Later in the speech he would demand, "Why are they doing this to me? I
want you to tell me why. What have I done? What am I accused of doing?
Well, I'll tell you this--I'm not the kind of a man who is going to
submit meekly to this persecution. I'm going to fight back. I've got a
little money left from my lottery winnings, and I'll spend every cent
of it to fight these people doing this thing to me." Here he would
pause dramatically. "I want to leave you with this point. It's not just
Shamar the Worker that's involved. What am I? A poor, itinerant laborer
going from town to town. I'm nothing, I have never had anything, and
I guess I never will have anything. I'm no rich black marketeer or
businessman. I'm no fat politician. I'm just one little man. But it's
not me--and this is the point I want to leave you with--it's not Shamar
the Worker. He's unimportant. What is important is that if they can
do this to me, they can do it to you. If they can do it to Shamar the
Worker today, next year one of you will be up here on this platform
speaking just the way I am. So you see, this is your fight. It's not me
that's important--it's the principle that's important--"
The meeting went brilliantly. Every time he paused, the audience
responded just as the speech-writer had indicated. It was as if they
were as well rehearsed as he.
The next night, another meeting. And another. And another. He slept no
more than four hours a night when the campaign was in full swing. He
spoke dozens of times into the bright glare of TV cameras. He paraded
down a million streets in an open-topped car. Faces poured in front of
his own; on and on they came. People with tears in their eyes cried,
"God bless Shamar the Worker!" Once the Committee hired a brass band.
So, for two weeks, it went.
Then the Party threw him back in jail, in an apparent effort to deprive
the movement of its momentum.
* * * * *
After three days, during which time Shamar was held incommunicado,
Counselor Freemason obtained permission to interview his client.
"We're making marvelous progress! Ge-Ge is turning into a most
effective crusader. You should hear her when she cries, 'Give me back
my man!' This is a wonderful development for us. It's having the
opposite of the intended effect. Von Stutsman has over-reached himself
this time. The Party is going to have to back down, and it will cost
him dearly."
"How's the finances?"
"Ge-Ge has given us some advances--"
"How much have you spent?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't been keeping track closely.
Perhaps we've run a little more than we anticipated. The response, you
see--"
Shamar returned to his cell wishing Earth's printing presses had worked
a little longer.
It took nearly two weeks to arrange for Ge-Ge to visit him. When she
arrived, she was nearly on the point of tears.
"Oh, my darling, how I've missed you!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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