The Cold Millions

Gurley is in discussion with other union leaders planning another free speech protest when Rye and Moore arrive. Gurley plans to raise money to hire the famous union lawyer Clarence Darrow to represent the IWW and have the anti-speech law repealed. A union leader expresses concern over letting her go to one of their overfilled jails, but Gurley takes offense at the implication that anyone would “let” her do anything. Rye soon realizes that the leader’s concern stems from the fact that Gurley is pregnant.

Gurley introduces Rye to the group, critiquing the union leaders’ opinion of her pregnancy. This upsets one of the leaders, Cawley, who rebukes her for escalating their fight for wage increases into a full-scale revolution. Threatening to pull his union out of the fight, he orders her to use her married name in public, travel with an escort, and refrain from making speeches.

Gurley assures Cawley that in the absence of her husband, Jack, who will soon arrive in Spokane, Rye will serve as her escort, speaking on her behalf. Rye is embarrassed by this, considering that he is not actually a union member. Gurley encourages him to share his struggle with the union leaders, and he narrates the events that led up to his arrest and subsequent release. The union leaders are impressed. Moore, who had left at some point, returns with proper clothing for Rye, as well as news that the city plans to prosecute Gig for a six-month prison sentence. He also informs Rye that Jules has been released to family members, much to Rye’s surprise.

Gemma has her husband, Dom, go to check on Jules, who is alive but quietly suffering. Jules is the last remaining member of Gemma’s family, having lost her mother to the flu while Gemma’s father left them behind. Jules also maintains an amicable relationship with Dom from previous visits to their house, working around the house and entertaining Gemma and Dom’s daughters with gifts.

Gemma recalls that Jules’s death seemed imminent once he arrived from the prison. After his second night at their house, Gemma and Dom discuss arrangements for his funeral. Gemma is unsure what to do since Jules had been afraid of his people’s cultural burial practices. Gemma remembers how her mother and her aunt, Jules’s wife Agnella, had died after a flu outbreak. Jules would intermittently visit Gemma’s mother and Agnella in between searching for jobs. Finally, Gemma recounts Jules’s story about the time Plante’s ferry was stolen. She speculates that Jules had loved that story because of how resolved The Kid had been to take ownership of his fate, even if it led to his death.

Jules dies the following morning. Gemma sends for the coroner, who arrives with a man from the funeral parlor. When asked if Jules had a last name. Gemma gives “Plante,” unsure of any other answer.

Rye and Moore arrive at Gemma’s house to ask after Jules. Rye is saddened to learn of Jules’s death, but Moore explains that Gemma may be entitled to restitution since Jules’s pneumonia was caused by his imprisonment. Moore adds that Gurley would like to write an article about Jules’s mistreatment. However, Gemma refuses, preferring to distance Jules’s death from union issues. Rye apologizes and then leaves with Moore.

Gemma requests a private moment with Jules’s body before it is taken away. She remembers how Jules had helped her to settle in Spokane after her mother died, which led to her marriage to Dom. It is then revealed that Jules had been Gemma’s father, the two of them keeping his parentage secret after Gemma’s mother had died. Pretending that Jules had been her uncle would make it easier for both of them to be accepted by Gemma’s new family. Gemma laments that her children will never know the truth about their Indigenous heritage. She quietly tells her father she loves him in Salish.

Rye returns to Mrs. Ricci’s boardinghouse, where Moore explains Rye’s absence to their landlord. Rye shows Moore around, and then eats while Moore affirms his promise to work on Gig’s court case. Rye goes to sleep shortly after Moore leaves.

The next morning, Mrs. Ricci wakes Rye to tell him that a woman is waiting outside in a car. Believing it to be Gurley, Rye hurriedly eats, cleans up, and puts on the fine clothes he had been given by Moore. Rye soon learns that it is not Gurley waiting for him, but Ursula the Great.

Rye takes a ride in Ursula’s car to Spokane’s affluent neighborhood. Ursula tells him that she had gone to visit Gig and was instructed to tell Rye that he was fine. Along the way, the driver of the car brags about the automobile’s features. Later, when they reach a large mansion inspired by the Spanish palace of Alhambra, the driver brags about its gold interiors and multiple fireplaces. Inside the mansion, the driver orders some brandy and tea from the house servants. Rye realizes that the driver is mining baron Lemuel Brand in disguise.

Lem Brand continues to brag about his mansion as he shows Rye around. Rye is overwhelmed by the grandness of it all, ending up in the library where Rye is reminded of his brother. Looking at the abundance of books, Rye begins to weep, wondering if Lem has all five volumes of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, which Gig is trying to complete. Rye’s sorrow shifts to the thought that people live in luxury while he and most of the world remain “the cold millions with no chance in this world” (105). He remembers a dead girl he had seen in a boxcar the previous winter and thinks about the distance between them now.

Lem offers to employ Rye’s services as an informant, providing details about Gurley’s forthcoming plans. He offers a salary of $20 and the promise to help resolve Gig’s court case. When prompted about the man who attacked the police officer by the river, Rye mentions Early’s name and indicates that he has likely left for Seattle. Believing him, Lem gives Rye $20.

Lem tries to convince Rye that they are alike, explaining that he used to work at one of the old mines he owned in Montana where Rye’s father used to work as well. He then criticizes Gurley’s motivations, claiming that she has no interest in Rye other than as a pawn in her quest to destroy the world as they know it. He encourages Rye’s aspirations toward prosperity to motivate him to take the job. Ursula, meanwhile, tells Rye to do it for Gig.

Ursula, whose real name is Margaret Anne Burns, narrates how she came to Spokane, replacing the last performer who held the name “Ursula the Great.” The First Ursula, as Margaret comes to call her, had been performing the act for the last decade, dancing initially with a bear before a cougar replaced it.

After two years without any theatre work, Margaret books a role in a burlesque act. She meets the First Ursula, who indicates that she is being phased out of the role due to poor box office performance and her age. The First Ursula starts training Margaret through their tour in Reno. She also tells Margaret about performing at the Comique Theater in Spokane, owned by the married mining baron Lem Brand.

Lem had previously had an affair with the First Ursula, promising to let her run one of his flop hotels as a boardinghouse in return. The First Ursula, intending to leave the burlesque act’s tour at Spokane, telegrams Lem to announce her arrival. Meanwhile, Ursula and Margaret soon become close friends. Margaret asks what happened to the bear who used to perform alongside the First Ursula. The First Ursula answers that her employer had gotten rid of it after the bear seemed to have fallen in love with her.

Margaret officially takes the stage for the first time as Ursula, impressing the First Ursula with her voice. The First Ursula repeatedly tries to reach Lem but gets no reply, confirming her suspicion that his promise was an empty one. On their last night together, they talk about old lovers, which leads Margaret to share that she had been swindled by a playwright, which led to her being blacklisted in the San Francisco theatre scene. The First Ursula leaves without saying goodbye.

Ursula performs her act in Boise, Butte, and Missoula. When they reach Spokane, Lem Brand offers to take her out to dinner. Ursula brings up the First Ursula’s telegrams, promising that she will only oblige his offer when he has fulfilled his promise to the First Ursula.

Ursula’s act finds great success in Spokane. She meets Gig, whom she immediately falls for, and the two begin a passionate relationship. Moved by his affection for Rye, Ursula expresses her interest in meeting him. She is approached, however, by Lem during the events of the novel’s first chapter. Lem claims to have found the First Ursula, forcing Ursula to apologize to Gig for entertaining Lem. Gig spitefully leaves to go on his drinking spree.

At a restaurant, Lem shares his findings. Lem’s bodyguard, Willard, who conducted the investigation, discovered that the First Ursula—real name Edith Hardisson—had lied about her performing background. Ursula learns that after leaving the tour, Edith had gone to the circus to find her old co-star, the bear. There, Edith discovered that the bear had died. Afterward, Edith went to Denver to squander the last of her money on food and drink before moving to Iowa to work as a hotel server. It is implied that she also sidelines as a sex worker.

Lem offers the hotel he had promised Edith to Ursula on the same terms he offered it to the First Ursula. They negotiate the terms of her ownership, and she signs the deal.

Rye and Gurley take an overnight train to Seattle, prompting Rye to think about how much more comfortable it is to ride inside the train than atop it. Because of his last visit to the coast, which turned out horribly for both Rye and Gig, Rye dreads coming back to Seattle.

Gurley and Rye meet the IWW leader of Puget Sound, a man named James Garrett. Gurley later introduces Rye to another man, Olen Parr, who works as a newspaper editor. Gurley encourages Olen to write about Rye’s imprisonment so that they can build public support. When Olen suggests that it may take him time to actually publish the story, Gurley urges him to write about their time in Seattle instead.

Rye and Gurley attend meetings to build support for their cause. That night at the Seattle IWW Hall, Gurley delivers a passionate speech about the outrages the working class suffers before introducing Rye to share his story. Rye repeats what he had told the union leaders in Spokane and asks the audience to help with their effort to hire Clarence Darrow. Gurley resumes speaking and bolsters the call to action, which impresses Rye. At the end of her speech, she goes over to an isolated young woman in the audience and appears to encourage her. The woman leaves soon after.

Just as a saboteur tries to talk down Rye’s speech, Early Reston shows up and greets Rye. Early regrets Gig’s arrest, but Rye reassures him. Suddenly, a misogynist priest comes up to heckle Gurley for including women’s suffrage in her agenda. Gurley flusters him by reaffirming the need to emancipate the vagina.

Garrett rebukes Gurley for provoking the priest, though the event had been successful in raising donations. Rye introduces Gurley to Reston, who promises to return to Spokane for the protest. Gurley invites him to join them instead on their way to Montana. Early agrees.

Gurley applauds Rye on his speech. They make a detour at a drugstore, where Gurley buys them ice cream sodas. She asks him if he has ever made a choice he regrets, prompting Rye to think about his decision to get on the soapbox and then later his decision to give up Early’s name to Lem. Gurley shares details of her life, outlining highlights from her activist career. She reveals that she met her husband, Jack, at her first union convention.

Leaving the drugstore, they encounter the young woman Gurley had spoken to at the IWW Hall after her speech. Gurley introduces her as Carol Anne and excuses herself to speak privately to the woman. They walk around the block, and Gurley listens to her story before handing her $50 as they part ways. Gurley tells Rye that she advised Carol Anne to leave town to escape her abusive brother-in-law. She additionally notes that a bookkeeping error shows that they made $50 less than recorded. Rye soon realizes what she has done with the money, which he admires.

Returning to his hotel room, Rye discovers a man waiting on his bed. Rye recognizes him as a bystander at the drugstore. The stranger makes it clear that he knows who Rye is and has been following him to collect a debt he owes to Lem. Rye demands to know who the man is.

Del Dalveaux, a hitman and private detective, is brought by Lem Brand to Spokane for a job. He meets Lem’s driver at the train station, but sees through the disguise and deduces that it is Lem, which disappoints him.

Lem tells Del that he needs someone to stop four key union figures from organizing a second protest. Lem suggests staging a robbery before giving Del the dossiers of his targets: Gig and Rye Dolan, Early Reston, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.

Del considers all of them easy targets except for Gurley. He uses this to raise the price of her hit. Lem clarifies that he only wants the targets to be followed and “hindered” for now, hinting that the possibility of a hit could open up if the situation worsens. Lem also discloses that he has bought Rye off as an informant. Del gets him to realize that this creates a trail from the hit back to him. Frustrated with Lem’s euphemisms and lack of clarity, Del forces Lem to clear the room so that they can speak plainly. Del sets his price for the four targets and then outlines a system for ordering hits on each one. Lem agrees.