given a
chance to ridicule him in an indirect way. For all he knew, Blanche
might be having intimate relations with this coon, or might be even
fixing to marry him. The thought was like a red-hot iron. His own
sister, acting like a slut, in a black-and-tan dive, and consorting with
a nigger there, or maybe with more of them.... By God, he wouldn’t
stand for that!
“I’m gonna go over an’ bust him in the nose,” he said, half rising
from his chair. “He’ll be leavin’ white girls alone after I’m through
with him!”
Compton pulled Harry back to his chair.
“Keep your shirt on, d’you hear me,” he said. “If you start a scrap
here you won’t have a chance—every bouncer ’n’ waiter in the
place’ll be right on top of you. I’ve seen them in action before, and
believe me, they work just like a machine.”
“Well, I can get in a coupla good cracks at him before they throw me
out,” Harry persisted. “I want to show that dirty shine where he gets
off at, makin’ a play for a sister uh mine!”
“You won’t show him this way,” Compton retorted. “You’ll land in the
hospital, and you’ll land there quick, too. This gang down here don’t
like a white man’s looks anyway, and they’ll give you the leather, just
for good luck. Come on, let’s all clear outa here. You can lay for him
to-morrow night, if you want to, ’r else give your sister a good
bawling out when you get her home, an’ make her stay away from
him.”
“Well, they can’t do nothin’ ’f I go over an’ bawl her out now,” Harry
said, with a drunken stubbornness.
“Aw, keep your head, Harry, we don’t want to get the girl-friends
here into no trouble,” Compton replied. “Come on, let’s beat it,
Harry.”
The women added their persuasions, and Harry finally gave a
reluctant assent. He departed with his friends, after vowing to settle
the matter during the next few days.
Blanche and Starling continued their entranced capers until the
closing hour, and when they rode to her home, they were steeped in
a tired and lazy fondness, with their arms around each other and
their heads close together. The apparitions and doubts had
disappeared from their situation, as far as they were concerned, and
nothing remained but a deliciously overheated and rumpled
nearness to each other. They arranged to meet on the following
Saturday night, and exchanged several farewell kisses, in the cab,
before they reluctantly parted.
Blanche slept until noon, since the day was a holiday—Memorial Day
—and when she awoke, the other Palmers were eating a late
breakfast around the kitchen table. As she entered the kitchen, in
her kimono, the family turned and surveyed her, each bearing a
frown on his face. Taken aback, and suddenly prodded by an
instinctive fear, Blanche advanced slowly toward the table. How
could they know anything about Starling—nonsense. They were
probably “sore” at her for some other reasons.
After she had seated herself at the table, the bombardment
commenced.
“Who was you with last night?” Harry asked, with a sneer, to see
whether she would lie.
“It’s none of your business,” Blanche replied, coolly, her fears
soothed now.
“We-ell, that’s a hot one—going around with a nigger is none of our
business, huh?” Mabel queried, in a shrill voice.
“What do you mean?” Blanche asked, mechanically—the blow had
come, just when she had least expected it!
She became sick at heart, and dreaded the impending assault, and
scarcely knew what she could answer. If she became defiant, it
would only enrage them all the more, and it would be useless,
besides ... what could she do, oh, what? To attempt to explain
matters to her family would be ridiculous.
“You know what we mean all right,” her father cried. “You’ve been
goin’ out with a shine—Harry saw you together last night down at
Tony’s Club. For all we know you may be hooked up with him in the
bargain. ’F I was sure of it, by God, I swear I’d take a swing at you,
daughter ’r no daughter!”
Blanche remained silent—what they said to her didn’t matter, and
she wasn’t afraid of them, but Eric, Eric ... they might kill him, or
cripple him for life. They were really aroused now as they had never
been before—she knew them well enough to tell when they were
merely blustering and when not—and they felt that she was on the
verge of disgracing and insulting everything that supported their
lives—the cruelly proud, angry delusion of blood superiority, which
they clung to as a last resort against all of the submissions and lacks
in their existences. In their opinion, Eric was little better than a rat,
who had tried to break into the sacred family kitchen.
Her mother began to speak, through fits of weeping.
“Oh, Blanie, Blanie, what’s come over you? You must be outa your
head, you must. You’ve just got to give up that nigger you’re goin’
with, ’r you’ll be breakin’ my heart.... Blanie, Blanie, promise your
ma you’ll never give yourself to nobody but a white man ... promise
me, Blanie.”
“See what you’re doing to ma,” Mabel said. “You’re just bringing her
to her grave, that’s what!”
“Well, I’m gonna take a hand in this,” her father cried. “You’ll stay
away from that fellow from now on, ’r I’ll land in jail f’r
manslaughter. I’m not kiddin’ any this time. You’ve been havin’ your
own way, an’ stickin’ up your nose at us, an’ we’ve let you get away
with it, but you never put over anythin’ like this—hookin’ up with a
lousy nigger! What have you got to say f’r yourself, huh?”
“Yeh, that’s what I wanta know,” Harry said, as he glowered at her.
The promptings of cunning began to stir in Blanche’s brain. To save
Eric, she would have to lie, abasing, tricky lies. No other answers
were possible. If she strove to argue with her family now, or if she
showed a hairbreadth of independence, they would instantly seek
Eric out, and even his life might be in danger. She was certain of
that.
“I’ve only gone out with him twice,” she said. “I didn’t know he was
a negro, I swear I didn’t. I only found it out last night, just before I
left him. He told me he was then, and I was good and mad about it.
I called him down for daring to make up to me, and I told him I’d
never, never see him again. He looks just like a white man, and he’d
fool almost anybody. I swear he would.”
“Bla-anie, I mighta known it was somethin’ like this,” her mother
cried, joyously. “’Course you won’t see him no more, now you’ve
found out, ’course you won’t.”
“I should say not,” Blanche answered, vigorously. “I’m not picking
out negroes this year, unless I don’t know what they are.”
Blanche hated herself for the groveling words which she forced from
her mouth, and yet she felt that she had given the only shrewd
answer that could possibly placate the stupid viciousness assailing
her. She’d be willing to become a carpet, for Eric’s sake, any day in
the year, no matter what nausea might be attached to the
proceeding.
“Well, all right then, we’ll let it rest,” her father said, in a growling
voice; “but just the same, Harry an’ me’ll keep a close watch on you.
’F you’re not tellin’ us a straight story, it’ll be bad for this Starling
guy. We’ll put him in a nice, tight hotel, all right.”
“I’m with you there,” Harry broke in. “What I’d like to know is why
she didn’t speak up when we started to ask her about it.”
“Gee, you were all on top of me like a ton of bricks,” Blanche
answered. “I didn’t have a chance to say anything. Besides, I was
ashamed of the whole thing.”
“Sure, I can understand that,” Philip said, eagerly, glad that his
favorite sister had not been intending to disgrace them after all.
“Didn’t Harry say this morning that it was hard to tell this Starlun
guy from a white fellow? Blanche was just taken in, that’s all.”
“’Course she was,” Mrs. Palmer affirmed.
“Well, I’m not sayin’ she wasn’t,” her father replied. “We’ll just keep
tabs on her, anyway, an’ make sure of it.”
Blanche continued her meek explanations and protests of innocence,
and her family gradually calmed down and resumed a surface
quietness. She knew that the suspicions of her father and Harry
were still smoldering, and that these two would probably shadow her
for some time, or use some other means to become cognizant of her
nightly destinations and companions. She noticed also the
speculative looks that Mabel gave her now and then. Mabel was too
expert a liar not to doubt her sister’s tale, and she determined to do
a little “snooping around” herself. You never can tell about Blanche.
The remainder of the day and night held a nightmare to Blanche.
She had to affect a nonchalant mien—they would doubt her again if
she showed any sadness or depression—and the strain was infinite,
like holding up a boulder. Visions of Eric’s lifeless body dodged in and
out of her mind and made her shiver helplessly. Harry and his
gangsters could “get” poor Eric without half trying, and it would be
useless to attempt to flee with him now, since she would be under
the severest of scrutinies, where any false move might bring
misfortune. Still, wasn’t there another way out of it? Why couldn’t
they remain scrupulously apart from each other for half a year, or
even longer, and then, when all of the suspicions and spyings had
completely vanished, suddenly run away together? By that time her
family would certainly have forgotten the matter, and in the interim,
she could go about with other men—somehow compelling herself—
and outwardly maintain her normal ways. A wan approach to
cheerfulness possessed her, and late that night, she sat up in bed
and wrote to Eric:
My Dearest Boy:
My brother Harry saw us at Tony’s last night, and this
morning they gave me hell. It was no use to argue with
them and make them even nastier—just no use. They said
they would kill you, dearest, and I know they were not
fourflushing when they said it. They’re cruel and stupid,
and to their way of thinking, I’d disgrace and humiliate
them if I ever married you. It’s what they cling to when
everything else shows them how small they are—this
snarling, keep-off pride in being white.... I lied to them
and said I hadn’t known that you were colored, and swore
I’d never see you again. Please, please forgive me, Eric.
They’d have killed you if I hadn’t lied. And please, Eric,
you must do as I say. This is the plan I have. We won’t
see each other for exactly six months, and then we’ll
suddenly run away together. Everything will be quiet then,
and before they know what’s happened, we’ll be hundreds
of miles away. If we tried it now we wouldn’t have a
chance. Please, dearest boy, write and tell me you’ll do as
I say. I love you more than anything else in life, and
you’re like a prince walking through some rose-bushes,
and you fill all of my heart, and I’ll never give you up—
never be afraid of that. Answer me at once and address
the letter to Madame Jaurette’s. I’m sending you a
thousand kisses, dearest boy.
Blanche.
After finishing the letter, she felt woebegonely relieved and slightly
hopeful, and the mood stayed with her through the following day of
work at the Beauty Shop. She had placed a special-delivery stamp
on the letter, and he received it in a few hours. After he had read
and reread it several times, with a touch of anger lurking in his
numbness, he began to pace up and down in his room, as though
striving to goad himself into life again. Was she really giving him up,
and trying to hide the blow with promises of a future escape? Was
she?... No, Blanche was too inhumanly honest for that—even if she
had wanted to lie, she could never have induced herself to put the
words on paper. If he were wrong in this belief, then he would lose
all of his faith in his ability to peer into human beings, and would call
himself a fool for the remainder of his life! Somehow, a tremor of
simple sincerity seemed to run through her letter—he couldn’t be
mistaken.
Well, what then? If he persisted in running off with Blanche now, it
might lead to melodrama. White gangsters such as her brother
would not hesitate about attempting to “croak him off.” He wasn’t
afraid of actually fighting them, but any man was always defenseless
against a sudden bullet or knife-thrust, and he certainly didn’t care
to die that way. B-r-r, the thought brought a fine sweat to his
temples. No, these whites were little better than rodents, when their
angry pride was aroused, and you had to use some of their own
tactics, or perish.
They regarded him as a dirty nigger, these lily-pure, intelligent, lofty,
noble-hearted people. What a nauseating joke! But, joke or no joke,
it had to be grappled with. Blanche was right after all—when you
were in a trap you had to gnaw slyly at the things binding you. It
was galling to your erect defiance to admit it, but often, in a dire
crisis, an imbecilic bravery brought you no gain, and caused your
extinction. Yes, Blanche was right—it would be best for them to
separate for half a year and then take the other side by surprise,
with a thumb-twiddling swiftness. They would have to be patient—
splendidly, grimly, bitterly patient—and somehow control the aches
and cries in their hearts.
Of course, during the coming months, he would go out with women
now and then, or chat with them—as a feeble diversion—but he
would shun any intimate relations with them, if it were humanly
possible. A pretty, well-shaped girl could always affect a man, in a
purely physical way—he wasn’t trying naively to delude himself on
that score—but just the same he intended to try his damnedest to
remain faithful to Blanche. She invaded and stirred him as no other
woman had, and if he consorted with other girls now, it would be a
taunting and unanswerable aspersion against the depth and
uniqueness of his love for her. In such a case he would be forced to
admit that all of love was only an easily incited lust—but it wasn’t
true. He would remain faithful to her.
He sat down and wrote a hopeful, agreeing letter, expressing his
implicit belief in her, and swearing that he would remain true, and
urging her to emulate his jaunty fortitude.
When she received the letter on the following afternoon, a surge of
youthful determination almost drove the darkness out of her heart.
If he had written morbidly, or in despair, her tottering and
beleaguered feelings would have been crushed, but now she felt
armored and half-way restored to her former happiness. After all,
they were both very young, and six months now were little more
than six hours in their lives.
During the next month she went to cabarets and theaters with other
men, and wearily repulsed their inevitable attempts to embrace her
afterwards, and preserved a careful attitude toward her family—not
too friendly and not too ill-tempered. They would have suspected
her of playing a part if she had suddenly seemed to become too
pliable and harmonious. She saw Margaret and Oppendorf once, but
did not tell them anything concerning the developments in her
relations with Eric. She feared that they would advise her never to
see him again, and she didn’t care to pass through the futile
torments of an argument. She had made up her mind, and no
human being could change it.
When a month had passed, however, a restlessly jealous mood stole
imperceptibly over her. Perhaps Eric was running about with other
girls now; perhaps his head was pressed against the smooth
tenderness of their bosoms, or perhaps he had found another girl,
far more beautiful and intelligent than any Blanche Palmer. The
mood reached a climax one Sunday afternoon, as she boarded an
“L” train and rode down to the Battery. Yes, of course, he must have
forgotten her by now. He met tens of women every night down at
Tony’s, and among all of them it would be easy for him to find a
quick-minded, tempting girl—perhaps one of his own race, who
would not lead him into staggering troubles and difficulties.
She sat on a bench facing the greenish-gray swells of dirty water,
and watched the bobbing boats, and the laboriously swaying barges,
and the straining, smoky tugs. A mood of plaintive, barely wounded
peace settled about her, in spite of the jealous ranklings underneath.
For an hour she sat draped in this acceptant revery, with her mind
scarcely stirring. Then, glancing up, she saw that Eric was standing
beside her.
For almost half a minute they stared at each other, without shifting
their positions.
“Eric ... darling ... what are you doing here?” she asked at last.
“I never dreamt I’d see you,” he answered. “I was walking along and
trying to forget my blues when I caught sight of you. I tried hard to
turn around then and avoid you, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t.”
“I’m so glad you didn’t,” she said, as he sat down beside her. “Eric,
my boysie, what’s been happening to you?”
“Oh, I’ve been plodding along, and writing poems to you, and
extolling the barbaric charms of Tony’s,” he replied. “I’d get worried
and hopeless every now and then, thinking you were in some other
man’s arms ... just like a boy who doesn’t know whether he’s going
to be whipped or petted.”
“That’s exactly how I felt,” she cried. “Why, say, I had you falling in
love with every snippy, doll-faced girl in New York!”
They laughed—softly, ruefully, and with a relaxing weariness.
“How about your exquisite people?” he asked, after a pause. “Do
they still keep a close watch on you?”
“No, I think they’re completely deceived by now,” she said. “I’ve
played a foxy game, you know—going out with other men, and
bragging about them, and hiding my feelings all the time. I was so
afraid that somebody you know would see me with some fellow and
tell you about it. I just couldn’t help it, darling. One little break might
have given me away, and I just had to fool my folks. There wasn’t
any other way.”
“Sure, I understand,” he replied, as he stroked her hand and looked
at her with the expression of a man relievedly twitting his past fears
and pains.
They were silent for a while, reveling in the unexpected, warm
nearness to each other and feeling a giddy swirl of revived faiths and
hopes. Their first little rush of reassuring words had aroused all of
the deferred plans and buried braveries within them, but the
awakening was not yet articulate enough for spoken syllables. They
longed to embrace each other with an open intensity, and the effort
needed to control this desire also served to prevent them from
talking. Then Blanche remembered a fear which she had
experienced during the previous week.
“Eric, did you ever see a play called ‘God’s People Got Wings?’” she
asked.
“No, but I’ve heard about it.”
“Well, it certainly made me shiver,” she said. “One of Oppendorf’s
friends took me down to see it, and I’ve never had such a dreadful
time in my life. It was all about a colored man marrying a white girl.
It ended up with the colored boy killing his wife and then committing
suicide—think of it!—and I was just gripping the sides of my seat all
the time.”
“Were you afraid it might have some connection with us?” he asked,
gravely.
“No, no, of course not,” she answered, as she clutched his hand.
“D’you think I’m silly enough to let some prejudiced man tell me
whether I’m going to be happy or not? No, Eric, it wasn’t that, but I
did feel angry and upset, and, we-ell ... it set me to wondering. Why
do all these writers now always insist that colored and white people
weren’t meant to get along with each other—oh, why do they?”
“Mister Shakespeare revived it with his Othello and it’s been going
strong ever since,” he replied, with a contention of forlorn and
contemptuous inflections in his voice. “It can’t be argued about.
Most of them are perfectly sincere, and they really believe that
people of different races always hate and fear each other at the
bottom. You could get yourself blue in the face telling them
exceptional men and women aren’t included in this rule, but it
wouldn’t make the slightest impression.”
“But why are they so stubborn about it?” she asked.
“That’s easy,” he answered, wearily. “They don’t want to admit that
there’s the smallest possibility of the races ever coming together. It’s
a deep, blind pride, and they simply can’t get rid of it. They’re hardly
ever conscious of it, Blanche, but it’s there just the same. Why, even
Vanderin isn’t free from it. Take that latest book of his—Black
Paradise—and what do you find? What? He’s just a bystander trying
to be indulgent and sympathetic. It’s the old story. Negroes are
primitive and sa-avage at the bottom, and white people aren’t ...
white people like your brother, I suppose.”
He had been unable to restrain the sarcasm of his last words
because his wounds had cried out for a childish relief. She had
listened to him with a fascination that was near to worship ... what a
dear, wise, eloquent boy he was! When he talked, even the ghosts of
her former specters fled from her heart. Let the world call him a
nigger—what did it matter? They didn’t care whether he was
beautiful or not—all they wanted was to “keep him in his place,”
these in-tel-li-gent people, just because he happened to have a
mixture of blood within him.
“Oh, let’s not talk any more about it,” she said. “We’re in love with
each other, Eric, boysie, and ... ’f other people don’ like it they can
stand on their heads, for all I care!”
He fondled her shoulder, gratefully, and an uproar was in his heart.
“Blanche, what’s the use of waiting and waiting?” he asked at last.
“We’re only suffering and denying ourselves when there’s no reason
for it. Let’s run off to-morrow and marry each other. If we wait too
long we’ll feel too helpless about it—it’ll grow to be a habit with us. I
can’t exist any longer without you, Blanche—it’s just impossible ...
impossible. I’ll draw out the thousand I have in the bank and we’ll
hop a train for Chicago to-morrow afternoon. Don’t you see it’s
useless to keep postponing it, Blanche?”
His eagerness, and her longing for him, expelled the last vestige of
her fears.
“Yes, dear, I’ll go with you to-morrow,” she said.
Their hands gripped each other with the power of iron bands, and
they stared hopefully out across the greenish-gray swells of water.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been
standardized.
Archaic or alternate spelling has been retained from
the original.
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