The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck

your servants, sir?” he asked.
    Mayor Orden smiled. “Very little,” he said. “She’s a good cook when she is happy. Was anyone hurt?” he asked Joseph.
    â€œThe water was boiling, sir.”
    Colonel Lanser said, “We just want to do our job. It’s an engineering job. You will have to discipline your cook.”
    â€œI can’t,” said Orden. “She’ll quit.”
    â€œThis is an emergency. She can’t quit.”
    â€œThen she’ll throw water,” said Doctor Winter.
    The door opened and a soldier stood in the opening. “Shall I arrest this woman, sir?”
    â€œWas anyone hurt?” Lanser asked.
    â€œYes, sir, scalded, and one man bitten. We are holding her, sir.”
    Lanser looked helpless, then he said, “Release her and go outside and off the porch.”
    â€œYes, sir,” and the door closed behind the soldier.
    Lanser said, “I could have her shot; I could lock her up.”
    â€œThen we would have no cook,” said Orden.
    â€œLook,” said the colonel. “We are instructed to get along with your people.”
    Madame said, “Excuse me, sir, I will just go and see if the soldiers hurt Annie,” and she went out.
    Now Lanser stood up. “I told you I’m very tired, sir. I must have some sleep. Please co-operate with us for the good of all.” When Mayor Orden made no reply, “For the good of all,” Lanser repeated. “Will you?”
    Orden said, “This is a little town. I don’t know. The people are confused and so am I.”
    â€œBut will you try to co-operate?”
    Orden shook his head. “I don’t know. When the town makes up its mind what it wants to do, I’ll probably do that.”
    â€œBut you are the authority.”
    Orden smiled. “You won’t believe this, but it is true: authority is in the town. I don’t know how or why, but it is so. This means we cannot act as quickly as you can, but when a direction is set, we all act together. I am confused. I don’t know yet.”
    Lanser said wearily, “I hope we can get along together. It will be so much easier for everyone. I hope we can trust you. I don’t like to think of the means the military will take to keep order.”
    Mayor Orden was silent.
    â€œI hope we can trust you,” Lanser repeated.
    Orden put his finger in his ear and wiggled his hand. “I don’t know,” he said.
    Madame came through the door then. “Annie is furious,” she said. “She is next door, talking to Christine. Christine is angry, too.”
    â€œChristine is even a better cook than Annie,” said the Mayor.

2
    Upstairs in the little palace of the Mayor the staff of Colonel Lanser made its headquarters. There were five of them besides the colonel. There was Major Hunter, a haunted little man of figures, a little man who, being a dependable unit, considered all other men either as dependable units or as unfit to live. Major Hunter was an engineer, and except in case of war no one would have thought of giving him command of men. For Major Hunter set his men in rows like figures and he added and subtracted and multiplied them. He was an arithmetician rather than a mathematician. None of the humor, the music, or the mysticism of higher mathematics ever entered his head. Men might vary in height or weight or color, just as 6 is different from 8, but there was little other difference. He had been married several times and he did not know why his wives became very nervous before they left him.
    Captain Bentick was a family man, a lover of dogs and pink children and Christmas. He was too old to be a captain, but a curious lack of ambition had kept him in that rank. Before the war he had admired the British country gentleman very much, wore English clothes, kept English dogs, smoked in an English pipe a special pipe mixture sent him from London, and subscribed to those country