Hal descended from his rostrum, and the crowds made way for him, and with his brother at his side he went down the street to the office building, upon the porch of which the guards were standing. His progress was a triumphal one; rough voices shouted words of encouragement in his ears, men jostled and fought to shake his hand or to pat him on the back; they even patted Edward and tried to shake his hand, because he was with Hal, and seemed to have his confidence. Afterwards Hal thought it over and was merry. Such an adventure for Edward! The younger man went up the steps of the building and spoke to the guards. “I want to see Mr. Cartwright.”
“He's inside,” answered one, not cordially. With Edward following, Hal entered, and was ushered into the private office of the superintendent.
Having been a working-man, and class-conscious, Hal was observant of the manners of mine-superintendents; he noted that Cartwright bowed politely to Edward, but did not include Edward's brother. “Mr. Cartwright,” he said, “I have come to you as a deputation from the workers of this camp.”
The superintendent did not appear impressed by the announcement.
“I am instructed to say that the men demand the redress of four grievances before they return to work. First—”
Here Cartwright spoke, in his quick, sharp way. “There's no use going on, sir. This company will deal only with its men as individuals. It will recognise no deputations.”
Hal's answer was equally quick. “Very well, Mr. Cartwright. In that case, I come to you as an individual.”
For a moment the superintendent seemed nonplussed.
“I wish to ask four rights which are granted to me by the laws of this state. First, the right to belong to a union, without being discharged for it.”
The other had recovered his manner of quiet mastery. “You have that right, sir; you have always had it. You know perfectly well that the company has never discharged any one for belonging to a union.”
The man was looking at Hal, and there was a duel of the eyes between them. A cold anger moved Hal. His ability to endure this sort of thing was at an end. “Mr. Cartwright,” he said, “you are the servant of one of the world's greatest actors; and you support him ably.”
The other flushed and drew back; Edward put in quickly: “Hal, there's nothing to be gained by such talk!”
“He has all the world for an audience,” persisted Hal. “He plays the most stupendous farce—and he and all his actors wearing such solemn faces!”
“Mr. Cartwright,” said Edward, with dignity, “I trust you understand that I have done everything I can to restrain my brother.”
“Of course, Mr. Warner,” replied the superintendent. “And you must know that I, for my part, have done everything to show your brother consideration.”
“Again!” exclaimed Hal. “This actor is a genius!”
“Hal, if you have business with Mr. Cartwright—”
“He showed me consideration by sending his gunmen to seize me at night, drag me out of a cabin, and nearly twist the arm off me! Such humour never was!”
Cartwright attempted to speak—but looking at Edward, not at Hal. “At that time—”
“He showed me consideration by having me locked up in jail and fed on bread and water for two nights and a day! Can you beat that humour?”
“At that time I did not know—”
“By forging my name to a letter and having it circulated in the camp! Finally—most considerate of all—by telling a newspaper man that I had seduced a girl here!”
The superintendent flushed still redder. “No!” he declared.
“What?” cried Hal. “You didn't tell Billy Keating of the Gazette that I had seduced a girl in North Valley? You didn't describe the girl to him—a red-haired Irish girl?”
“I merely said, Mr. Warner, that I had heard certain rumours—”
“Certain rumours, Mr. Cartwright? The certainty was all of your making! You made a definite and explicit statement to Mr. Keating—”
“I did not!” declared the other.
“I'll soon prove it!” And Hal started towards the telephone on Cartwright's desk.
“What are you going to do, Hal?”
“I am going to get Billy Keating on the wire, and let you hear his statement.”
“Oh, rot, Hal!” cried Edward. “I don't care anything about Keating's statement. You know that at that time Mr. Cartwright had no means of knowing who you were.”
Cartwright was quick to grasp this support. “Of course not, Mr. Warner! Your brother came here, pretending to be a working boy—”
“Oh!” cried Hal. “So that's it! You think it proper to circulate slanders about working boys in your camp?”
“You have been here long enough to know what the morals of such boys are.”
“I have been here long enough, Mr. Cartwright, to know that if you want to go into the question of morals in North Valley, the place for you to begin is with the bosses and guards you put in authority, and allow to prey upon women.”
Edward broke in: “Hal, there's nothing to be gained by pursuing this conversation. If you have any business here, get it over with, for God's sake!”
Hal made an effort to recover his self-possession. He came back to the demands of the strike—but only to find that he had used up the superintendent's self-possession. “I have given you my answer,” declared Cartwright, “I absolutely decline any further discussion.”
“Well,” said Hal, “since you decline to permit a deputation of your men to deal with you in plain, business-like fashion, I have to inform you as an individual that every other individual in your camp refuses to work for you.”
The superintendent............