“Couple of hundred, maybe.”
“Good! That solves a problem I had been wondering about. Uh, we will have to requisition half of that supply for official use public notices, committee transactions, and the like. You know.”
Caroline looked wideeyed. “That’s a lot of paper, isn’t it? You had better send two or three big husky boys to carry it.”
Cowper looked puzzled. “You’re joking.”
“Better make it four big huskies. I could probably manage three . . . and somebody is likely to get hurt.”
“Now, see here, Caroline, it is just a temporary requisition, in the public interest. Long before you need all of your diary we will devise other writing materials.”
“Go ahead and devise! That’s my diary.”
Caroline sat near Cowper, diary in her lap and style in her hand, taking notes. Each evening she opened proceedings by reading the minutes of the previous meeting. Rod asked her if she took down the endless debates.
“Goodness no!”
“I wondered. It seemed to me that you would run out of paper. Your minutes are certainly complete.”
She chuckled. “Roddie, want to know what I really write down? Promise not to tell.”
“Of course I won’t.”
“When I ‘read the minutes’ I just reach back in my mind and recall what the gabble was the night beforeI’ve got an awfully good memory. But what I actually dirty the paper with . . . well, here” She took her diary from a pocket. “Here’s last night: ‘Hizzoner called us to disorder at halfpast burping time. The committee on cats and dogs reported. No cats, no dogs. The shortage was discussed. We adjourned and went to sleep, those who weren’t already.'”
Rod grinned. “A good thing Grant doesn’t know shorthand.”
“Of course, if anything real happens, I put it down. But not the talk, talk, talk.”
Caroline was not adamant about not sharing her supply of paper when needed. A marriage certificate, drawn up in officialese by Howard Goldstein, a Teller law student, was prepared for the Baxters and signed by Cowper, the couple themselves, and Rod and Caroline as witnesses. Caroline decorated it with flowers and turtle doves before delivering it.
There were others who seemed to feel that the new government was long on talk and short on results. Among them was Bob Baxter, but the Quaker couple did not attend most of the meetings. But when Cowper had been in office a week, Shorty Dumont took the floor after the endless committee reports:
“Mr. Chairman!”
“Can you hold it, Shorty? I have announcements to make before we get on to new business.”
“This is still about committee reports. When does the committee on our constitution report?”
“Why, I made the report myself.”
“You said that a revised draft was being prepared and the report would be delayed. That’s no report. What I want to know is: when do we get a permanent setup? When do we stop floating in air, getting along from day to day on ‘temporary executive notices’?”
Cowper flushed. “Do you object to my executive decisions?”
“Won’t say that I do, won’t say that I don’t. But Rod was let out and you were put in on the argument that we needed constitutional governinent, not a dictatorship. That’s why I voted for you. All right, where’s our laws? When do we vote on them?”
“You must understand,” Cowper answered carefully, “that drawing up a constitution is not done overnight. Many considerations are involved.”
“Sure, sure but it’s time we had some notion of what sort of a constitution you are cooking up. How about a bill of rights? Have you drawn up one?”
“All in due time.”
“Why wait? For a starter let’s adopt the Virginia Bill of Rights as article one. I so move.
“You’re out of order. Anyhow we don’t even have a copy of it.”
“Don’t let that bother you; I know it by heart. You ready, Carol? Take this down .
“Never mind,” Caroline answered. “I know it, too. I’m writing it.”
“You see? These things aren’t any mystery, Grant; most of us could quote it. So let’s quit stalling.”
Somebody yelled, “Whoopee! That’s telling him, Shorty. I second the motion.”
Cowper shouted for order. He went on, “This is not the time nor the place. When the committee reports, you will find that all proper democratic freedoms and safeguards have been included modified only by the stern necessities of our hazardous position.” He flashed his smile. “Now let’s get on with business. I have an announcement about hunting parties. Hereafter each hunting party will be expected to”