第58章 X(2)

``No,'' Miss Thomas said; ``I know you have something on your mind. I am waiting for you to tell me what it is.''

``We want your co-operation, and that of Miss Garrett,'' began Miss Anthony, promptly, ``to make our Baltimore Convention a success. We want you to persuade the Arundel Club of Baltimore, the most fashionable club in the city, to give a recep- t ion to the delegates; and we want you to arrange a college night on the programme--a great college night, with the best college speakers ever brought together.''

These were large commissions for two extremely busy women, but both Miss Thomas and Miss Garrett--realizing Miss Anthony's intense earnest- n ess--promised to think over the suggestions and see what they could do. The next morning we re- c eived a telegram from them stating that Miss Thomas would arrange the college evening, and that Miss Garrett would reopen her Baltimore home, which she had closed, during the convention. She also invited Miss Anthony and me to be her guests there, and added that she would try to arrange the reception by the Arundel Club.

``Aunt Susan'' was overjoyed. I have never seen her happier than she was over the receipt of that telegram. She knew that whatever Miss Thomas and Miss Garrett undertook would be accomplished, and she rightly regarded the success of the conven- t ion as already assured. Her expectations were more than realized. The college evening was un- d oubtedly the most brilliant occasion of its kind ever arranged for a convention. President Ira Remsen of Johns Hopkins University presided, and addresses were made by President Mary E. Woolley of Mount Holyoke, Professor Lucy Salmon of Vassar, Professor Mary Jordan of Smith, President Thomas herself, and many others.

From beginning to end the convention was prob- a bly the most notable yet held in our history.

Julia Ward Howe and her daughter, Florence Howe Hall, were also guests of Miss Garrett, who, more- o ver, entertained all the speakers of ``College Night.''

Miss Anthony, now eighty-six, arrived in Baltimore quite ill, and Mrs. Howe, who was ninety, was taken ill soon after she reached there. The two great women made a dramatic exchange on the programme, for on the first night, when Miss Anthony was un- a ble to speak, Mrs. Howe took her place, and on the second night, when Mrs. Howe had succumbed, Miss Anthony had recovered sufficiently to appear for her. Clara Barton was also an honored figure at the convention, and Miss Anthony's joy in the presence of all these old and dear friends was over- f lowing. With them, too, were the younger women, ready to take up and carry on the work the old leaders were laying down; and ``Aunt Susan,'' as she surveyed them all, felt like a general whose superb army is passing in review before him.

At the close of the college programme, when the final address had been made by Miss Thomas, Miss Anthony rose and in a few words expressed her feeling that her life-work was done, and her con- s ciousness of the near approach of the end. After that night she was unable to appear, and was indeed so ill that she was confined to her bed in Miss Gar- r ett's most hospitable home. Nothing could have been more thoughtful or more beautiful than the care Miss Garrett and Miss Thomas bestowed on her.

They engaged for her one of the best physicians in Baltimore, who, in turn, consulted with the leading specialists of Johns Hopkins, and they also secured a trained nurse. This final attention required special tact, for Miss Anthony's fear of ``giving trouble'' was so great that she was not willing to have a nurse. The nurse, therefore, wore a house- m aid's uniform, and ``Aunt Susan'' remained wholly unconscious that she was being cared for by one of the best nurses in the famous hospital.

Between sessions of the convention I used to sit by ``Aunt Susan's'' bed and tell her what was going on. She was triumphant over the immense success of the convention, but it was clear that she was still worrying over the details of future work. One day at luncheon Miss Thomas asked me, casually:

``By the way, how do you raise the money to carry on your work?''

When I told her the work was wholly dependent on voluntary contributions and on the services of those who were willing to give themselves gratui- t ously to it, Miss Thomas was greatly surprised.

She and Miss Garrett asked a number of practical questions, and at the end of our talk they looked at each other.

``I don't think,'' said Miss Thomas, ``that we have quite done our duty in this matter.''

The next day they invited a number of us to dinner, to again discuss the situation; and they admitted that they had sat up throughout the previous night, talking the matter over and trying to find some way to help us. They had also dis- c ussed the situation with Miss Anthony, to her vast content, and had finally decided that they would try to raise a fund of $60,000, to be paid in yearly instalments of $12,000 for five years--part of these annual instalments to be used as salaries for the active officers.

The mere mention of so large a fund startled us all. We feared that it could not possibly be raised.

But Miss Anthony plainly believed that now the last great wish of her life had been granted. She was convinced that Miss Thomas and Miss Gar- r ett could accomplish anything--even the miracle of raising $60,000 for the suffrage cause--and they did, though ``Aunt Susan'' was not here to glory over the result when they had achieved it.