THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE SILENT CONFLICT BOSTON ROXBURGH PUBLISHING COMPANY INC. Copyrighted, 1916 By Charles Carroll Swafford Att rights reserved ps 3537 TO THE JOINT INTERESTS OF CAPITAL AND LABOR, THIS BOOK IS PATRIOTICALLY INSCRIBED CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I ANOTHER CUT IN WAGES . i II SIGNS OF DISCONTENT . . 14 III STRIKE THREATENED IN THE MOTHER LODE ... 23 IV THE DEVIL S MINIONS . . 42 V STRENGTH IN COUNCIL . . 57 VI PENT FIRES . ." . . . 85 VII SERVICE AND SHAME . 96 VIII GIRDING THE ARMOR . no IX SATAN CHALLENGED . . . 121 X DEATH AND DECEPTION , 138 XI CUPID REVEALS HIMSELF . 149 XII STICKING TO PRINCIPLES . 160 XIII CLUTCHES OF THE LAW ( . 171 XIV IN THE TOILS OF THE TEMPTER 184 XV WARNED NOT ALWAYS FORE ARMED ; 191 XVI SPIKING THE ENEMY S GUNS 207 XVII EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENSE 218 XVIII WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING 233 XIX CHASING A PHANTOM . . 249 XX A SOUND OF REVELRY . . 262 XXI WHERE HELL REIGNS . . 280 XXII A STORY WITHIN A STORY . 294 XXIII SOLVING A GREAT MYSTERY 306 XXIV RUNNING THE GANTLET. . 320 XXV THE ARCH-ENEMY DETHRONED 335 THE MAN UNDER THE STONE When I see a workingman with mouths to feed, Up, day after day, in the dark before the dawn, And coming home, night after night, thro the dark, Swinging forward like some fierce, silent animal, I see a man doomed to roll a huge stone up an endless steep. He strains it onward inch by inch, Crouched always in the shadow of the rock; See where he crouches twisted, cramped, misshapen! He lifts for their life! The veins knot and darken Blood surges into his face Now he loses now he wins Now he loses loses (God of my soul!) He digs his feet into the earth There s a moment of terrified effort It stirs it moves. The silent struggle goes on and on Like two contending in a dream. Charles Edwin Markham. (By permission.) PRECURSORY In the dedicating of this book the author has recognized a peculiar phase of character in the American people; it is this: The capacity of our people for self-government is strangely great, even to awaking in a care ful observer a feeling of amazement and a sense of its deep-seated and stable nature. 9o great is this capacity and so stable is its nature, that we insensibly pass from one phase of social life to another without the dire accompaniment of violence and blood shed, so common in great revolutions, social or industrial. And yet we are aware that revolution perhaps it would be better to say, evolution is silently going on all about us. We have grown from a small cluster of unconfederated colonies to a mighty commonwealth; from a narrow, circumscribed territory to an ex panding national domain; from a few scattered towns with diverse and oft conflicting com mercial interests, to a nation of cities with unified interests and great common purpose. Self-government the experiment of the Nineteenth Century, successfully conducted PRECURSORY has made this evolution possible and has drawn to itself seeming incongruous elements and has changed these into likeness unto itself, while in turn it has itself been modi fied, improved and strengthened by all types, classes, peoples of apparent heterogeneous ideas. Out of conflicting isms Socialism, Nihilism, Anarchism, et cetera, has arisen a unique, powerful and aggressive Americanism, that bids fair to rule in the councils of the nations and carry the blessings of peace and good will to the remotest bounds of its influence. In the hope that a higher Socialism may finally triumph in the work of lifting up the ever conflicting industrial orders, this story is written as a feeble effort in the great cause, the good of humanity. The Author. Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay: Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade; A breath can make them, as a breath has made; But a bold peasantry, their country s pride, When once destroyed, can never be supplied. Goldsmith s "The Deserted Village." THE SILENT CONFLICT CHAPTER I ANOTHER CUT IN WAGES "I had rather coin my heart, "And drop my blood for drachmas, than to wring "From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash "By any indirection." Shakespeare s "Julius Caesar" "It ll come to that, is my say." The speaker was one of a knot of sooty looking men that stood in front of a mean hut in the suburbs of Carbon Vale, that part which was given over to the cabins of the miners. The deep looks upon the coal- begrimed faces of these half dozen men be tokened that a discussion of more than usual significance had held the attention of every one to the meaning gestures and spirited talk of this speaker. 1 2 THE SILENT CONFLICT He was a tall, broad-shouldered man, slightly bent, but whose every movement and general carriage betrayed a great re serve of both physical and mental force. Under his cap, smooth and shining from much wear, could be seen an expression of determined purpose, and a firmness of look which held all the others in the group silent, as the words which had last fallen from his lips seemed to put all further talk at an end and he pronounced the conclusion to a log ical premise that needed no further debate. At the close of the declaration he waved his great muscular arm with a final swing as much as to say, that settles it, and taking up a dinner kettle, such as his companions also carried, swung forward with a firm and determined stride, leaving his companions to ruminate on the matter just settled in such summary fashion. "Luke has the right of it, I m thinkin ," said one. "Ay, ay, the lad will be heard from some day," put in a companion. "And it s myself that is thinkin that a man should be ready to foller when he makes up his mind to lead us, for that he ll do, too, THE SILENT CONFLICT 3 my lads, or my name s not Worry Watson." This third speaker was a man of perhaps fifty years though he looked sixty, and pos sessed few charms of person to recommend him. His stooped person and unkempt ap pearance indicated that toil and self-neglect had alike contributed toward marring what otherwise might have been a manly frame, while the smudging of the coal mine in which he plied his daily toil added further to mask his features from close scrutiny. "You may be sure Luke will find plenty to follow his lead; and they ll not be likely to miss Worry Watson either, if he happens not to be on hand when the pinch comes," rejoined a former speaker with an insinuating nodding of his head; and he moved slowly away, swinging his dinner pail in time to his steps. The man known as Worry Watson waited for no further comment but at once departed in another direction; the others of the group also separated after waving good-night to their fellow toilers, and each struck out for his own humble abode. Worry had not gone many rods ere he halted, shook his clenched fist toward the last speaker, 4 THE SILENT CONFLICT and then made his way straight to a drink ing house that lay a short distance from him. Here he entered, and after taking a couple of glasses of strong liquor, emerged upon his homeward way. This home lay on the outskirts of the miner s settlements, a low, wretched looking hut, the meanest of its kind, consisting of one room, a part of which was divided from the rest by a partition com posed of boards and old pieces of cloth. This place it would be difficult to conceive it a home Worry entered in a noisy, brusque manner, threw his kettle upon the floor recklessly, seated himself on the one chair that the room contained, and, squaring him self to the rough boards before him called loudly, rudely: "Rissy, Rissy." No answer coming he began musing to- himself: "I wonder where the gurl has gone ter now. Off ter some of the neighbors, I reckon; nursin some of their brats, or doin the work for others of their lazy mammies, who pertend to be sick, when the Lord knows, they re as capable of doin a day s work as any of em." THE SILENT CONFLICT 5 "Rissy! Riss, if yer don t put in an ap pearance mighty quick it s I ll be goin back to the gin mill agin , for I ll be hanged if I m goin to die of hunger for the like of ye! Rissy, Rissy!" "Here, father," answered the clear, ringing voice of a girl, as she entered the room. "Where have ye been, gurl? Haven t I been callin for you for a half-hour, and ain t I as hungry as a wolf besides? Tell me, gurl, where have yer been, and what doin fer I insist that ye give an account of yoursel ?" "Yes, father; allow me to busy myself with getting your supper, which I ought to have had all ready for you; then I will tell you all about what I have been doing; I know you will not be finding fault with me then." "Then I ll be bound you ve been tendin youngsters for some of these lazy mothers; or runnin errands fer some other complainin huzzy. Ain t I right, gurl?" "No, father; but first allow me to put your supper out for you, and then I promise to give a true account of myself." "That I will, Rissy," said the man, im patiently, "fer my appetite is keen, I tell ye. 6 THE SILENT CONFLICT And as to a true account, gurl," he con tinued in a more kindly tone, "I know it will be a true account, for you are like your own mother in that; a better, or more truth- lovin woman never lived, and you are like her, Rissy," and he meditatively drummed upon the table before him. "How I wish I could have known my mother, too, father," said the girl, placing a lighted candle upon the shelf above him and pro ceeding to stir the dull coals on the hearth beside which stood a kettle containing food in the process of cooking. "Ay, gurl, she was good, an clever, an truthful was your mother; but it s now more n sixteen year since we stood together, you and me, and looked for the last time upon her face; you were scarcely two years old then, Rissy, and now you are almost a woman. How the time passes and how the changes come. Then my toil was not so hard; I did not yet know what it meant to dig coal from the earth, far from the light o the sun, and bend an stoop, an work, an only to get a bare livin at that. Luke Darrell says, these things will have to change, and that these rich companies 11 have to divide THE SILENT CONFLICT 7 their money with us fellers that dig fer em. And there are them as believe what Luke says, but it s gettin harder an harder every day. Why," and the speaker seemed to forget that his only audience was a young maiden in her teens "the company has posted a notice that wages will be cut ten per cent on the first, and the men are growlin an threatenin ; I really fear that there s goin to be trouble. Now if these Company fellers cut wages, I don t see who s goin to help hisself; they allus talk loud enough; but this time Luke has had his say, and I m thinkin that when such as Luke opens his head, it means somethin , that s sure. Luke says we must all stand together and tell the Company we can t allow this last cut; he says wages is too low now and that the Com pany ought ter raise em instead. Yes, I say Luke s right; and we will all have to stand together, but not yet; I know it s hard to be ground down the way we are bein ground, but what s the good o holdin out agin the Company when they can do as they please. I recollect what come of resistin three years ago; the miners all struck and every one lost his wages that was owin from 8 THE SILENT CONFLICT the Company, and there we were idle a whole month and some of em starvin , and in the end we went back at the cut rate. That s just what ll come of it again; no, we don t want to all stand together; Worry Watson knows on which side his bread is buttered; I ll be for the Company and then they ll make me a boss of a gang," he mused to himself only half aloud, nodding his head in pleasant anticipation of earning promo tion by deserting his fellow toilers in their effort to stand out against the Company s oppression. The girl s ears had been only passively attentive to the father s half narrative, half soliloquy; but at the last words she started perceptibly and turned her look a moment steadfast upon him, then resumed her rapid preparations for the simple evening meal. She went about her work thoughtfully for a time; when she approached the table to place the food before her father she again enquir ingly scanned his face, which seemed full of thought, but she said nothing, yet it was clear that questioning thoughts rose near to her lips several times; still she did not speak until she said, "Father, the supper THE SILENT CONFLICT 9 is ready," and then, taking her place on a bench opposite to the man, proceeded to serve to him black coffee from an earthen urn. The father seemed to recollect himself, and rousing from his musings began to satisfy the cravings of hunger. Thus the two sat for some minutes, the man eating hungrily, but the girl appeared to have no appetite for the victuals before her; her hands lay folded upon her lap, and her full thoughtful face betrayed a stirring of the depths of feeling within. Clarissa Watson perhaps resembled her mother in personal charms as well as in those excellent virtues of goodness and truth attri buted to her by her father. She was beauti ful in form and feature; tall and erect, her pose and carriage were graceful; a face moulded in full outlines and set with features that blended in perfect harmony; an intellectual forehead, a mouth and chin that told of firmness, eyes that spoke strongly of fear lessness and tenderness; a well-shapen nose and ears, and a complexion soft and roseate; while over all rested a wealth of darkest brown hair, neatly combed from temples that were full and fair. She was indeed a 10 THE SILENT CONFLICT lovely picture to look upon, and, as she sat on this evening in the wretched hut of the Pennsylvania coal miner, offered a strange contrast to her surroundings and a still more striking unlikeness to the being opposite, whom she called "Father." Although her life had been spent among the scenes common to a Pennsylvania mining community her manners had been but little shaped by her environment; all that schools and contact with people of better advantages could secure in that uncultured settlement, seemed to influence and grace her life. There was that in her person and mind that indi cated a birth of noble origin; at least it could not be that both parents possessed traits of character like that of the father, as we have seen him; plainly, the mother must have given to her child the comeliness of form and feature, and was equally responsible for the gifts of quick intelligence and integrity of feeling which so apparently belonged to her. The meal continu-ed some minutes in si lence, the man engaged in appeasing his ap petite, the girl engrossed with her thoughts and calmly awaiting the completion of the plain repast. THE SILENT CONFLICT 11 At last Worry Watson pushed back from the table and, going over to his daughter s side, gently placed his hand upon her head. "Rissy, I m goin out a bit; d ye mind, gurl? I promise, I ll not be long, but it s wantin to see Larry Simpson I am, and I ll be home in the shortest time." "Can you not stay a few moments, father, while I tell you where I have been, and why I caused you such anxiety?" "Well, child, what was it? I am well sure it was nothing you were doin that would cause me much alarm. Where were you, Rissy?" "Father, I have been helping Dr. Acton, and I should like to go back to the cottage where he is now watching beside the bed of his patient, if you do not mind; you are going out to see Simpson, and if I am home in an hour, it will probably be before you re turn." "But, Rissy, what have you to do with the young doctor s patients? What could you do in this case, and how can you help the doctor now?" "The man whom Dr. Acton is attending was severely hurt by a breaking of a part 12 THE SILENT CONFLICT of the machinery in the East shaft of the Black Diamond mine, and was taken from beneath a heap of chains and shafting with but little chance of life left. The doctor was compelled to remove the right arm of the poor fellow, and I stood by and helped all I could; for the doctor from the new Company s settlement was also called in to aid in administering chloroform. The doctor told me, when I asked to leave at the blowing of the whistles, that he should be so glad if I would just come in again in an hour or so." And Clarissa looked so beseechingly at her father as she spoke these words. "Well, well, child," said the father with unmasked tenderness, "if you wish it so much, you may go; and perhaps I may not get home so soon as I intended; stay as long as you can be of any help to the poor fellow; it is not always that these poor devils can have the comforting help of such kind-hearted ones as you be, Rissy," he said wiping a tear from his rough cheek; "good-night, girl," he continued. "Thank you, father, and good-night. I ll be home as soon as possible." THE SILENT CONFLICT 13 They parted at the door, the man retrac ing his steps over the path by which he had come home, and the girl to the cottage, that lay in a different direction nearly a quarter of a mile distant, where the doctor watched by a bed of pain. CHAPTER II SIGNS OF DISCONTENT "Whoever conjures up mischief in this domain in order to draw his profit therefrom, is a twin brother to the criminal that causes the express train to be de railed in order to rob it." Andrew Carnegie. Clarissa hurried along the path, little heed ing such as she passed upon the way. Nor did she take note that there was an unusual stirring of people abroad at that hour, but going directly to the cottage where a dim light shone from the window, she entered quietly and was presently standing by the side of Dr. Acton, who still sat by the bed side of his patient. "This poor fellow will have a hard battle for his life, Miss," observed the doctor shak ing his head slowly from side to side, a manner expressive of much doubt. "Is there anything that we can do that I can do, Doctor?" queried Clarissa, with a tone of great concern. 14 THE SILENT CONFLICT 15 "Nothing nothing but watchful care; if you can remain by him for an hour, I will go where I can have something to eat and a little exercise in the open air; this close room and the odor of the anaesthetic have a stupe fying effect upon me. Can you stay by this poor fellow for an hour?" And Dr. Acton looked up into the face of the young woman with an entreating, eager gaze. He started perceptibly as he beheld the lovely, expressive face of Clarissa, exhibit ing such tenderness and compassion. The beauty of the girl was enhanced by the ex pression of mingled pity and pain that lit up her eyes, while the glow which her rapid walk had given to her cheeks, and the part ing of the rich ruby lips added greatly to her otherwise pretty face. Dr. Acton thought she presented the most lovely picture of feminine beauty he had ever beheld, and so it happened that his last words were uttered in tones that betrayed astonishment and pleasing wonder at the vision before him. Clarissa, struck by the manner and tone of the doctor, was somewhat slow in reply ing, while the former found some difficulty in commanding his voice. A blush of modest 16 THE SILENT CONFLICT feeling suffused the face and neck of the young girl, as she found herself so intently regarded by her companion, and this only tended to heighten her beauty still more. At last the Doctor blundered out, "Well, if you can find someone to come and sit with my patient and perhaps you will remain too, I should so much like your help on my return. You are so brave, and much is still to be done before the poor fellow can be left for the night, and" he stopped, thinking he observed some hesitancy on the part of his listener, but resumed, "You will stay, won t you? I know it may be late, but I will accompany you to your home, when my when our work is done." "That will be unnecessary, Doctor. Yes, I will stay here while you go for supper and some fresh air. Must I do anything but watch by him?" pointing toward the restless form stretched upon the bed near by. "Only if he should attempt to rise, gently press him back upon the bed, and tell him to lie quiet, that the doctor will be here in a moment. Your own judgment will guide you as to other things necessary. But I do not anticipate any need for more than THE SILENT CONFLICT 17 quiet watching," he explained, and then added, "You will remain? I will be going now; good-night, good-night," he repeated taking her hand an instant and pressing it tremblingly in his own. Clarissa withdrew her hand in a firm manner and moved at once to the side of the patient, answering softly, "Good-night, Dr. Acton," and he passed out upon the street. The doctor hurried along the streets to the dimly lighted part of the settlement beyond, nor did he notice the groups of loud talking miners, until he came upon one crowd larger than the rest, where a tall, stalwart-looking person was addressing some fifteen or twenty men attentively listening to his words. When he came nearer Dr. Acton heard Luke Darrell say: "You may be sure the Company is not going to give up this reduc tion that has been posted: I don t believe, men, that the Company is altogether to blame for these low wages, nor are we to blame either; but it is the system of trade, rather than anything else. Now just let me tell you, that these companies that own these mines have to furnish coal and iron at prices that will meet the competition in the trade. 18 THE SILENT CONFLICT There are coal and iron mines all about us, and then there are still other great districts where these products are found in abundance as well as here. Now if the Mother Lode Com pany, or the Black Diamond Company, were to pay higher wages than these other companies they could not sell their products at a profit in the market and they must there fore fail. What we have to complain of more than anything else, is the bringing in of these foreigners to divide work with us; and whether this foreign class come to our mines or find work in the other mining districts we are bound to suffer accordingly. The great question is not work for us, but now that we have work, it is better wages. Besides, the im provement in all kinds of machinery is setting free a great host of workmen, who crowd us closer and closer." "What I want to see, men, is a change in our system that will give every man a fair show to live, and some shorter hours of toil. We must not content ourselves with howling against the wealthy; that may do very well for calling the attention to the fact that a great gulf is widening between labor and capital; but we must rather devote ourselves, THE SILENT CONFLICT 19 and urge the co-operation of others, to se cure for us a chance to share in the earnings of these companies." "You threaten to strike for higher wages and I cannot blame you and I should be willing to aid you in this, did I but know that our striking would gain anything for us, but my experience, yes, the experience of most of you men, goes to show that no real gain is to result from such a course. Now, you have listened to me quietly, as I asked; let me make one proposition which I believe if carried out will help us all. Will you hear what I have to offer?" Luke had held the attention of the crowd while he spoke, and Dr. Acton observed that he posessed much of the power of the trained orator, but with all he was so quiet and un assuming in his manner, so gentle and so convincing in his utterance and language that the men only waited now for him to proceed while two or three called out, "Luke s right, fellows," "Let s hear what Luke has to say." Thus enjoined to listen the crowd drew to closer circle about their leader, and Luke Darrell proceeded: 20 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Let us go to the manager of our Company quietly and respectfully, and lay our case plainly before him, asking him to send the substance of what we have to say to the directors, with a request to them from us that the present reduction be put off, say one month and at the end of that time, if no way can be found for continuing at the present wages, that as many of us as do not wish to keep on at that rate, be allowed our pay and a chance to find work somewhere else. At the same time let us also suggest that no new gang of men be brought in here to interfere with us and our wages, so long as we peaceably and industriously attend to the Company s work. Besides, let us propose that if the Company will deal justly with us, pay us the best wages they can, that at the end of the year they deduct from their net earnings so much as will pay them a fair rate of in come on their capital and distribute the remainder as dividends to labor." Here a low murmur of surprise and un belief rose from the knot of listeners, but all resumed their former attitude of atten tion and interest. "D ye think that the Company would THE SILENT CONFLICT 21 listen to such talk as that," ventured one man. "Not I! Let me tell you, these com panies have no hearts: a strike, and a strike hard is the only thing that ll move em . Your talk is all very nice, but yer can t allus catch beavers with fine bait. Give em the strike / say." The speaker was Worry Watson, who, standing a little aloof from the crowd which Luke had been addressing, now moved nervous ly about, evidently not relishing the fine flow of words, and the wholesome advice of the speaker. "Yes, Worry," said Luke, speaking over the heads of the others and addressing his words sharply to that person, "you forget what came of the last strike the hunger, and sickness, and misery; and that, in the end the Company maintained the reduc tion; and you forget that there are others, wives and children that go without while we are idle. A strike, man, does not help the Company to keep up its profits, but puts it just that much more in the hole; and the men lose now and in the future, too. If our Company, Worry, can only feel that they can rely on their men at all times, it 22 THE SILENT CONFLICT can provide against loss and still be able to meet the competition they find in the market. You are wrong this time, Worry, you were wrong in the last strike, and I was wrong, too; we were all wrong; but during those terrible days of 87 I saw enough to open my eyes, and I have done a heap of thinking since then; and now I believe that I am right in advising peaceable measures. Don t let us do anything we shall come to regret, fellows; and you all know what terrible times followed the awful strike I have referred to." Luke stopped speaking and waved his great arm over towards the settlement of the miners behind him, endeavoring by this gesture to turn their minds to the clusters of humble homes, where nestled the loved ones of these sturdy men. Dr. Acton suddenly recollected his own mission, and waiting but a moment to speak to Luke, hastened on toward the heart of the settlement. His words were, "Friend Darrell, I ll do what I can when the time comes, if my services can be of any use to you," and shaking Luke s great, rough hand, hurried on. As he went he caught the words, "Thank you, thank you, Doctor." CHAPTER III STRIKE THREATENED IN THE MOTHER LODE "When you show me a rose like that yonder, "Blooming neath the bright azure now, "Why then more demure do I ponder, "When you show me a rose like that yonder? " Tis that I think of her chaste brow " Tis that I think of her chaste brow." French Song. After appeasing the cravings of the inner man, Dr. Acton returned to the cottage where he had left Clarissa in charge of his patient. No change had taken place in the latter s condition except that he was a little more restless than an hour before. The doctor immediately asked the girl what had happened in his absence, but she had nothing of importance to report. He then felt of the patient s pulse, and busied him self later in preparing some drops which he at once administered, the while studying by the signs so well known to his professional eye, the effect. In a short time the patient 23 24 THE SILENT CONFLICT became quiet and fell off into a peaceful slumber. "It is perhaps a little hard to disturb his rest, Miss ," and he hesitated as if ex pecting that Clarissa would supply the name he did not know, but she appeared not to notice the implied question. "We must dress the other wounds now, while he is in this quiet condition. Now if you will kindly bring those bandages and lint, I will go at my work at once." Clarissa hastened to obey, and the doctor proceeded without delay to examine and treat each injured part as in his judgment the case required. They were thus busied for some minutes, the girl following directions of the physician and lending such aid as she could to his efforts, when the door was pushed gently open and a girlish form appeared before them. There were signs of distress in the poor, pinched features of the girl, and her eyes showed unmistakable signs of weeping. Her garments were poor but clean, and her toes peeped from shoes long past their best days. She might have been twelve or thirteen years of age, although the look of her face betokened THE SILENT CONFLICT 25 much suffering, and to less practiced eyes than those accustomed to such life as is to be found in a mining community, would have stamped the child as more nearly twenty. "Is this where they have brought my father, Mark Waring, who was hurt in the Black Diamond shaft this afternoon?" she asked in a tremulous, anxious voice. "Yes, child, is Mark Waring your father?" asked Dr. Acton, kindly. "He is my father, sir, and I am the only one he has in the world to love him; and he is all the world to me. Oh, tell me, is he badly hurt? Will he get well? Will he die? Does he suffer much? Tell me, Doctor!" "I must say that he is quite badly hurt, my child, and I hope he will get well, although it will be many days before he will be strong enough to go back to work; at present he is resting nicely; his wounds are all dressed, and care, with proper nursing is all that can be done for him now." "Oh, Doctor, how glad I am to hear you say he will not die. And as to the nursing and care, I can help so much with that. Will he be brought home to-night?" "No not tonight, my girl; he is not strong 26 THE SILENT CONFLICT enough for that, and I will arrange with the lady of the house for him to remain here a day or two. You can sit by your father for a short time while I accompany this young lady to her home. She has been very kind and helpful in attending to your father, child What is your name, little one?" asked the Doctor. "Margery, sir, Margery Waring." And she looked up into Clarissa s face and kind eyes. "Is your name Clarissa Watson?" asked the child in her artless manner. "Yes, Margery; do you know me then?" replied Clarissa. "Who that does not know you, Miss Wat son, you are so kind and good to every one. I know you have been kind to my poor, dear father as the doctor has said. Let me thank you now; and your kindness I shall never forget," continued Margery in her earnest, sweet manner, burying her tearful face in Clarissa s outstretched hand. "You may take a look at my patient, Margery," said the Doctor, motioning her gently toward the bedside; and then you must sit here quite still, dear, while I am THE SILENT CONFLICT 27 gone; your father will continue to sleep for some time, and will only need his little watcher beside him. "Come Miss Miss Watson?" ventured Dr. Acton, in his kindest tone. "Good-night, Margery, and God bless you, my child," said Clarissa heartily, as she stooped to kiss the sad cheek of the little one, who was yet to learn of her parent s painful loss of his good right arm. The doctor and Clarissa withdrew, and were soon following the path toward the humble home of the Watson s. Though the night was now far advanced they passed groups of men earnestly engaged in the discussion of the anticipated reduc tion of wages in the mines; and in the dis tant, busy part of the town, lights were still burning in the shops and drinking houses. As they passed one of these places loud, angry words arrested their attention, and the voice of the man, who answered Luke Darrell earlier in the evening fell upon Dr. Acton s ears as familiar. "Who s to blame for low wages, I d like to know? Isn t it just such milk and water fellows as Luke Darrell, who are allus ad- visin and arguin that the Company s not 28 THE SILENT CONFLICT ter blame, and that strikes don t do n o good. I tell ye that a strike is comin an we may just as well make up our minds to it," angrily contended Watson. Clarissa darted from the side of Dr. Acton and caught her father tremblingly by the arm. "Get off now," shouted Watson in an even more angry tone. "What d ye want with me, you ?" His last words were not finished, for his eyes fell upon the sweet, pleading look of his daughter, and he quietly per mitted himself to be led a few paces from the crowd of uncouth men who were gathered about the door of the saloon, some also go ing in and others passing from the fatal place. "Come, father, let us go home now. It is getting quite late and as Dr. Acton and I are returning fom the cottage yonder, you had best walk along with us," Clarissa spoke hurriedly, but earnestly, her voice carrying the tones both of entreaty and command. Worry Watson, without fully comprehending the whole intention of the girl, obeyed me chanically, his surprise and the ready action of his daughter strengthening her control of him. "You will not object then to my going THE SILENT CONFLICT 29 along with you, Miss Watson?" queried the doctor, hesitating either to continue or de part since he noticed the highly intoxicated condition of Worry. "Perhaps you had best not come, Doctor," replied Clarissa, regretfully. But seeing that Watson would, in all probability, prove too great a charge for the frail girl, the doctor came to her aid and directed his steps home ward. They had not gone far, however, when the stupor, produced by the first shock of surprise, passed off, and Worry began to show signs of returning consciousness; with this change of feeling also returned the de sire to pursue his purpose of haranguing his fellows, and likewise a distrust of those who were unresistingly urging him forward. At this moment, too, they passed near a group of men, who, like others, were engaged in discussion; wresting his arm from the grasp of the unsuspecting doctor, he turned quickly aside, dragging at his other arm the girl whose firm hold still fastened upon him. The appearance, thus presented to the un- apprised members of the group, was that some effort was being made to over-power the drunken man, either for robbery or murder, 30 THE SILENT CONFLICT or as some saw it an attempt of violence upon an unprotected female. Some, therefore, immediately set Worry at liberty from the restraint placed upon his movements by his daughter s firm hand, while others unceremoniously seized Dr. Acton, and would have dealt summarily with him, perhaps, had not the quick presence of mind both of Clarissa and himself prevented such a catastrophe. "We are only going home, friends," said the girl; "it is late, and this gentleman was kindly guiding us," pointing to Dr. Acton. "I hope our apparent rudeness has not disturbed you, gentlemen," added the doctor, "I beg your pardon, sirs." "Aye, you have done no harm, sir; and I am sorry that we have misunderstood the cause of all this tumult," responded the strong, manly voice of Luke Darrell, who had seized firm hold of Worry, taking him to be the real offender and supposing that he was a fleeing thief or other violater of the law. "Ah, Mr. Darrell," began Clarissa. "Who d ye think you be, sir, that ye per- tend to lay yer rough hands upon me? Stand THE SILENT CONFLICT 31 off there!" and Worry squared away threaten ing to demolish Luke, should he persist in any further attempt to restrain his liberty. "Come, now, friend Watson," entreated Luke, "let us not be at outs over a slight mistake in the dark. I only suspected some thing was going wrong and I find I was only trying to protect your daughter, sir." "Well, Doctor," Luke continued, "and how comes it that you are one of the dis turbers of the peace? Ha, ha; it is really a little comedy of errors after all. Come, Worry, let s move along, I am wanting to have a quiet word with you, and, if you don t mind, we will all walk over toward your house, and I can have my say as we go." Worry, oblivious to all that was going on around him, and remembering only his pur pose, was haranguing the crowd at the top of his voice: "We are in for a general strike, fellows; and let me tell you that Worry Watson will lead as well as follow, come what will; the reduction is an outrage; how can we hope to live on one cent less than the present wages; I tell ye, we are starvin now; it s a raise we want; to Hell with the Company; 32 THE SILENT CONFLICT down with wealth and capital! We ll have more wages or the Mother Lode Company will find that it does not pay to oppress labor. Fire their buildings; blow up their mines; set on to these devils of bosses and managers and drag them out of their soft beds and el egant homes. At em I say," and Watson brandished imaginary weapons in the air about him. Some of those present who evidently sym pathized with the speaker raised a faint cheer at the fiery words of the drunken man, but Luke pressed forward and his full, firm voice was soon heard above the din as he calmly took up the challenge to his views. "You must not be listening to Worry now, men," he said in his calmest tones; "there is no reason in destroying property," aiming at Worry s weakest point; "Take everything quietly; there will be a way out of our trouble when we reach it. It would not help the Company to pay better wages, if they had to undo the mischief some of us have been harboring against them. Then to do vio lence to the Company s servants! Why, what kind of sense would there be in taking vengeance on them? Do we want that sin THE SILENT CONFLICT 33 upon our hands? You must know that if some two thousand men become excited with such notions in their heads there will be no telling where all these things may end." The men seemed to come together again as if ruled by the wisdom of the speaker s words, but controlled more, perhaps, by the calm, earnest manner than by Luke s arguments. But Worry still presented an unperturbed front. "Luke Darrell," he called, "who pays you to defend the Mother Lode? D ye think us fellers can t see through your masqueradin ? It s plain enough you want the Company s minions to know how you are for them and their cussed reduction. I know yer game well enough; and I know you, too, Luke Darrell," and Worry advanced to the peace champion, wagging his fist in a menacing manner; "I know yer; you would defend the Devil, you would, if yer thought yer could gain his favor," and the speaker gesticulated furioulsy as he uttered his bold denunciation. "Come, father," interposed Clarissa, "you must not say such hard things about Mr. Darrell; you know he has always been your 34 THE SILENT CONFLICT friend, and even now wishes to speak pri vately with you; I am sure that what he has to say will prove for the good of all of us. Come, let us go home at once," and the girl gently but firmly, took hold of her parent s arm, urging him toward the homeward path. Clarissa s influence over her father was ever strong and proportionately effective, but the spell of drink and the strength of his own purpose to incite active opposition to the wage cut with his fellow miners largely outweighed the girl s ascendency over him, and it was only after much coaxing, and a suggestion from Luke that Worry could later return to the work of speechifying, that he was at last persuaded to submit to being led home. Dr. Acton, who had been a silent, but keen observer of all that had passed, signi fied to Clarissa that he would not be further needed, as Luke was to accompany her and Watson and so departed to the scene of suffer ing at the little cottage. He had been greatly impressed with many things that had trans- spired during the last few hours, and his mind quickly ran over in review the incidents that suggested the varied train of thoughts. THE SILENT CONFLICT 35 Herbert Acton was a young man of perhaps eight and twenty or thirty years. A graduate of the New York School of Medicine and Surgery, he had put in three years in hos pital practice in that city and in Philadelphia; then after two more of faithful practice in the latter city he had accepted a position on the Mother Lode Mining Company s medical staff, and had been sent only a few months previous to the opening of our story to the charge at Carbon Vale. Dr. Acton was a man of many noble and excellent traits; one whose disposition, gentle by nature, had been softened by the scenes of distress and suffering he had been called upon in the pursuit of his professional duties to observe. He was one of those who by character and life seemed so fittingly set apart to the work of relieving suffering, and of counseling and comforting the distressed. Too often do we find men filling professions of usefulness to society, who fail signally in many of the essentials of character and education, and whose life-work in their chosen profession, is marred by an over-weaning desire for fame, or richs, or honor; so much so, indeed, as to cause us to doubt their real 36 THE SILENT CONFLICT fitness for such calling. There has long been a prevailing estimate of education, and it still holds sway to a large extent, that all school work should be practical, and that this practical preparation means the exclu sion from the so-called preparatory school of every kind of training that contributes to humanities; that given a child who is to be an accountant, and his preparation must be on lines tending to make him quick and accurate in figures, forgetting that he will have more to do with mercy and justice, more with pure honesty and sympathy with his fellow men than with addition and sub traction. The great man is always the good man, the man of aesthetic tastes should be equally the man of ethical culture and sym pathetic sensibilities. But your advocate of the practical school says, lay down the rule that "two and two make four" and the child so taught will also learn the Golden Rule in business as in morals, forgetting that good business principles are essentially good moral principles simply reduced to practice. The lawyer who does not know honesty; the religious guide who does not know love of humanity and obedience to the higher life; THE SILENT CONFLICT 37 the teacher who is devoid of sympathy and hearty disinterestedness; and so, too, the physician who has not the larger heart of compassion and tender charity: all fail of the high vocation to which they consecrate their lives, and fall far short of the real as well as the ideal in their professions. Riches, nor fame, nor honor can save such from the just recompense of shame to which they are ultimately consigned by the social condemna tion which they inevitably suffer as the pen alty of their omissions. Herbert Acton s earliest life had been guided by those who saw a purpose in school training, and a high purpose in all those things of environment that do more than all the dry forms of school work. Both in religious and business training, his course had been directed by parents who looked more to the spiritual and moral up-building of the man that to the acquisition of knowl edge. They recognized that the potential ity of knowledge is widsom, i.e., the know ing how to do right. This is the true power that knowledge gives, and this it was their one wish to leave as a legacy to their son. Thus it was that the wise counsels of the home, 38 THE SILENT CONFLICT joined to the strong influence of heredity and carefully selected environing influences, united with his school and professional educa tion to make him a man of heart, purpose and character. His labors in the miner s settlement at Carbon Vale, had given him much food for thought; in all his professional career here tofore no such touching appeals to his finer sense of feeling had he met. Here he found pain and wretchedness, poverty and mental suffering, moral degeneracy and physical de crepitude immensely greater than in all his former experience. Toil without meet rec ompense, and suffering without alleviation were seen on every hand. And often did it seem to the young physician that the God of mercy and compassion had withdrawn His hand or held it grudgingly to the wretched people with whom his service brought him in contact. Nor did he know what a reaction was taking place from these stern influences upon his noble life. In his daily rounds he dropped the gentle word and bestowed the kindly look; he grew in though tfulness of how he might contribute to the dispensation of what, THE SILENT CONFLICT 39 it appeared to him, Providence had denied or at least grudgingly supplied. His purse no less than his heart loosed its strings, and often where professional duty ended, human sympathy began. Rapidly, and with ever increasing mo mentum, Dr. Acton s influence for good grew, and his popularity among all classes gave him a power in the community, which a less devoted, or more selfish person could not have gained among the simple miners of the Mother Lode. Nor did he know either his popularity or power: and had it ever oc curred to him that he was gaining such an ascendency over these poor men and their families, it would have pained him to think that it ever could have been for other ends than their good. But the day was rapidly approaching when this very influence was to be wielded for the good of all about him. A firm friendship had grown up, even in the short time during which Herbert Acton had been stationed at the Mother Lode, between him and Luke Darrell, the straight forward, ingenuous manner of the latter at tracting no less than the sincere and disin terested overtures of the former. 40 THE SILENT CONFLICT Luke Darrell, as we have seen, commanded the ears and the respect of his fellows, one and all, in a greater or less degree; Herbert Acton had access to their hearts and con fidence. Thus it happened that a strong alliance had been formed from causes, which some might suspect lay hidden in psycholog ic influences, but which a more careful scru tiny would reveal were due to influences most natural the power of both these men to read character, and to choose that which was genuine from the spurious. When, therefore, early in the evening the young physician had taken the miner s hand in a perfectly friendly grasp, and had pledged his support in the latter s under taking, to quiet the rising storm, and at the same time, to direct the plans put for ward by his humble friend for the further ance of the workingman s interest, there flashed between these two a mutual recogni tion of each other s sincerity and integrity of purpose. Herbert Acton had said, "Friend Darrell, I ll do what I can when the time comes, if my services can be of any use to you." And Luke Darrell had simply replied, "Thank THE SILENT CONFLICT 41 you, Doctor," But in that moment a com pact had been drawn, signed, and sealed which was to have a more binding force than the most solemn obligation imposed by the laws of society. Out of this plight was to grow the greatest of sacrifices and self-denials; while through their mutual assistance, great things were to be accomplished in upholding the interests of both labor and capital; misery and shame were to be averted and a lesson of the century was to be given out to the oppressed and the oppressor alike. CHAPTER IV THE DEVIL S MINIONS "How easily great fortunes are won on paper and lost; great characters, made and destroyed." Anon. Dr. Acton, on his return to the cottage where he had left Margery watching by the bedside of her suffering parent, arranged that the child should find a home for a few days with the woman of the house. He also provided the necessary medicines, and in formed the housewife that a regular nurse of the staff would relieve her of the temporary charge which she had willingly assumed. At a late hour, therefore, the tired and heart- sore man of medicine took his way to his quarters, in another part of the town. As he passed over the many blocks of streets which lay before him, the face and form of Clarissa Watson kept companionship with his thoughts. He recalled, with vivid recollection, that first look into her sweet, 42 THE SILENT CONFLICT 43 sympathetic face; he saw again the natural beauty, heightened by her feelings of com passion and the ruddy glow of exercise. He felt again the thrill of pleasure such a thrill as never before had taken possession of his feelings that passed over him at that happy moment. Nor did he attempt to explain this feeling to himself; he was a man of in genuous nature, and was therefore not given to philosophizing concerning either causes from without or motives from within. Had he ever experienced like sensations before he might have been influenced by their rec ollection to compare the intensity and pleasure of this occasion with former occasions; but Herbert Acton had no explanation nor did he seek any, of the true nature of his feelings toward this young lady. Sufficed it to him, he was happy at the very moment and now he was happy again in the recollection. The subsequent scenes, through which he had passed, though of the most unpleasant character the meeting with Luke and the words of his speech in the earlier part, and the episode with Worry Watson in the latter part of the evening detracted in no degree from the vivid realization of that first brief 44 THE SILENT CONFLICT and fleeting recognition of an affinity which he had neither the power nor the wish to dismiss. The maudlin condition of the girl s father, together with the revealed character as shown in his words and actions, the young man was .not prone to connect with the happier scene, though he could not altogether dis connect that scene from its unpleasant back ground. He found himself forming every possible excuse for the father s degeneracy, and explaining his conduct on the ground of drink which he deprecated and his at titude in the matter of the strike which he heartily disapproved on the score of igno rance and its consequent bias of judgment. He could not avoid an odious comparison between Worry and Luke, a comparison that in points of advantage to Luke, roused within him a strong compassion for the former and a lofty estimate of the latter. Luke Darrell s character passed in review before him: he was a splendid type of physical manhood, strong in limb and handsome in feature; untainted by drink, his sober judgment and conviction of truth shown forth in his every word and action; Luke was, for the moment, THE SILENT CONFLICT 45 the young doctor s hero; but Worry well, he would not despise him, or condemn him, was he not Clarissa s father? but oh, how his character contrasted with that of his friend, Luke Darrell! In his dreams Herbert Acton passed through scenes built by the fancy of slumber, in which Clarissa and Margery a large-souled beauty and a weak yet courageous child formed the central figures, and one-armed Mark Waring held back the infuriated Worry who would do his hero Luke some great violence, while the dreamer stood hesitating and help less between fear and duty. The early morning found Luke Darrell astir in his neat little cottage, for the shorten ing days of November made rising before the sun a necessity, as the day shift in the mines drop out of sight on such days some minutes before the sun sheds his light above the eastern hills. "You were in late, Luke," said that young man s mother as he made his apprearance at breakfast. "Yes, mother," replied Luke, "you know the Company has posted a reduction of ten per cent to take effect the first of December." 46 THE SILENT CONFLICT "I have heard as much," returned Mrs. Darrell, looking with questioning gaze at the strong, young man before her, as much as to say, "And what does my boy think about it?" "To tell you the truth, mother," said he proceeding to answer her question as though it had been asked in words, "I am very sorry for it, but I really expected this cut sooner or later," "How so, Luke; how could you know aught of the Company s intentions? But then, I imagine there are always rumors more or less, and any one could be expecting what has occurred so often of late years," "Not altogether that, mother; indeed, that is not the reason of my expectation; the fact is that the coal and iron markets have been rapidly declining, and there are so many substitutes for coal in the way of other fuels, and electricity that are taking the price out of that article; besides, labor-saving ma chinery and importation of foreign labor, are grinding down the miners, perhaps more than any other class. You see, it would not be hard for any one who reads such news and weighs consequences to foretell that THE SILENT CONFLICT 47 cuts in wages are sure to follow. Then a reduction in the tariff, both in coal and iron, is putting laborers at the mercy of foreign production, and still the free tariff on labor goes on undisturbed.* This is why I say that I expected this reduction, and for that matter can foretell other and greater troubles for these poor people about us." "But will not a strike be the outcome of the Company s attempt to carry out its pur pose and this reduction? You know what that means to us all?" "Aye, mother dear, well do I know what a strike means, but by help of God, and with the powers he has given me, I hope to prevent such a calamity to this settlement." "Well said, Luke," exclaimed his gray- haired mother, putting her toil-worn hands upon her son s shoulder and looking her encouragement into his clear eyes, "said like my own dear, noble boy, may God bless you and help you!" "That He will, mother; and so long as the right is clear to me, I shall not flinch from *"The tariff contains many high protective features, but it lowers the duty on important categories of iron and steel, and from a great number of raw products it takes off the duty entirely." Eduard Suess. 48 THE SILENT CONFLICT doing it, nor falter to speak the truth and advise my fellows to abstain from doing that which to me is plainly wrong." "I was just a little fearsome, Luke, when I learned late last night that there was much discontent, and that Jack Farnam and Worry Watson were speaking boldly against the Com pany, and were trying to stir up the men for a strike. Didn t you learn that things were going bad last night? you were where these things were going on?" "Yes, I am well aware that some mistaken fellows were working against us, but I still hope they will fail, or, rather, that we shall succeed," replied Luke, musing upon the scenes and thoughts of the past night. "You say us and we , Luke; are there several who are standing with you in this undertaking?" interrogated Mrs. Darrell. "Well, no; not exactly," observed the young man, thinking that his own zeal had led him to count himself a host both as to numbers and strength. "No only I and well, mother, the Lord is in this fight and yes, Dr. Acton is too; and then I have succeeded in getting the men to listen to me, and that means a great deal Besides, I have had a talk with THE SILENT CONFLICT 49 Jack Farnam, although it did not have much effect, and with Worry who was a little too boozy to undertsand what I said; still Clarissa she s as true as steel and the bright est, prettiest girl in the settlement, she told me that s"he did not think her father really meant all he was preaching to the men. She heard what he said, and then she told me that he had made a remark to her at supper time that was before he got too much liquor, (what a curse this liquor is!) but the girl would not say what words the father used." "Do not be too certain of your chances of success, my boy; if you could only be off today, while these troublesome ones are at work in the mines perhaps you could do a great deal with the men on the nightshift, for the trouble will come from them, too, Luke." "Yes, I realize that, mother, and I have thought of some excuse I might have for showing myself among them today, but I find none, except that my cause is a good one. But, don t you know, the fellows on the night- shift would say I was out of place, and those on the day shift would complain that I had 50 THE SILENT CONFLICT deserted them to work for the Company s interest, and that might do us more harm than good, that is, it would seem wrong to them. A way will be provided, never fear; but there, goodbye, I must be going now," said Luke, seizing his well-filled dinner pail from the table, and with an affectionate wave of his hand was gone. The mother murmured earnestly, "God bless you, my boy, and may you be His in strument in warding off this threatening calamity," and she stood at her door, looking out into the faint early dawn in proud ad miration of the noble, manly form. The warning whistle sounded, like a trumpet calling the hosts of a mighty army, and in stinctively Luke Darrell hastened to join his co-laborers for the descent to the scenes of their toil. When he arrived at the mouth of the shaft two cages had already carried their burdens of human freight to the depths below, and a third load was just filling into the car. Luke observed Worry W atson and Jack Farnam engaged in conversation with a stout rough hand, known about the works as "Burly Pete", and as he wished that these men should see him eager for THE SILENT CONFLICT 51 beginning his day s work, he pressed forward and entered the cage along side of these three men. At the instant that the car began its rapid downward flight, the angry mutterings of Jack Farnam addressed to "Burly Pete," caught his ear "Now shove the hard; hoist him overboard," and before Luke could gain a less dangerous position, he felt the pressure of Burly s huge body against him, and at the same instant he realized that Jack and Worry were jostling the crowded miners as a momentous support to their co-con spirator. In a twinkling, Luke turned to meet his antagonist and, seizing his arms, prevented Burly from getting a hold on him, for the purpose of hurling him from the cage. At the instant a signal was sent aloft that something wrong had happened, and the rapidly falling cage came to a sudden stop, as the watchful engineer above responded to the call. In the stopping of the car Luke s hand, with which he had incautiously laid hold upon the chains, was fearfully lacerated. When the signal again went aloft that all was well, the cage continued its downward motion, and in a few minutes emerged into the faint glow of artificial light below. 52 THE SILENT CONFLICT The painful bleeding hand of the young miner gave him sufficient excuse to apply to the overseer of the shaft for leave to seek surgical aid, and, as he reentered the cage, the lowering glances of the three conspir ators met his gaze. Once more in the light of day, young Darrell sought the office of Dr. Acton. "Come in," said that gentleman, as Luke cautiously rapped upon the door of his sleep ing room which opened into his office. "Ah, come in, Mr. Darrell, you find me a late riser this morning, but my work kept me up late last night." "Fortunately for me then, for otherwise I may not have found you. It s an ill wind that blows nobody good." 5 "What is it, my man? what can I do for you?" interrupted Dr. Acton. "First take care of this," faintly smiled Luke wincing under the very painful wound. "Why my dear fellow, what has done this?" exclaimed the doctor. "Providence, I believe," replied the suf ferer, "only I guess he enlisted others to help him." "What do you mean, Darrell?" asked Dr.. THE SILENT CONFLICT 53 Acton dropping into the familiarity of con fidence, as he noticed the enigma expressed in Luke s words and manner. Luke explained the occurrence at the mine, while the doctor completed a hurried toilet and prepared to uncover his bleeding hand. The astonishment of the physician gave place to a knowing look, as the miner finished his narrative, but he vouchsafed no comment, and at once proceeded to dress the wounds. "This will give me a great advantage, Doctor," observed Luke, when the last band- dages where in place. "How so, Darrell? what advantage do you seek? Of course the men were the cause of your injury, but you can hardly hope for their undoing in revenge." "Oh, no! I am not seeking revenge on any one, and least of all upon Jack and Worry; as for Burly Pete, he was nothing but the tool of the others. The fact is, they tried to do me, because I am in their way about the strike they are trying to stir up, but now I am free to devote my time against them I guess, Doctor, that will be revenge enough. My! what a providential accident this has proved," continued Luke in self-gratulatory tones. 54 THE SILENT CONFLICT "You are a man of strong faith in an op timism, man; I only hope you can make good use of the leisure days this injury is sure to afford you, friend Darrell," rejoined Dr. Acton, bestowing a look of admiration upon the man as he mentally made an inventory of the magnificent specimen of manhood before him. Unconsciously Luke straightened his form and squaring his shoulders lifted his good right hand aloft as if about to swear feal ty to the cause of humanity before the Eternal Tribunal of Justice. "The Lord helping me, from this hour, my life shall be devoted to the cause of these poor devils against the hard heel of unfeeling capital," solemnly exclaimed our hero. "I have seen you at the work and heard your words, and I want to know your plans, my friend," interrupted the good Samaritan; "you know I am pledged to your support in your present undertaking, and I am sure we shall win if we only join hands in the matter," he added as he reached his own to seize the uninjured hand of the other. These two friends then spent an hour in going over the main points in the course to THE SILENT CONFLICT 55 be pursued, wisely leaving details to be filled in as their plans unfolded under the stern logic of events. Luke then took his way homeward, and Herbert Acton hastened to dispatch a hurried breakfast preparatory to taking up the rounds of his profession. While engaged at his meal, his eyes wandered listlessly over the head lines of the Philadelphia Ledger which lay up on the breakfast table. Suddenly his atten tion was arrested by the legend in customary bold type ANOTHER CUT IN WAGES, SIGNS OF DISCONTENT: STRIKE THREATENED IN THE MOTHER LODE Then followed some facts garbled in usual newspaper fashion and painted in colors suited to the most fastidious of the morbid tastes to which the journals of the day are wont to pander. One of the crying evils from which our free America most severely suffers is the un bridled, licentious press. Consider the silent subtile power of the press today as it stands opposed to every wrong of humanity. As 56 THE SILENT CONFLICT an exponent of public opinion, which it in turn moulds and quickens, as an arbiter of right, as a shaper of thought, as the voice of unrequitted justice, the press in America stands supreme. But subtile, indeed, and still not silent is this power when unrestrained in its licentiousness! In its immensity of power and deep insinuating influence the public press the free, untrammeled press of America is baneful in the last degree; setting at naught the restraints that should bind her, with unbound zone she leads the Houris of modern society, the demons of dis loyalty, and the minions of disorder in their mad dance to ruin, and meanwhile scatters in their route the embers of unbridled, im petuous hate of class, and arrays rich against poor, labor against capital, stifling the birth of reform, and moulding thought according to the dictates of power and passion. Dr. Acton read the newspaper article first with interest and amazement, then pondered its array of facts (?) with disgust, and finally leaving his breakfast but half-finished, he folded the paper, carefully turning the hate ful, inflammatory stuff inward, and im mediately went to the office of the Company. CHAPTER V STRENGTH IN COUNCIL "When the strong congregate, the weak must combine." "We regret this as much as any one, Doctor. But we are at the mercy of the press. You see the competition among . newspapers is so great that if one journal can get at a piece of news first, and exploit it to their taste, they have what they call a scoop on their competitors. We have usually fared as well with the newspapers as any of the great com panies have; and there is no question but that the intention, so far as we are concerned, was entirely amicable, except that newspapers generally are fighting the organized capital class to which we belong. They may also have had some kindly feelings toward the miners, and wished to encourage them in taking their own part, as the strong boy acts toward the small boy. But tell me one thing Doctor, what do you think of the strife that is going on twixt labor and capital?" 57 58 THE SILENT CONFLICT And the Superintendent of the Mother Lode Mining Company removed the pince nez from his eyes and spread out the offen sive newspaper, which Dr. Acton had placed in his hand, upon the table before him. "There are some disagreeable facts, Mr. Sumner," began the doctor, as one would, who sought to lay a broad foundation for the arguments he was about to offer; "facts that neither the friends of capital nor the friends of labor will deny. There is first the fact that both classes are most selfish; this selfishness leads to greed, and all the sins of avarice that flow from its exercise. I am well persuaded that all these property titles and wage rates are founded in selfishness, and it is, therefore, exceedingly difficult to separate them from this characteristic of the human heart. Wages to be sure may have originally been a kind of compromise be tween the capitalist and the laborer, but the former early became arrogant, and at first chance dictated to labor the wage rates. There should not be any strife between these two great classes, but a second disagreeable fact, Mr. Sumner, is that such strife exists even at times when there is no outward man- THE SILENT CONFLICT 59 ifestation of it; therefore the very existence of such a strife would suggest to the social philosopher, that there is something wrong in the adjustment of differences between cap ital and labor; differences which I fully be lieve, can never be adjusted by tinkering wage rates."* "Another disagreeable fact is this: both capital and labor are subject to influences over which neither class has any control; or if they could have control to even a small degree, capital in its own selfish interest would feel called upon to offset that which fell to the laboring class, and vice versa. That is, capital must compete with capital, and labor with labor in the open markets of the world. "Now laborers may, in a measure, have the votes by reason of their number, but cap ital has the money and directs legislation, and these constitute still another array of facts equally distasteful, f "Now if we are content to have the world go on in selfishness, and if we are also will- *"Whenever the law has attempted to regulate the wages of workmen, it has always been rather to lower them than to raise them." Adam Smith. t" Whenever the legislature attempts to regulate the differences between masters and their workmen, its councellors are always the masters." History of Industrial Legislation. 60 THE SILENT CONFLICT ing to look on this strife which breeds dis content, and wretchedness, we may allow this competitive system to go on increasing misery and giving birth to discord and suffering. But I am not so sure that the lovers of human ity and I wish to be classed with them, and I believe you do also, Mr. Sumner, as I hope every good man does the lovers of humanity are not going to be content to let these conditions continue. What will ul timately come of any interference with the workings of the present competitive system, I cannot say, but I have my own views of what ought to be." "Do you think in the present case, Doctor, that the Mother Lode Company should tear down its notices and say to these two thou sand employes that it has made a mistake in posting a ten per cent reduction, and that they will make a ten per cent raise in wages instead?" "No, sir, I do not; frankly, I do not, un less it can make some compromise in its own and the workingman s interest." "And do you imagine that such a thing could be done?" "That is hardly for me to say," rejoined THE SILENT CONFLICT 61 Dr. Acton. "I could suggest that such a course might be followed, even in the present instance; but, as an employe of the Mother Lode Company, I should hesitate to offer any plan of mine, little as I am acquainted with business affairs, at least to you, the Superintendent and trusted official of the Company." "Would you kindly state your plan to me in my private capacity, if I could give you hearing at your office say this evening?" more than idle curiosity evincing itself in his tones and manner. "Cheerfully, sir, cheerfully," said the doc tor rising to take his leave. "I should like to invite with us a gentleman of my acquaint ance, who is very much interested in this matter, Mr. Sumner, if you have no objec tion," he continued. "No objection; none, I assure you," re sponded the Superintendent. The hour of the interview was set for five o clock, and Dr. Acton took up the round of his professional visits. He made it a point to call at the Darrell cottage .before the noon- hour and left word for Luke to be sure to meet him at the office as early as four-thirty. 62 THE SILENT CONFLICT Luke Darrell, when he left the office of Dr. Acton early in the morning, returned to his home to exchange his miner s dress for clothing of a more suitable kind. When Mrs. Darrell saw her son entering the little gate that led to the cottage, she was not wholly surprised, for she had hoped for, and indeed half expected his return, in order that he might take up the work of quelling. the rising storm now so plainly imminent. Therefore the mother met the young man at the door with a smile, observing, "Well, my boy, God has provided a way for you to work in the good cause today!" "Yes, mother, Providence has certainly been in this, in more ways than one; if the Lord had not worked in His mysterious way, I should still be in the mine, either dead or alive." And the young man held up his injured hand to view. "Law, Luke!" exclaimed Mrs. Darrell. "Yes, mother, it s an ugly wound, but it comes in very handy as an excuse for me," said the young man prefacing his explanation with a show of good natured forbearance. Then while the mother listened in astonish ment, giving vent to expressions of genuine, THE SILENT CONFLICT 63 maternal sympathy, the brave son recounted the incident of the morning. "And, now, mother," he added at the close of his narrative, "you can help me in remov ing my jumper jacket; for I mean to take off my coat in this matter, both literally and figuratively." Although the injured hand was exceedingly painful and hindered him in his simple toilet, Luke was soon arrayed in a neat, but much worn suit of gray homespun, and with his arm in a sling left the house to mingle with the men of the night-shift. On his way to the busier part of the settle ment where he would be likely to fall in with such as he knew, he passed the door of Worry Watson s humble hut. Clarissa was just emerging upon the street, her plain hat swung back upon her shoulders to let the sunshine and fresh morning air play upon her face and hair. "Good morning, Mr. Darrell; this is a beautiful day, isn t it" cheerfully greeted the young girl. "Indeed, it is, Miss; and you seem as bright as the day, Clarissa," gallantly rejoined the miner. 64 THE SILENT CONFLICT "You are always bestowing compliments, Mr. Darrell." "I always endeavor to speak the truth when it is of so pleasant a nature, Miss Clarissa," smiling, "and this fine day makes me feel like paying compliments to everybody and every thing; I hope I have not offended you, Clarissa." And Luke looked into her sweet, smiling eyes to read, if possible, his answer there. "No offense, Luke; for I am sure you in tended none. What news of the threatened strike, Mr. Darrell? Why, what have you done? Have you hurt your arm, Luke?" she asked, spying for the first time the dis abled member. "My hand only, Miss," corrected the young man; "I carelessly laid hold of the chains of our car this morning, and a sudden stopping lacerated it pretty badly. You see, it converts a hard-working coal-miner into a gentlemen of leisure." "Oh! how unfortunate! I hope it is not painful. Oh! these sad, sad accidents; there have been so many poor fellows killed or in jured in the mines lately. Did you hear about the break in the Black Diamond shaft yesterday; several men were hurt, some with THE SILENT CONFLICT 65 bruises and some with broken limbs; Mark Waring was the name of one of the men; Doctor Acton was obliged to amputate his right arm, it was so frightfully mangled." "No, I had not heard of the accident how very, very sad! And poor Mark! He was a good honest fellow; it will be a sorry blow to the man. I shall probably have time, now that I can t work, to visit him when he is strong enough to bear it. Where is he now? at his home, or did they take him to the hospital?" "Neither, for they thought best not to move him so far as the hospital, and no one knew where he lived. He is at the cottage yonder; I am going there now to help the doctor dress his injuries. If he can bear it, I shall tell him what you say, for it may cheer him to hear it." "Do, Clarissa; and say that he must not worry over his loss; we will make it up to him somehow," offered Luke. Clarrissa won dering who was meant by "we", but she si lently resolved to be one of them. "Good morning, and God bless you, Clarissa," bade the miner, touching his hat respectfully, and the girl called back a sweet, cheery reply 66 THE SILENT CONFLICT as their paths parted and she hurried on her mission of mercy, while the great, strong man also quickened his strides, encouraged im measurably by the new bonds of sympathy between the speakers. Luke Darrell found many favorable op portunities to plant the seeds of good among the men who in the light of day were dis posed to listen and were less troublesome than thecrowdsof the night previous. But we leave such details as the reader should know to the report of his morning s work, which our hero gave in Dr. Acton s office, where he promptly repaired in accordance with the Doctor s invitation. "Yes, Doctor, it has been a good morn ing s work; and to think that this." patting gently upon his bandaged hand, "has been the means of getting a hearing from many a fine fellow." "And you still think that Providence brought this injury, Luke?" asked the good Doctor, with a pleasing twinkle in his eye. "Yes, Sir!" promptly and emphatically replied Luke. "Now there was Simpson; last night I could not get a word in edgewise; he was all strike, strike, strike; but this THE SILENT CONFLICT 67 morning, I went to him and had a good chat with him, and showed him that if the men should strike he could count on los ing one good week s business and perhaps two, or even a month. Simpson can best be touched on the score of his own selfish interests, and, while I despise such motives, yet we must use the selfish part of a man s nature for the good of our cause. Don t you think so, Doctor?" concluded the ear nest miner. "Yes, I do, and indeed, while we are in this work to fight selfishness, I am convinced that the only way we can befriend Satan is to fight him with fire," answered the doc tor, speaking somewhat in rhetorical fig ures. "You are right, sir; that is about the only thing that will touch a corporation s heart, if you will admit for the sake of ar gument, that a great company has a heart. But to continue my report of the day s work. I succeeded in capturing two good sized crowds this afternoon who were still dis cussing the reduction, and when I left them nearly all felt that, if a compromise could be effected with the Mother Lode, they would 68 THE SILENT CONFLICT give over any attempt to strike. In fact, Doctor, the thought of holding out against the Company was made rather distasteful to them, and I doubt if the movers will have an easy time in winning some of them over, although the feeling is very strong against the reduction." "What appears to be your most telling argument, Mr. Darrell?" asked Dr. Acton, contemplatively, when the narrator halted in his account. "Well, to sum it all up, I m thinking that the argument that in a strike both par ties must lose, but that the working-man never recovers his loss, while the employer only grinds him the lower to make up the loss to capital. Of course, I realize that the Company gets no sympathy from the men, but the item of feeling for others is best handled, I find, by appealing to their love for their families; that goes right home." "Now, as it is nearly five o clock, I will explain that I have asked you here, Luke, to meet Mr. Sumner, the Company s Sup erintendent, with whom I have an appoint ment at that hour," ventured the Doc tor. "I went to see him this morning with THE SILENT CONFLICT 69 only half a breakfast, for I found this scrap in the Ledger, shortly after you left me. Read it; don t that make bad enough mat ters worse, Mr. Darrell?" shoving toward him the noisome journal. "Yes, the men were saying, that we had got into the papers, but I paid little atten tion to the fact; only to the degree that it spurred me up a little in what I had to say. But what will be the nature of your interview with Mr. Sumner, may I ask?" And Luke leisurely read the article offered, while Dr. Acton entered into a summary of the talk in the Superintendent s office, and made clear the possible outcome of a conference. "Now we must endeavor to shape this interview, Luke, in such a way as to make the most of our opportunity, and then, if the gentleman can be prevailed upon to undertake mediation, let us hope for the realization of our purposes to defend Sat an , as the men are wont to call the Com pany (or, rather, all organized capital) for it is in preserving the Mother Lode s interests that we are serving these poor fel lows who eke out an existence in their works." 70 THE SILENT CONFLICT "We will put on the whole armor, Dr. Acton, and may the Lord both of capital and labor give us the strength to fight." The two men clasped each the other s hand and were interrupted at that mo ment by the approach of Mr. Sumner. As he entered the physician s office, he was kindly greeted by Acton and at once in troduced to the Doctor s ally. The Superintendent of the Mother Lode Mining Company was a little surprised to find that the Doctor s friend was perhaps no other than a plain coal-miner from his own works, but Ralph Sumner was too much of a gentleman to hesitate in taking a friendly grasp of the miner s big, rough hand; neither did he fail to make note of the fact that he had but one shakeable hand, nor that the looks and manner of the man be trayed a breeding of which any gentleman might be proud. As Mr. Sumner s eyes looked questionly at the bandaged hand, Dr. Acton explained, "Mr Darrell calls that pet of his a gift of Providence, Mr. Sumner." "How can that be? Isn t that rather straining a point, Mr. Darrell?" but Luke THE SILENT CONFLICT 71 modestly refrained from gratifying the Su perintendent s curiosity, and Dr. Acton vol unteered to make clear the miner s view of the disaster. "And so you are combatting the strike movement, Mr. Darrell?" asked Mr. Sumner, eyeing the man closely, perhaps a linger- gering suspicion suggesting some ulterior motive on the part of the Company s hum ble champion. "In my own feeble way, sir, although I believe that the Lord and Dr. Acton are on my side," responded Luke heartily. "Well, I must say you have trusty allies, Mr. Darrell," laughed the Superintendent. "And why have you undertaken such a difficult and possibly thankless job, may I ask?" he continued. "Because I fully believe that it can be nobody s gain if the men should strike; and besides it is possible for one in a middle position to see both ways; the Company is saved from loss, and the workmen get better wages." "But do you count upon no personal gain or advantage?" again questioned Mr. Sumner. "No!" as he thought he detected a dis- 72 THE SILENT CONFLICT position to impugn his motives, "yes, I do!" he corrected, with a ring of sincerity in his voice. "First I gain the peace that comes from doing right, and the advan tage which always succeeds the promul gation of truth, Mr. Sumner." The Superintendent pondered this frank declaration of the plain straight-forward man of toil with an expression of wonder and admiration. He was brought face to face with a fact, the existence of which he would have been slow to recognize before, that disinterested loyalty, and knightly courage dwelt side by side in the breast of a laborer in the lowest level of his Company s ser vice. But here it was plainly stamped upon the personal character and ingen uous utterances of Luke Darrell; the man who, while suffering bodily pain and loss of wages on account of his injury, yet count ed it a favor to employ his idleness from the work of earning his daily bread to the duty, as he understood it, of defending the interests of both capital and labor. And was this the "gentleman" Dr. Acton had asked him to meet; well, the doctor was right, he was a gentleman in the best and high- THE SILENT CONFLICT 73 est sense of the term! And the man of authority^ bowed his own feeble claims to a similar coveted distinction to the su periority of this humblest of his subjects. "I am very desirous, gentlemen, of get ting the views of the leading men in this community, as to the best course to be pur sued in the present case. You will under stand, therefore, Doctor, that I am actuated more by a real interest than by curiosity in seeking this conference. I am glad, too, that I have the pleasure and opportunity of meeting Mr. Darrell also." And the Superintendent addressed the gentlemen in turn. "Mr. Sumner, you will pardon me per haps I should say us , for I speak for you, Mr. Darrell, do I not? you will pardon us if we appear to show a deep interest in the affairs of the Company s employes and at the same time presume to offer words of advice to you who represent the Company. We feel that the interests of both the cap ital class to which we will say you belong and the interests of the laboring class, to which Luke belongs, are inter-depen dent. In the present state of society it is 74 THE SILENT CONFLICT impossible to combine both in one person. Should Mr. Darrell here, for instance, be come possessed of considerable wealth, it is difficult to suppose that he would not exchange his present calling for one in which his wealth would tend at least to assist his labors he would become in part if not wholly, a capitalist. Now if we remem ber that his ability to rise in the scale of the business world depended upon his own labor first, and later and altogether up on the labor of others, is there any good reason why as capitalist, he should abuse or neg lect to conserve the highest interests of the toilers upon whom his capital fabric rests?" "I think your meaning is clear, Doctor," said Mr. Sumner, as Dr. Acton paused to observe the effect of his utterances. "Now, if each and every employe of a company could be made to feel, that he had more than the mere interest of his daily wages, but somehow depending upon his labor in the company s welfare, they would rise by their own effort to an abiding faith in the just and equitable relation in which they stand toward organized capital; they THE SILENT CONFLICT 75 would be an organic part of capital; they would recognize the necessity of cooperat ing to secure the highest results to be de rived from a joint investment; they would hail with acclaim the success of either arm of the powerful combination, and then we may also predict what would follow. " 1 And the man of profession again hesitated, as it were to allow his words to gain due weight before taking the measure of his thoughts. "Proceed, Doctor, your talk is fast be coming very interesting," encouraged the Superintendent. "Thus, instead of antagonizing labor, cap ital would be giving it wholesome encour agement, and in place of striking at the downfall of capital, labor would be uphold ing and augumenting it; no longer enemies they are allies; greed and grind would give place to co-operative methods; time-serv ing and grudging toil would transform into cheerful and painstaking service. "I observed this morning that the exist- tence of strife was an indication that there *"The wages of labor vary according to the small or great trust which must be reposed in the workman." Wealth of Nations. 76 THE SILENT CONFLICT is something wrong in the relation between these two great factors of business it is an unmistakable evidence, let me add, and the work of the social philosopher is plain ly to find the causes and the remedy; it is the duty of the business economist to ad just the differences and apply the remedy. May I state what appear to me are the causes, Mr. Sumner?" "Go on, go on, I think you must do so, if you can; your case certainly demands it, Dr. Acton," said Mr. Sumner earnestly. "The causes of the widening gulf be tween the two great factors in the economy of the business world factors which by nature are as mutually inter-dependent as the factors of any mathematical expression are: First, blind greed which prevents each from seeing the value to itself of the other; second, competition where we should have cooperation; third, interference and thought less neglect instead of caring for each other; wanton waste and social leprosy if I may be permitted to use so strong a term con stitute the fourth class. Now as to the remedies, gentlemen; but understand that I do not prescribe drugs for social disorders, THE SILENT CONFLICT 77 as I might for bodily ailments, fearless ly; since the remedies for the former, do not have the empirical and scientific status of those of the latter. Nevertheless it is plain, that changes in the social system, which will remove the causes of evil, must per se be beneficial." "Name them; I think I could come near to naming some of them myself," inter rupted the Company s representative. "Well, sir, go as far as you can; I am sure you have already given this great question much valuable thought, Mr. Sumner," said the physician. "Very well then," began Mr. Sumner, "you would remove the first cause by ed ucating both labor and capital to a more altruistic spirit; for the second cause you would substitute cooperation for competi tion; the third would be treated by paying a wholesome regard for the conditions sur rounding both classes; and the fourth-class of the causes you called wanton waste and social leprosy ; there I must wait until you have made clear to me what you mean by these terms." "Much of the wanton waste is remov- 78 THE SILENT CONFLICT ed by the application of remedies in the other cases, just as the feeling of nausea and pain in the head are removed by cor recting a disordered stomach. Those things that are of the leprosy order, which are the debauching by drink, gambling, and their train of evils, may in part be removed by substituting other and better appetites and pursuits, pursuits that enhance the value of the wealth producing factor in the as sumed relation. I would strike down every gin-mill and grog shop; stop every gambling device by substituting a health-giving in terest in the community business, which would necessarily absorb the energies com monly found spending themselves at the gaming table. I am sure that better schools, more libraries, attractive parks; athletic and other contests which would tend to build up both the bodies and minds; encouraging taste in the dwellings and grounds of the cottagers, and putting a premium upon cleanliness and health, instead of winking at squalor and wretchedness, will do more to heal social leprosy than any other rem edies." "Right, sir, quite right, Doctor, I agree THE SILENT CONFLICT 79 with you in the main, if not altogether in what you have said; but ah, the application of all these remedies. A social Paracelsus, in deed, would find all he could do in that field; and alas! how is all this to be accomplished?" "By earnest devotion to the work, Mr. Sumner, not all at once; and a beginning made now may find its full fruition only in the last years of the twentieth century; but you, and I, and all of us have our duty to humanity, and may even see some fruits in our day. How long, indeed, has the Savior of Man waited for the millenium of His glory, and yet even in His day the Voice in the wildneress cried, The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand . So, too, the reign of a better day and the decline of the strife between capital and labor is at hand; it is at our very door," and Dr. Acton leaned forward in the earnestness of his manner. The three men sat in a contemplative mood for some minutes, perhaps moved by the weight of Dr. Acton s thoughts and the earnestness of his manner. Luke s face beamed with satisfaction while the Superintendent s be trayed sensibly the anxiety and interest which he felt. The latter was first to break the silence. 80 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Mr. Darrell, does it appear that the men are likely to cause us trouble over the cut in wages? I would so much like to know what you think; I believe I understand what your fellings are." "Trouble is threatened, sir," said Luke, "but we have some hopes of preventing it. Do you think, sir, that the Company would make a modification of its order of a re duction, if it could be shown that it would be to their advantage?" "That, I think, is most likely; but I am equally sure that the reduction is not a mere arbitrary act; it has been ordered only after a very careful examination into the condition of the Company s business; all of their affairs have been gone over by experts, and data bearing upon the state of affairs have been collected from every available source." "Still, if it could be shown, Mr. Sumner, that a cut of ten per cent on wages would tend to complicate matters, and that to aban don their purpose would in the end increase the Company s chances of prosperity, don t you think they would come to consider a compromise?" said the workingman earnestly. THE SILENT CONFLICT 81 "Let me ask you a question before re turning a reply to this one," said Mr. Sumner cautiously. "I should like to ask one that I put to Dr. Acton this morning." "Yes, Mr. Sumner," joined in the doctor, "I should like Mr. Darrell to give his answer to that question, too." "My question was this: Do you think that the Company should tear down its notices and inform its employes that it will not make the reduction?" "No, that would not be justice to itself, perhaps, and it certainly would not be good policy, unless " and Luke hesitated to name the alternative! But the Superinten dent waited. "Unless a compromise could be effected whereby the miners could be made to de rive some advantage and the Mother Lode saved from loss," continued he, as Mr. Sumner evinced a desire for him to finish his sentence. "You speak of a compromise, and of con serving the interests of the miners, and sav ing the loss of the Company. How are these things to be done? What compro mise do you gentlemen propose, for I be gin to imagine that you have formed a little 82 THE SILENT CONFLICT combination against the Mother Lode?" and the Company s manager smiled pleasantly. "We hope, Mr. Sumner, to secure a truce: first, by preventing a strike; second, by get ting a hearing with the directors of the Com pany; if this much succeeds we trust to be able to convince both the workingmen and the corporation that an end may be made to further trouble." It was Dr. Acton who spoke, and Luke simply nodded compliance. "But what are your plans for the accom plishment of so desirable a state of affairs?" The Superintendent s question was punc tuated by a distant shout in the settlement without, followed by a prolonged roar. "What noise is that?" exclaimed Dr. Acton in alarm. The manager looked anx iously at the two men, but Luke remained passively silent; all listened. The roar gradually increased, and seemed like the howl of wild beasts, who were ap proaching as if bent on closing upon their prey. Luke stepped to the door of the phy sician s office and opening it cautiously looked out into the fast gathering darkness. He quickly closed the door and turning quietly spoke to his anxious companions. THE SILENT CONFLICT 83 "I fear the men of the day-shift are try ing to prevent some of the night-shift from returning to the mines; if so, I imagine there will be some trouble ahead." "What is to be done in that case?" anx iously enquired Dr. Acton, turning to Mr. Sumner. "Nothing can be done; the Company al ways advises non-interference in these cases, until a menace to property is imminent; by that time we can have some among the miners, even, to help us prevent such overt acts. There are some law-abiding men al ways to be found even among the lowest." "If I may suggest ," interposed Luke with an entreating look toward his superior, "it is possible to turn the tide favorably, even now." "Speak, man, speak!" said Mr. Sumner, both anxiety and authority plainly discern- able in his tones and manner. "Let me go among the men; in a few mo ments I can get the attention of the peace ably disposed, and with the leavening this will give, the rest might be quieted. You and the Doctor, here, had best come up a little later, but you must take no hand un- 84 THE SILENT CONFLICT til I give you the word. I will go at once; you may follow and keep me well in sight;" and with that the miner seized his hat and was gone. CHAPTER VI PENT FIRES "If masters would always listen to the dictates of reason and humanity, they have frequently occasion rather to moderate, than to animate the application of many of their workmen." Adam Smith s Wealth of Nations. Jack Farnam and Worry Watson had gone to work that morning with a double purpose. They knew that the parts of the underground passages where the men were employed had been almost worked out, and only pickings were to be had here and there. This gave them the desired op portunity for plying their purpose of inciting their fellow laborers to join in mak ing trouble for their employers. The bosses were almost wholly engaged in making prep arations for opening up new runs, and some few of the diggers were engaged on work of this kind. Thus it was that the leaders and those whom they could enlist with them from time to time, managed 85 86 to approach many of the men as they worked, now here, now there, or awaited the tardy return of a car as tracks were being moved and cars were used to haul rails and timbers for the new drifts. As a result of their labors in this behalf, it was made possible for a preliminary de monstration on the part of the miners, which was to take the form of a protest to and a possible interference with the descent of the night-shift to the scenes of their labors. It happened that when the first cage-load ascended to the surface it contained Jack and Worry and several others who had consented to act as lieutenants to them. These, immediately on leaving the car, prevented the men from filling in for the de scent, and it was some time before enough resolute fellows were found to stem the tide of disfavor to make up the requisite load. The cause of delay called for explanation to those kept below and was sufficient to rouse the more timid men of the day-shift to take their stand by the side of the re bellious men when they, too, came to the light of day The opposition to the night- shift, therefore rapidly increased , and only THE SILENT CONFLICT 87 a few cars had gone below, when the tu mult began to manifest itself in loud shouts and prolonged cheers for the growing suc cess of their undertaking. These were the sounds that came rolling over the settle ment and so suddenly terminated the con ference in Dr. Acton s office. When Luke Darrell, therefore, appeared on the scene, after a lively run, breath less, but calm, a glance at the situation told him that his surmises had been cor rect. The distance, though not more than a quarter of a mile, had given him time to outline his plan of attack sufficiently to put him entirely at his ease and make him master of the situation. In dealing with men wHo are influenced by passion, or act ing under the impulse of sudden alarm, nothing succeeds so well as calmness and perfect self-control on the part of one who would sway them from their immediate purpose. Luke was known to many of the men in the settlement, and held their res pect and esteem. He knew he could count on getting a hearing, if he could but se cure their attention for a single moment. To do this he knew that his voice would be of 88 THE SILENT CONFLICT little use in the din, while the gathering da rfc- ness made it almost as difficult to call at tention through the eye. He had weighed all these chances, and had with equ&l read iness settled upon his course. The one chance of success depended upon a resolute and determined plan. Going directly to the man in charge of the donkey engine he pushed him resolutely aside, and be fore the engineer could recover from his as tonishment, Luke seized the signal cord and hastily sounded three sharp whistles. The startling shrieks rang out upon the night, and echoed from the eastern hills of the valley, like the dread alarm of fire in a great city. This was the first of a se ries of signals announcing fire in the mines; the second signal, which was a long blast, did not follow, but the miners immediate ly stopped their cries, and a deep, expect ant hush fell upon all around. This was Luke s moment of opportunity, and as all eyes were instantly turned toward the en gine house, he quickly appeared at the door, and mounting a bench that stood at hand, he called to the men. "If there had really been a fire below, THE SILENT CONFLICT 89 fellows, you would have sympathized with the poor devils that might be caught in such a trap, but, thank God, it was only a mistake." A low murmur of applause greeted this explanation, and the relief felt by these rough, sympathetic men supplied the open door to their minds and hearts, which the speaker required. "Listen to me just a moment; I am here as you see with only one hand fit for use, but it is my right hand and is still strong to serve you, and you know that I am the friend of every man among you." Another cheer was the greeting to this outburst of their comrade s loyalty. "Whatever we do must be done decently and in order," continued Luke, taking his hat in hand as a mark of respect to his mot ley audience. "First, let us understand that there are men here who want to do right and continue their work in the mines; and it would be unfair to prevent them from fol lowing their own inclinations and of earn ing their day s wages. I know that many of you expect by this act, to injure the Com pany; but we all know that the scattering 90 THE SILENT CONFLICT lumps of coal down there in the mines can wait for you without costing the Mother Lode a dollar; you would be the only losers, if you neglect to go below, and it is an act of folly to refuse!" Murmurs of appro bation interrupted these remarks, and the sturdy fellow continued. "Many of you have heard what I have urged during the past twenty-four hours, and my voice is still for peace; and I am here to pledge you my strong right hand for any measure that will help you in the present dark outlook. Have you ever had cause to doubt my word, men?" exclaimed he with a burst of energy that brought forth ready responses of "No! never!" "Well then, my word for it, the first of December will find every man in his place, and work will go on prosperously, and when Christ mas comes, men, we ll all be feasting and rejoicing. When the Company learns " "To hell with the Company!" shouted a knot of men standing aloof from the gen eral mass, and at the same instant a huge towering form made a bold rush at the speak er. Luke had kept his eyes open to any such surprise and met his antagonist with THE SILENT CONFLICT 91 a powerful forward lunge using his one great fist for a blow directed at his chest; the fel low fell backward and stretched his mas sive form on the ground in front of the crowd A shout of hearty applause, followed by a growl from the vanquished, greeted this display of prowess on the part of Luke, and some cried, "It s Burly Pete, pull him off; throw him out;" and a hundred hands were ready to carry out the demands. "Hold, fellows," called the speaker, "I don t wish Burley Pete, nor any other man harm; he misunderstood me, that s all. I am not here to defend the Mother Lode as against you, but I am here to defend the the Mother Lode as for you. Look, here is the Superintendent; hear him. Gentle men, this is Mr. Sumner who wants to say a word to you," and Luke pulled that per son upon the bench and then himself dis mounted! Ralph Sumner was a man of courage, but this occasion proved by far the most trying ordeal through which he had ever passed. If he had met in the open a pack of wolves hungry for the food his body would make, he could not, he imagined, have felt 92 THE SILENT CONFLICT such dread and so much have feared the out come as at the present moment. He cast a glance rapidly about him, and his cour age waxed stronger when he saw that both Dr. Acton and Luke had taken their stand near him, and were intently regarding the mass of heads now but faintly visible in the gathering darkness. "My men," began the Superintendent, "I have heard what your comrade, Luke Darrell, has said, and I am not surprised that some opposition to the intended cut should show itself, but let me counsel quiet acquiescence, at least until the time arrives. Mr. Darrell here," pointing to Luke, "and Dr. Acton will testify, that, although I am the Company s manager, I am a firm friend of the workingman, and that I surely wish only the highest good for all of you." Why not tear down your notices, and give up the reduction, then?" called a voice from the crowd. "If it were in my power, men, I would do it cheerfully," responded the speaker with out hesitation; "but as I am only the agent of the Mother Lode, I am powerless to do so. Let me say, however, that whether THE SILENT CONFLICT 93 the reduction stands or not, I am still your friend, and shall use every endeavor to see entire justice done in this and every fu ture case." A murmur of approbation was accorded this part of the speech, and Mr. Sumner proceeded. "Now let those of the day-shift go to their homes, and those who desire to go to work enter the cage; if there are any night-shifters who object to working, they ought to go home peaceably; at least let us disperse in a spirit of mutual good feel ing. What say you?" "Three cheers for Supt. Sumner," shouted Luke, springing upon the bench beside the manager and waving his hat; and the cheers were given lustily. "Three cheers for Luke Darrell, the brav est man in the settlement;" called a girl ish voice, and the slight, graceful form of Clarissa Watson, heretofore unobserved in the general excitement emerged from the edge of the crowd. Three cheers, that made the welkin ring, sounded forth in pleasant contrast with the earlier shouts of the night! 94 THE SILENT CONFLICT Both Luke and Dr. Acton stood amazed at the bold, and yet timely action of the girl. Both alike admired her fearlessness, and at once turned to extend a cordial word of approval. But she was gone on her other mission of seeking out her father, who, she knew, must be among the malcontents. "Can you tell me whose the voice that so generously asked honor to you, Mr. Dar- rell?" inquired Mr. Sumner of that gentleman. "She is the daughter of miner Watson, sir, and is the sweetest, prettiest girl amongst us," ventured Luke. "She has certainly done us all a good ser vice; that was a very opportune interrup tion. Our work is done, gentlemen; see, the men are going about their business;" and at that moment the rattling of the don key engine told that a cage load of miners had gone below, while the murmuring crowd about the entrance was fast disappearing in the gathering gloom. "Yes, that it is, and well done, too," said Dr. Acton, "thanks to you, Luke, for you handled them like the master of a crew in a mutiny." THE SILENT CONFLICT 95 "Let me congratulate you, Mr. Darrell," said the Superintendent extending his hand; "and now let me make an appointment for you and Dr. Acton to meet me on Mon day, at my office, as I have been summoned to Philadelphia, and must leave early to morrow. We must resume our conference, gentlemen." Both men accepted the invitation and an hour was named suitable to all, and each took his leave. CHAPTER VII SERVICE AND SHAME "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone." Jesus. Sunday in a mining town; have you ever experienced one? Well, it offers strange mixture of rest and riot; there are those who withdraw to their abodes for the much needed quiet of the home, humble though it be; while others debauch themselves in a much mistaken recreative pursuit, varied according to the tastes of the individual. Men, and alas! women, too, to whom we are wont to look for better things, hang about the drinking places, or upon the streets, and exchange coarse and trifling banter with creatures who so little resemble any likeness to the Creator of their being. Some, whose senseless drivel told of time spent over the wine cup, reel by, the butt of rude jests, and ruder treatment. Others find long hours of devotion to gambling of every de- 96 THE SILENT CONFLICT 97 vice, and too often part with all their earn ings in a mad indulgence of a common pro pensity for cards or dice! There are rows of squalid houses where these poor are wont to congregate, to feast* their love of idle, unprofitable amusement, and to throw into the capacious maw of the liquor traffic their hard-earned dollars; crazed by drink, or enraged by their "bad luck," the brawl and "knock out" are sure to follow: and even late into the night on a Sabbath meant for rest, they carry on their weary, woe-working riot, until worn out both by bodily and mental fatigue, they drag themselves, quarreling, cursing, and reeling, to their wretched homes; homes rendered tenfold more wretched by the debauch, and waste, and burdens self-imposed. Church-going in a mining village is by no means general; the few, in whom the taste for such resort still lives, stand forth in bold relief against the wretched back-ground just painted in our picture. Still there are the few who find the Day of Rest a joyous season in which to pay their devotions to their Creator, and seek sanctuary from the world of care, and sin, and soul-sickness. 98 THE SILENT CONFLICT Oh! blessed institution of Divine love and wisdom; thou Sabbath made for the mil lions of earth, swing wide thy portals of rest; ring loud and long the joyous bells of in vitation to God s house of service and prayer! The early mass, the pleading sermon, the hymns of praise fill up the day to those who see thy rest; while the day s vespers close all around and tuck them in their couches of repose as the gentle mother loves to leave her babes in their beds of innocence. Do we find any of the persons with whom we are now somewhat acquainted, in pur suit of ungodly pleasure, or, on the other hand, seeking divine unction and spirit ual grace? Let us look for familiar faces in and out among the ranks of both classes. On this first Sabbath of our story in the Pennsylvania mining settlement, the sun rose bright and clear and cast its sheen of light over the thin covering of snow that spread its ermine-like mantle upon hill and plain and frozen river. The cheery bells sounded clear through the crisp morning air summoning the people to praise and prayer. Everything without the clear sky, the warm sunlight, the music of the bells, THE SILENT CONFLICT 99 and the clean, snow-covered streets all in vited the thoughts to purity and peace and holy reverence. Passing up the village street we behold the aged mother leaning upon the strong arm of her great, broad-shouldered son; the sombre black she wore told of loss, her manly boy now largely supplies; her feeble steps and bent form betokened the effect of toil and suffering, while her coarse attire plain ly showed she belonged to that class whose daily lot seldom if ever yields life s smallest luxury. Her companion, also clad in coarse clothes, yet clean and well-cared for, chose, here and there, for them the smoothest path, and often exerted his gigantic strength to assist the tottering steps. Under his well-worn felt hat, we see a clean shaven face, with full grey eyes and pleasant mein, and are not disappointed in discovering that their owner is no less a personage than our old acquaintance, Luke Darrell; and this is his mother, the tender, doting parent that we have met before in her humble home. They are going to the house of worship yon der, which the snow and the rich sunlight have painted in purest white. The sharp- 100 THE SILENT CONFLICT pointed roof, the low eaves and shapely spire tell us that is it an Episcopalian chapel, a class of churches that dot the eastern states, and have done so much to hold the Cross before the humble dwellers in these sections. "Ah, mother, there is Clarissa," said the son; "she waits at the door for our coming; yes, she nods us a good morning." "The dear, sweet girl!" exclaimed Mrs. Darrell, "she always carries gladness and sunshine with her." "Yes, and how little of encouragement she has at home; when I see what others have to battle against, I often wonder what I would do without your blessed help, mother," and the stalwart young man looked down to meet the upturned, loving gaze of his parent. "God bless you, Luke! Such words bring much gladness to your mother s heart and lift a load of cares," was her tender reply. On reaching the entrance of the church they were greeted by Clarissa, whose cheer ful words and happy mien brought joy and comfort to the humble pair. She enquired about their welfare, spoke of the beauty of THE SILENT CONFLICT 101 the snow, and the cheering splendor of the holy day. "And how is your hand, Luke?" she asked catching a sight of the bandaged member. "Getting along nicely, thanks; not quite well enough for me to get back to the mine, though," said the man. "By the way, how is your patient, Mark Waring, Miss Nurse?" "Mark is improving rapidly. He was removed to his home yesterday, but oh, the pitable sight of that empty sleeve, how it makes one s heart ache to see it!" "I shall visit him after dinner, if you think he is well enough," said Luke. "Oh! he will be so glad to see you! he has looked forward to your coming ever since I gave him your message. Shall we go in now I see the people are coming and the bell tolls its last strokes," and the party entered the sanctuary. Over the altar we read the touching text "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." The choir in the little loft rose to sing, and soon the whole congregation joined their voices in the beautiful hymn: 102 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Safely through another week, "God has brought us on our way; "Let us now a blessing seek, "Waiting in His courts today; "Day of all the week the best, "Emblem of eternal rest." But we cannot follow them through the entire service; suffice it to say that many a weary and sin-sick heart found comfort and blessing. The pastor read the twelfth chapter of the Gospel by John, in which the touching scene of the Saviour s anoint ing by Mary, took place at the home in Bethany. And from here he took his text: "For the poor always ye have with you." He sketched the incidents of that scene described by the Disciple whom Jesus loved; he lead his hearers to view the hard condi tions placed upon the toilers and the poverty- stricken as necessitous in the laws of na ture; he showed them that society in its or ganization and in its obedience to its con ventional laws followed only a divine decree in burdening the lower classes with hard ships and suffering. "These are the inex orable laws governing the race; God has given us the poor to train our hearts to love THE SILENT CONFLICT 103 and alms and sympathy. *In the first place, I should without hesitation say that chief among the causes of poverty is the hard condition of the human lot as by na ture established. "The prime reason why bread must be so dear and flesh and blood so cheap is that tshe ratio of exchange between the two has been fixed in the constitution of the earth, much to the disadvantage of the latter. When it is written that God cursed the ground and bade it be unfruitful, bringing forth briars and thorns, that man should only eat his bread with a dripping brow, the Scripture does not exceed the the truth of the unceasing and ever pain ful struggle for existence. "If then you complain of poverty, make your complaint manfully and squarely against the Maker of the Earth, for poverty is largely His work. The socialist is sim ply dishonest when he charges human misery upon society. Society has done vastly more to relieve misery than to create it." Luke Darrell waS an interested listener *From "The Causes of Poverty" by the late Francis A. Walker in the Century Magazine. 104 THE SILENT CONFLICT to these utterances of an orthodox church man; the doctrines moved him to deep med itation and aroused an opposition within his breast that would have somewhat start led the Rev. Arthur Laud, the staid and amiable pastor of the flock to which our hero belonged. The homeward way was passed in a thoughtful mood, and the day was filled with frequent contemplation of such marked but commonly prevailing views as the foregoing sermon contained. That afternoon this man of strong phy sical manhood, determined purpose, and com passionate heart found himself at the bed side of the unfortunate Mark, where he talked cheerfully for an hour about the news of interest at the Mother Lode, and also ventured to assure him of a friendly sympathy in his loss and suffering. "Ay, Luke," said the sufferer, "it s a hard lot for a man who depends upon his labor to earn a livelihood, and the world is not a very generous or considerate one." "But there is work for such as have been deprived of a part of their powers. Do not become downcast, my man; we will see to it that you get on all right; so just keep THE SILENT CONFLICT 105 up your courage, and hope for the best," responded Luke. "Now goodbye, Mark; I ll drop in again soon. Now, Margery, keep your father in good spirits, child; that s half the battle." And the genial fellow left as much cheer as lay in his power. He did not neglect to look about him, however, and make note of any comforts his friend might lack, which he might be able to supply. The night was now fast approaching, and, in the business center of the village, the sounds of revelry and reckless, wanton riot rolled out upon the street from many a miserable haunt where vice and crime were holding high carnival. In some such places drunken songs told of maudlin mer riment, from others cursing and blasphemy and loud angry quarreling grated upon the unaccustomed ear. As Dr. Acton, returning from a visit of mercy, passed one of these resorts his heart chilled within him to hear the now familiar voice of Worry Watson, engaged in the fav orite pastime of expressing his views upon the social relation of the workingman and the capitalist. 106 THE SILENT CONFLICT "You tell me," he was saying as the Doctor halted to listen, "that these money kings care a cuss for any of us; now, that was all bosh about takin care of our interests that the manager gave us the other night; yer can t string me; and any man is a damn fool to put a grain o faith in what he said. Now look at that gang of I-talians and Bo- hemies that were put in here last summer; every dirty mother s son of em is too low for a white man to sociate with; and ain t they takin the place of us honest fellers?" "Whirra ya a cuma at, ma fren ? Is notta this a freea countra? For what did you Sjorja Washington fight, me fren ? You thinka Sjorja Washington right; I think Sjorja Washington raighta too; a evra bodda thaink he right. Ma fren , Italy justa so gude as America, and Gari baldi he justa so gude as Sjorra Washing ton, ma fren !" Worry rushed upon the speaker an Italian called Gaudio. "Don t you call me, ma fren ! I am no friend of your whole damn race! Go back to your wonderful Italy an your Garry- bald-eyes and stop interferin with decent THE SILENT CONFLICT 107 men," bawled Watson, menacing his op ponent with clenched fist. "Ya gota no beezness speaka me thata way; you putta up yo feest! Ba-ah! I knocka ya hade offa ya neck." And the doughty Gaudio rushed upon his antag onist in true Latin fashion. But, before he could reach Worry, strong arms had overpowered him and he was hurled to the further part of the room striking his head and shoulders against the mass ive bar with fearful force. Dr. Acton had advanced within the door ot the saloon, just in time to look beyond the friendly screen that stood before it, and saw Burly Pete in the act of executing this summary movement upon the Italian. The action was followed by a rush for the fallen man by a dozen brutish looking fellows, with the evident intention of add ing further injury to the postrate form. "Stop, men, stop!" shouted the physician, "do you want to make murder of your at tack? In the name of humanity, I com mand you stop!" and he bounded forward, placing himself before the passionate men and their victim. 108 THE SILENT CONFLICT The men changed their threatening at titude to one of dejected and humbled mien; and the injured man lay in a stupor, as if life might already have taken flight. Dr. Acton, seeing that they seemed cowed by his presence and that they were not like ly to renew their attack, dropped upon his knees by the postrate Italian and ap plied first his fingers to his wrist and then his ear to his breast. He was only a moment, however, and, quickly turning to the crowd of drink-bedizzened miners, he called to them to clear the room, and open up doors and windows. At that moment a light form quickly en tered the place and, dropping upon her knees beside the gasping man, began to chafe the hands and brow of the sufferer with calm, but anxious concern. Dr. Acton, filled with momentary amazement, gave the young woman only a pleased glance of encouragement and began to withdraw a phial from his com panion case. "Would not liquor help him, Doctor?" asked the girl, motioning toward the bloated bar-tender, meaning that he could supply it in any quantity. THE CONFLICT SILENT 109 "No too much already; here I have it, this will perhaps revive him," and the phy sician poured part of the phial s contents into the man s mouth. "There now, Miss Watson; we can only wait for results. But tell me how comes it you are here? This is no place for such as you," continued the doctor. "I was on another errand and came just in time to hear your anxious call to the men, and I knew something dreadful had hap pened. I didn t do wrong, Doctor?" and her pleading eyes were lifted to the face of the young doctor as he leaned over her. She met the look of almost passionate ad miration that beamed from his handsome face, and turning her eyes aside glanced into the rough face of the other upon the floor. "There!" she quietly exclaimed. "See, he shows signs of reviving," and Dr Acton s professional nerve regained its wonted as cendency over the less trained passion of love, that for the moment swayed him. CHAPTER VIII GIRDING THE ARMOR "Conference maketh the ready man." The directors of the Mother Lode Min ing Company had held an important meeting at the general office of the company in Philadel phia. Ralph Sumner, local superintendent at Carbon Vale, was present by a special request of the President of the Company, for a rad ical reduction of ten per cent on wages in the mines had, as we have seen, caused much anxiety at the settlement, and had also brought the Company into consider able notoriety the press of the country continued to print its inflammatory ar ticles and also in its editorial columns to be rate the corporation for its unfeeling oppres sion of labor. Letters and telegrams from the Superin tendent of the mines had kept the general office posted on the trend of affairs at Car bon Vale, but it was thought most desirable 110 THE SILENT CONFLICT 111 that Mr. Sumner should be at the directors meeting, in order that facts and circum stances of moment might have the fullest explanation from one in position to know them. All day Friday and again on Saturday the meeting had continued in session, but no final disposition of the very troublesome question, of how to maintain dividends for the stocks of the Company at ruling market prices, could be made. December first, the day set for new rates to begin, was only one week off; but the directors adjourned their meeting after investigat ing the state of affairs, both as to the dis content at the mines, and relative to the profit side of the balance sheet. "Gentlemen, I have hoped that some kind of relief could be given to the men at the works, whose toil is even now very hard and the wages are quite inadequate to the needs of themselves and families," said Ralph Sumner in an earnest, feeling manner. "But it appears, Mr. Sumner," said the President archly, adjusting his spectacles and looking sharply at the Superintendent, who had risen in a respectful manner, "that 112 THE SILENT CONFLICT after two whole days of deliberation in which we have gone over the matter quite fully there is no way but to stand by our pur pose. I am sorry for the miners, but you see that all here are of one mind; the cut will have to stand." "There is great opposition manifest in the mine already, as I have shown you," resumed Mr. Sumner, "I have great hopes that there will be no outbreak, however; the Company has two strong supporters with whom I have already spoken; they may be able to prevent any serious action, but I am convinced that you gentlemen of this Board, should meet the workmen half way." "These friends of the Company are Dr. Acton and the man Darrell, I believe you said," interrupted the President, glancing at a bit of paper he held in his hand. "Yes, sir, two who are working to prevent any collision but they equally respect the right of both the miners and the Mother Lode. They agree in the one respect, if not altogether, that a compromise is the only safe way out of the difficulty, and per haps the only proper solution of the difference." THE SILENT CONFLICT 113 "And what compromise do they ask?" questioned the president. "That was not made clear to me; both were prevented by circumstances from ex plaining that important part of the plan, which, I imagine, they have determined upon. On my return I shall have oppor tunity to question them as to that, as I have arranged for them to meet me at my office on Monday morning, at 10 o clock." "They will ask, undoubtedly, that the Company rescind the reduction, but we had best know what their plan is, gentlemen," addressing the Board; "therefore, I sug gest that we adjourn to 4 P. M. Monday for Mr. Sumner s report; it can be despatched by the noon train which reaches here close to the hour of four." The President s suggestion was acted up on and the gentlemen separated. On Mr. Sumner s return to the mines, early on Monday morning, he found a new difficulty confronting him. Standing about the Company s office was a body of swarthy, disheveled looking men, their dinner pails in their hands, and dark lowering looks on their faces. As he came to the entrance 114 THE SILENT CONFLICT of the low, stone building where he trans acted his business, he was approached by one who was evidently a leader of the gang; this man respectfully saluted the manager, cap in hand, and waved to the men who slowly formed themselves in a semi-circle about him. Mr. Sumner hesitated, and then ac costed the capless fellow: "What is it, my man?" "You Mistaire Sumnare?" asked the spokes man. "Yes, sir, I am the Superintendent; what will you have?" "Ya canna know that they stop us to go inna tha mine; why? cause we come fra Italia; Italia waz our countra, but now we leeve in America; we worrk in tha mine; our familia must get bread, but if we no work, no bread. You comperaend, you undarastan?" Why do you not go into the mine, men?" asked the Superintendent. "Furra the reeson the Americanos will na late us; they shaka the feest, they pusha us away an swear that tha leeka tha men of us who go." "Oh! I understand now," replied the THE SILENT CONFLICT 115 manager. "You wish to work, but the others won t let you." "Thata eet, Meestare Sumnare, that eet; you knowa eet right." And the speaker wagged his head with a dissatisfied look upon his face. "You may remain here just a moment?" said Mr. Sumner. "I will return in just a little while," he explained, and walked into the office. Here the man of business called up the Black Diamond office and offered to sup ply to the manager of that Company forty of fifty foreign hands at the prevailing wages for a few days, and the offer was readily accepted. Returning to the men in front he com municated this arrangement to the leader, and a murmur of approval accompanied by a look of gratitude came from the crowd. "What is your name, my man?" he enquired of the leader. "Stefano Giochio, ma name," returned the man. "Well, Stefano or Giochio you are to act as boss for these men; your wages will be all right; the Mother Lode will pay you." 116 THE SILENT CONFLICT The man nodded assent, and after a few further directions, the company of Italians and Austrians took their departure to new scenes of labor, each evincing his pleasure by respectfully doffing his cap as he passed. The Superintendent re-entered the office to ruminate on this new aspect of affairs and to complete preparations for meet ing the emergency thus thrust upon him. Later a report came from the shaft in which this new difficulty had taken place, and the names of the leaders were also filed. These were Jack Farnam, Worry Watson, and Burly Pete. It appeared that some altercation had taken place in which the foreigners had charged these three men with killing Gaudio the night before; this also was news to the manager; these three leaders with a strong support had remained until the last cage load was to descend to the mine, when with threats they had man aged to discourage any attempt on the part of the Italians and Austrians to go below. Mr. Sumner almost immediately, after giving some directions in the office, called his cart and went in search of the injured Gaudio. THE SILENT CONFLICT 117 He found him in the Company s hospital, whither Dr. Acton had had him removed, a low, rambling building on the outskirts of the settlement. Imagine his surprise, too, in finding Clarissa Watson sitting be side the still unconscious form and evident ly much concerned about the man s condition. The Superintendent hesitated just a mo ment as he beheld this beautiful, slender girl at her post of mercy, his faltering caused partly by the amazing fact of trying to re call the face which he had seen somewhere before. "You are, Miss ?" and the man faltered as if waiting for her to supply the name. "I am Clarissa Watson, sir, and you are Supt. Sumner," replied the girl. "Yes, I recollect you now, Miss Watson. How is your patient? This is the poor Italian who was hurt in the Four Corners is it not?" rejoined the manager. "Oh, sir, it is so sad, Mr Sumner," an swered the compassionate nurse. "At times he seems to recover consciousness, but only for a moment; I do all the doctor directed, but it seems of no avail. I do hope he will show signs of recovery soon," and the girl 118 THE SILENT CONFLICT quietly took her place at the foot of the couch, waiting for the signs she sought. But no change showed itself. "Will I find Dr. Acton in the hospital now?" asked Mr. Sumner. "He will return about 9 o clock I believe," she replied and glanced a look of anxious question, which the Superindentent answer ed by giving her the time. "I will wait, then," said he, as it was quite that hour now. Dr. Acton was punctual to the minute and evinced both pleasure and surprise when he found the Company s representative in waiting. Nor did a gentle look, which the physician bestowed upon the pretty maid, escape his guest s notice a look that, guard himself as he would, betrayed a depth of tender feeling, that Mr. Sumner interpret ed to his own satisfaction, and, we may say, perhaps correctly. After quietly greeting the gentleman and making some inquiries concerning the patient s condition the physician soon despatched his professional duties, and again leaving di rections with Clarissa, to be followed in his absence, departed with the Superintendent. THE SILENT CONFLICT 119 "Do you think this man will recover, Doctor?" asked Mr. Sumner, as they passed out into the street. "I hope so; though there is grave doubt, sir. He has not completly gained con sciousness since his fall, and it perhaps may be a violent case of concussion of the brain, which you know is very hard to treat!" "Do you know the circumstarices con nected with this affair, Dr. Acton?" further questioned the manager. "Yes, pretty nearly all of the incidents that led up to it; for I was a listener and also saw the man thrown where he received his injury," replied the physician. "Then you know the men who caused the blow?" ventured Mr. Sumner. "It will be necessary for me to have them placed under arrest at once; for, if this man should die, a grave charge will stand against them. The precaution must be taken immediately. Are these the names of some of them?" and the Superintendent handed the doctor the report of the trouble at the mine shaft, of the early morning. "Yes, substantially, correct," said Dr. Acton, "although this man, Burly Pete, 120 THE SILENT CONFLICT was the one who actually did the deed." "And the other two accessories after the fact is what the law calls it, I believe. Is that right?" "Yes, I should say that is exactly correct," and the man of profession winced sensibly at the admission. "I know this will be a very unpleasant duty for me, and it may cause you some equally unpleasant part, for you will be a valuable witness for the State, in case the matter turns out badly," explained the manager; then added, "I will leave you now, and attend to the arrest at once. Don t forget our appointment at the office short ly;" and Mr. Sumner drove rapidly away. CHAPTER IX SATAN CHALLENGED "I hold it truth, with him who sings "To one clear harp in divers tones, "That men may rise on stepping-stones "Of their dead selves to higher things." Tennyson. The outcome of the conference, which con tinued until noon at the office of Supt. Sumner, was that Luke Darrell was to take the next train for Philadelphia, and we find him making a hasty preparation for the journey. It was found that details of the plan could not be sufficiently despatched either by wire or letter, and therefore it pleased Mr. Sumner, after going over the matter with his con ferees, to learn that Luke was in complete posses sion of a plan that met his entire approbation, further, that Luke was both ready and will ing to undertake to place the scheme before the directors in person. 121 122 THE SILENT CONFLICT We see the sturdy man of toil swinging along the path to his humble home and, again rapidly back in time to board the south bound train that would in a couple of hours bring him face to face with the men who ruled the Mother Lode. On his arrival at the Quaker City the miner, after some difficulty found his way to the general office on the great busy Arch Street, where the directors were already assembled. Entering the outer door, he was met by a clerk who suspiciously eyed Luke and received from his hand a letter of introduction, with which Supt. Sumner had thoughtfully pro vided him; after another glance of super cilious scrutiny, the dapper office man left the rough workingman standing in awk ward attitude, but self-composed, and car ried Mr. Sumner s letter into the Board room. After a short interval he returned and surlily conducted Luke into the pres ence of the directors. This man of humble experience had never before stood within a presence of such kind, among men whose ease of manner and fault- lessness of attire contrasted so greatly with his own awkward feelings and thread-bare THE SILENT CONFLICT 123 clothes; the luxurious and elegant fur niture, and the pleasant rooms were so dif ferent from the best he had ever seen, so much superior in fact, that the feeling of strangeness baffled in a measure his efforts to affect composure. He stood, hat in hand, and glanced from one to the other of the dozen gentlemen who sat at luxurious ease, some smoking cigars whose fragrant odor filled the air about them, others engaged in desultory conversation, all turning to curiously scan the man before them. "You are a Mister Darrell?" asked the president, glancing from Luke to the letter which he held in his hand. "Gentlemen, this is Mr. Darrell; he comes with a letter of introduction from Supt. Sumner; and has something to say concerning the situation at the mines," and he motioned to the man to take a seat. "If you are ready, gentlemen, we will proceed to hear Mr. Sumner s report, which I believe you bring to us, Darrell," resumed the president. "I came at the wish of Mr. Sumner, and shall be pleased to lay our plan before you, sir." said Luke regaining his wonted self- composure. 124 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Let me ask you if any news of import ance is to be communicated, if anything of unusual nature has taken place since since Saturday?" asked the head official. "Well, yes, a few things have occurred that show which way the wind blows, " replied the miner. "Please relate the facts; we wish to keep posted on affairs at the mine," and the mem bers sat in readiness to hear the latest news. Luke told briefly of the fray in the "Four Corners" and also the "shut-out" of the foreign laborers in the Mother Lode; the man gradually drifted into accounts with ease, speaking calmly and with the emphasis of interest; and when he had finished, those present were impressed that more than an ordinary person was talking. The members exchanged some observations and gradually lapsed into conversation again as they turned toward each other in three s and four s while the chairman and the clerk of the Board conferred earnestly for a few moments. This action gave Luke an op portunity for observing the men as they talked in natural manner with their fellow members. The name of Henry Crosby, pres- THE SILENT CONFLICT 125 ident of the Company, was in a measure familiar to the men at the works, and on, two or three occasions our hero had seen him driving about the mines; but to study the character of the man, as shown in his fea tures and expression gave the man of simple manners much food for thought. Evident ly, President Crosby was a master of business diplomacy and well-skilled in the methods of manipulating capital for profits. But such men seldom carry any outward signs of the great struggle of thought which evolve these gigantic schemes of money power, and Mr. Henry Crosby was certainly no ex ception. As to the other persons present, the only thing that impressed the miner was a general lack of interest in matters other than self-gratification and indulgence observed in all their acts and words. "Now, gentlemen, according to Mr. Sumner s letter which I hold, it was impracticable to communicate the plans for a compromise, which we have met to hear, by other means than this man; the Superintendent has mat ters of importance which call for his at tendance at Carbon Vale. I suggest that Mr. Darrell now lay before us the views, 126 THE SILENT CONFLICT which are largely his own, as to the rem edies for the troubles at the mine." At the close of Mr. Crosby s words, there was a general acquiescence on this course; all waited for Luke to begin. "What I shall say," he began, "might apply to any other case, as well as to the pres ent difficulty, gentlemen; and equally well to like conditions elsewhere, than at the Mother Lode." "Yours is a panacea for all the ills that capital is heir to?" interrupted the president, smiling facetiously. "You may call it so, sir," replied Luke speaking with decision, and evidently de termined to repel any attempt to ridicule his position. "Well, we will hear it," rejoined the pres ident. "I am only a miner from the Company s works, gentlemen, but I have been in a position to observe at least one side of this great question of the conflict between labor and capital, which, I think you will all ad mit, is superior to any opportunities you have had. I will not dwell upon the hardships and sufferings of the miners and their fam- THE SILENT CONFLICT 127 ilies, although I am certain they would stand forth in marked contrast with the comforts and ease and luxury that surround you and your children. I make only this brief allusion to a fact of conditions that, in them selves, should appeal effectively to every man who holds in his hand the management of great capital; my purpose is not, gentle men, to show you how to dispense a charity fund for the relief of the poor who happen to work or live at the Mother Lode s settle ment. I am here for what I feel is a higher purpose." Luke paused, and observing the deep hush of interest that reigned among the directors, sat in studious silence until urged to proceed. "My purpose is to serve both capitalists and workingmen, and as a preface I will say that it is difficult to see how the interests of the one should not be the interests of the other. In the first place I will say that if the erroneous doctrine of the survival of the fittest be applied in the economy of the industrial world, the workingman must in the nature of the case, come out the win ner; for it is clear to every thoughtful en quirer after truth that it is in that class 128 THE SILENT CONFLICT we find the genuinely fit; those who, since they are the creators of wealth in the true sense, should eventually come into the en joyment of its advantages. But you will understand, sirs, that organized capital must intrench itself behind laws made in its be half,* and yet it is a mistake to suppose that these same laws are really in the in terests of capital." The gentlemen, who controlled the great interests of the Mother Lode, looked the amazement they felt, and the speaker evinced a quiet satisfaction that he had aroused some feeling which might be turned to the advantage of his cause. He resumed: "You are the men who direct the affairs of a great corporation. I earnestly appeal to you to defend its in terests by coming out squarely in the in terests of the men who serve you and make it possible for you to succeed. You are a nxiously desirous to protect the invest ments of the stock-holders of the Mother Lode; you sum this up in the one effort of cutting down expenses and reducing *"The law favors capital, and the exclusive privileges of cor porations are the principal means it makes use of for this pur pose." J. Stuari Mill. 129 the pay of your employes. You follow a belief in whkt is generally considered a sound business principle: that the capitalist flourishes at the expense of labor. If labor is cheap then dividends are proportionate ly large. Gentlemen, this is a mistaken notion. When once you have reduced the laboring man to the limits of his powers to produce; when misery and want confront him, and the consequent enfeebled powers of body fail, what suffers more than capital? when the workingman debauched by drink, with no higher ambition held before him than the bare performance of the work need ed to gain his day s wages fails to yield the product of his toil in paying quantity, who suffers, if not the capitalist?" The speaker was growing earnest in his language and manner, but withal maintained an unper turbed front. "Now I spoke of dividends to capital did you ever stop to consider that there should also be dividends to labor? Do you console yourselves with the thought that wages bare, paltry wages can alone discharge the obligations that you, sirs, owe to the meanest toilers in your works? 130 THE SILENT CONFLICT When the pay roll has been made out and the coin needed to meet it has been produced, you have only recognized the fact that labor has made its investment with your Company" Luke here paused a moment and looked into the eyes of the now intensely inter ested capitalists: "Then there are the div idends." "I think your demand for dividends for laborers absurd, Mr. Darrell," ventured Pres ident Crosby. "What is the ground of your demand, and upon what will your so-called dividends be based, let me ask." "That you should know, Mr. Crosby, and gentlemen of this Board, for if there are no grounds and no basis of computation then my demand is certainly unreasonable. "The grounds for claim to any contribution of capital to labor are four-fold. First: Capital is dependent upon labor for all it enjoys: lands, buildings, stocks, bonds, bank deposits and moneys of every sort; comforts and luxuries of every kind are purchased and enjoyed by reason of labor in behalf of capital; this statement needs no proofs; it is self evident. Second: Muscle and blood are equal in value to sordid wealth THE SILENT CONFLICT 131 if not superior; and the workingmen who are giving that treasure are entitled to as much consideration as the men who invest their dollars, which dollars represent only so much of muscle and blood as has been expended to make them free to be invested. Third: The year s wage of every laborer is paid for his support and that of his family, and should always be sufficient to secure him adequate shelter and clothing, and a reasonable allow ance of good wholesome food, and should likewise afford some leisure for rest, recreation, and mental improvement, with the means also whereby to secure these. Fourth: If one hundred dollars earns ten for the in vestor in a year, and the net earning of one man be also ten dollars in a year for the Company, then that ten dollars, instead of going wholly to pay a dividend of ten per cent on capital, should be divided and equally divided, too, between capital and labor this is the dividend to labor of which I have spoken. The basis of division can only be determined by revising your system of book keeping, which, heretofore, has been sole ly in the interests of capital." "What would you make the basis of com- putation of labor dividends, Mr. Darrell?" archly enquired the President. "Any fair adjustment must meet the con ditions of the case to be sure, and would vary as the circumstances of profit or loss affect that case," continued the miner. "But the basis will be the joint earnings of the lab or and the capital. Let us suppose an other case by way of illustration. A in vests $1000 capital; B invests his physical strength. Both employ their time for which they receive the sum needed to provide liv ing for both that is, what it cost to decent ly support themselves and families. This is governed by the wage rate. In the Mother Lode this is about $300 a year. Now at the end of the year A and B have earned on their joint investment less the cost of living, $200; should A receive a dividend of 20% ? or is it not more just to say that each should receive io%? That would form a basis of division for that case and every other case would be governed by circum stances." "A fair theory, Mr. Darrell; and I might see how, in the eyes of the laborer, that would seem quite acceptable. But if that is your THE SILENT CONFLICT 133 proposed plan, I think I can say for all those present and for every other capitalist, that it is impossible in the very nature of things," said Mr. Crosby, discouragingly. "You will permit me now to speak of a mat ter more familiar the existing conditions at your own mines. I do not wish to flat ter myself, but I believe that I know more of the feelings and purpose, and perhaps of the results to be expected of cutting the miners wages ten per cent, than any other man in your service. And, gentlemen, what I have said and what I now intend to ad vise, with your permission, sirs, is as much in your interest as in that of the class to which I belong. To put it differently," and Luke spoke with a warmth that be- tr ayed full sincerity, "I am for the Mother Lode as for the workngmen I am not for either class as against the other." A murmur of approbation passed through the room and one member exclaimed, "Good." "Yes, that sounds well, and I am con vinced that you are sincere in your senti ments, Mr. Darrell, but then it is, it can only be sentiment," quickly rejoined the pres ident in cold, discouraging manner. 134 THE SILENT CONFLICT Luke understood the intent both of the words and manner, but instead of driving him from his purpose, it only incited him to greater effort and more determined at titude. Here he was, the first great op portunity of his life to test his prowess in behalf of a worthy and t laudable purpose, was at hand, and every element needed to assist his undertaking was in the condi tions for success: The state of affairs at the mines; his own position before the work men, and his known attitude of defense of the corporation; the support of Dr. Acton, who was a wise counsellor and a man whose position gave him prestige; and then he came with the full pledge of Ralph Sumner, the trusted and esteemed superintendent of the Mother Lode. He inwardly resolved to put his case in the very strongest way possible. "Gentlemen," he said, rising in his place, his tall, manly form, broad shoulders, hand some face, and warm, sympathetic eye cast ing a mesmeric spell upon the assembled di rectors, "Let me say that the time is ripe for a radical change in the administration of affairs at your Company s mines not in the manager, but in the orders that THE SILENT CONFLICT 135 come to him for execution from this Board. The affairs at Carbon Vale just now are in a very unstable condition; the men are even now wavering between striking and continuing their work under discouraging con ditions and with great discontent; either way it must work to the detriment of both the men and the Company. I have coun selled acquiescence on the part of the miners, and Mr. Sumner will tell you that I have not held out any promise of relief, but only a hope that some kind of relief may come from the Company: indeed, I have said, that to tear down the notices of the Decem ber reduction would be a bad move on the part of the Mother Lode, unless a compro mise could be effected equally to the ad vantage of both parties, and I now say it in your presence." The president nodded his head, deep in thought, but simply called, "Go on. 1 go on!" "Now then will you allow me to return to the men and tell them that the Company, while adhering to their purpose of reduc ing wages, does so only under compulsion and that wages will be restored as soon as possible, and that a system of profit-shar- ing has been taken under consideration, by which it is possible that dividends can be paid to every employe who stands by the company; and that these dividends will be paid regularly and at as frequent inter vals as practicable? If so if you can give them some such assurances, I am still ready to defend the Mother Lode in the future as in the past." After a moment s silent consideration during which some questions were asked by the members and responded to by Luke, it was agreed to notify the latter by letter at the earliest moment of the action of the Board. "Gentlemen; I thank you for your for bearance; and now I have only one further request to make, and I am done." "What is it, sir?" asked Mr. Crosby. "That you will all personally interest yourselves in the condition and circumstances of the poor people at the settlement. Simple charity would dictate that you better their condition. To specify, I will suggest that all drinking places be closed, that gam bling be suppressed, that such improve ments as shall tend to increase their interest THE SILENT CONFLICT 137 in their homes and general affairs in the settle ment be extended. I could wish better schools, a good park, a library and reading room, and a savings bank in which small sums could be put aside and of course, so invested as to yield a good interest; a premium offered for improvements upon homes and their surroundings, and further the evincing of a personal interest in the wel fare of this humble, but worthy and deserv ing arm of your Company s business." As he concluded he was cordially congrat ulated by each of the gentleman present, and Mr. Crosby extended an invitation to the miner to visit the general office at any time. Luke withdrew, with a feeling that his work had not been wholly in vain, and set out upon his return to the scenes of his daily burden. CHAPTER X DEATH AND DECEPTION "Rise, happy morn, rise, holy morn, "Draw forth the cheerful day from night: "O Father, touch the east, and light "The light that shone when Hope was born." Tennyson. The air was crisp, and the stars that shone forth against a black back-ground, glittered like diamonds in the clear vault above; tiny facets of snow and ice, reflected little gleams of light that danced as if at hide-and- seek with the star beams. The miners of Carbon Vale had gone to rest in their huts and cottages at an early hour, and only an occasional footstep was heard as a heavy shoe crushed upon the frosty path, sending forth the sharp ringing sound into the cry stal air. The bark of one dog, then another in answer, were the only vocal sounds that disturbed the intense quiet of the village, 138 THE SILENT CONFLICT 139 if we except the distant subdued voices of the busy workmen at the entrance to the shaft. A female form, clad in shawl and hood, was observed at a late hour hurrying through the chill streets, stopping not, but pressing on with rapid steps to a further part of the settlement; once only did she turn to look over her shoulder, when a flare of light broke upon the night, which she saw came from the glowing coals cast out of the engine furnace at the shaft not far distant. On she sped and at last stood crouching against the dark wall of a low, stone building that from its massive character and the heavy doors and iron-grated windows could easily be guessed was a stronghold of some sort. This was the town jail, and the woman had sought its dark and frowning walls to speak comfort to its occupants. As she approached the place the sounds of voices within caught her ear and she distinguished the words: "The men ll do it; I tell yer, they ll blow hell out of the works." "Perhaps I had best watch and listen," she mentally said. "Is it possible that he contemplates further mischief?" 140 THE SILENT CONFLICT "That s me own opinyum; Pete here ll do it at the risk av life, if need be; hey, Pete?" "Wor I aver afeared to do any of yor durty jobs?" was the growling question in reply. "Ov E d ben less rady, E wud na hen hare." "Ah! that s only fer a time the I-talian is out o danger b this time," said the second speaker. "Yer can t kill one o them Dagoes; they ha as many lives as a cat," said the voice of the girl s father; and she shuddered per ceptibly as the sound grated upon her sensi tive ear. "When ll be a good time to strike, Worry?" asked his companion. "That depends upon circumstances, one av which is, when ll we git out o this?" responded the other. "If that damned doctor d only swear right we would have no fear even if Burly was to swing fer it," said the voice of Jack Farnam. "By God! I ll murder that damned scoun drel, if ever I get out o this!" exclaimed Watson fiercely, and in an unusually loud voice. THE SILENT CONFLICT 141 A cry of horror and anguish from the girl rang out on the clear night air, and a face was pressed against the bars on that side of the building where she stood. "Rissy," called the man. But no reply greeting his ear, he repeated "Rissy, is it you, gurl? for God s sake speak!" She heard the jolting of distant wheels on the frosty road and, fearing that she might, be suddenly interrupted in her mission, quickly darted to the opening and, placing her face to the window, answered her par ent s anxious call. "Yes, father, I came to tell you that Gaudio has passed the crisis, and Dr. Acton thinks he will recover." "That s good news, indeed!" exclaimed Worry. "D ye hear, Jack? Kick that hulk there and wake him up to the good news, that his neck is saved." "They"! let us out now, I s pose," cheer fully spoke Jack. "I fear not, Jack," answered Clarissa. "And why not, thin?" demanded Farnam, pressing in his eagerness closely beside the other occupant of the window. "Well, of course I don t understand all 142 THE SILENT CONFLICT these things, but I will tell you what I know, and perhaps it will be clear to you men," returned the young woman. "Speak, gurl! do not keep us in suspense if you have aught to tell," prompted her father. "You see they had a sort of examination at the hospital, and they questioned both Dr. Acton and me about the happenings at the Four Corners ." "And what d they find out, Rissy?" en quired Worry anxiously. "Well, we both told the truth, and ex plained as much as we could." The girl hesitated. "And did ye prove yer father a murderer, gurl?" enquired he bitterly. "No father, no! and God spare me such a trial," and the girl sobbed violently. "Then who did? Did that damned Doctor accuse us? Tell me that and I ll mash him to atoms," was the reply. "You must not be so bitter toward Dr. Acton; he is your friend the friend of all of you; only he had to tell the truth yes, he would have told the truth as well, had it been his own father!" THE SILENT CONFLICT 143 "And he accused us of an attempt to mur der, them! Do you think your father has a murderer s heart, Rissy?" cried Watson. "Oh, I hope not." And the angry threat of her father against Dr. Acton rang in her ears. "No, Dr. Acton testified that you were under the influence of liquor, and that it was apparently the result of a-of-a-," she stopped. "Of a what, child?" he prompted. "He said a drunken quarrel ; oh, how I wish you would never touch another drop for my sake for my mother s sake, too, father!" "Well, well, Rissy, we don t want to hear preachin now," he returned in a shame-faced manner, "why do they want to keep us here? tell us that." The sound of near approaching wheels startled the girl and she spoke rapidly. "When they questioned Gaudio, he said that you and Burly Pete were plotting against him and had threatened his life the day be fore in the mine," she stopped speaking as she saw a carriage rapidly approach, and darted into the shelter of the doorway near at hand. 144 THE SILENT CONFLICT But her action had been too late; she was observed by the occupant of the vehicle, and he alighted and hastened toward her place of hiding. "Clarissa Miss Watson, you ought not to be here," and the speaker laid his hand gently upon the upraised arm, with which she drew her shawl over her face. "Oh, Dr. Acton, you cannot know what it is to have my sorrow!" softly exclaimed the heart-broken girl. "Ah, I understand, Clarissa; and my heart aches for you, dear," the full, sympathetic voice of the good physician shading into deepest tenderness, as he gently drew her away from the dark entrance of the little prison. "Have you come from Gaudio, Doctor?" retreating a little as she observed the man s agitated manner. "Yes, I have just left him, Miss Watson," relapsing into a more conventional tone. He had noticed that his previous manner and passionate words had caused her some alarm, and the man of honor was not ready to take any advantage of a circumstance which placed her at his mercy. He loved THE SILENT CONFLICT 145 her, he knew, and it required every energy of his manhood to prevent him from show ing it, but Herbert Acton was master of his passion. Reassured by his change of tone she asked, "And is he better? oh, tell me, Doctor!" Another effort to command himself re sulted in a complete control. "Yes, Gaudio is better; very much better. But you must not remain here, Miss Wats>n, and I shall take you in my carriage to your home, may I not?" and the half commanding, half plead ing voice of the young man prevailed. He lead her toward the carriage. "Let me say to my father, that Gaudio is better, first," and she flew to the grating, with the message of good news. In a mo ment she returned, and murmured in a sweet, trustful vioce, "Now, Dr. Acton, I am ready; I will go with you." The man assisted her in his gentlest man ner, and soon the rapidly rolling wheels went creaking and jolting over the frozen track. Dr. Acton might have been happy in the short interval that it took him to drive the distance, time that under ordinary condi- 146 THE SILENT CONFLICT tions would have proved much too short, but now seemed too long. Had he acted an unmanly part? Had he bartered his honor for the short moments of pleasure it gave him to ride alone, upon the deserted streets beside one he was fast learning to love better than all else in life. Why was he so silent? why did he not take advantage of a time like this? at least to say some tender word that she, who sat beside him, might guess his affection. Did he discover that she was unworthy of him on account of her character or social position? Did he begin to detest her be cause of her father s wretched situation and vile character? No! he would have answered each interrogatory with scorn. He understood his own heart now, and he would have set at naught any question of station or connection, or, in fact, any trifling barriers which the conventions of society might raise against the choice of his heart. Herbert Acton was a noble man in the truest sense, and he could rec ognize real character and intrinsic worth yes, he was satisfied with what he found in the life and character of Clarissa Watson. Why, THE SILENT CONFLICT 147 then, was there such reserve in his manner? why such silence? Alas! he had deceived the woman of his heart! Gaudio was bet ter but he was dead! Mechanically, therefore, he again assist ed the sweet, frail and joyous girl as she alighted at the door of her humble home. Home? The house of a murderer to shel ter this, to him sweetest and noblest of God s creatures! How the thought stung him! and yet he could not tell her the meaning of his words, "Yes, he is better; very much better." No, it would be easier to say to her on the morrow, "Gaudio is dead; your father is a murderer; and I am his chief accuser." Oh! God of mercy, what a task! Yet he must have time to think, and this midnight hour was not the moment to make such a harrowing statement. Yes, he would wait for daylight; the fatal truth would not seem so terrible then; and she would be happy in her ignorance during the cold, miserable night her joy would give her peace and slumber that the truth would dispel. He would not undo his deception. "Good night, Clarissa," he said tenderly, but in a husky voice. 148 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Good night, and God s blessing, Dr. Acton," and the invocation accused his conscious soul. He drove wearily home. CHAPTER XI CUPID REVEALS HIMSELF "Thou rt like a lovely flower, "So beauteous, fair, and pure, "But yet my heart feels sorrow "For what thou may st endure." From the German. The morning brought to Dr. Acton many duties; the village was visited by a strange epidemic of disease that suddenly prostrat ed its victims, and it was found to spread with great rapidity. It had baffled his ut most skill and efforts, and the form in which the malady had showed itself varied so greatly that it was difficult to properly classify the symptoms. Nevertheless the man of medicine applied himself diligently to his ever-increasing task of keeping this new foe to the poor inhab itants of Carbon Vale under control. But the cases multiplied beyond his power to per sonally attend them, and he was much 149 150 THE SILENT CONFLICT distraught as to the best way for meeting this heavy demand upon his professional services. The thought occurred to him that he could secure aid from Philadelphia, and he was about to put this plan into execution," when his round of calls brought him on the street past the home of the Watsons. His heart smote him as he recollected that he left Clarissa, now its sole occupant, in ignorance of the truth concerning the mur dered Gaudio. He had fully intended to hasten to her at the earliest possible moment after breakfast, and make a clean breast of the whole matter. On his couch the previous night he had fallen asleep from sheer fatigue of body and mind, in the very act of planning how he would break the terrible news to the poor girl. He had felt her sor row, her filial grief; he had declared to him self that he would also make known to this dear being, to whom such awful pain would come, his own tender feelings, and would, in his honest, straight-forward way, promise to love and uphold her in her sorrow, and to protect her from the world. He had felt that his duty was clear, both to himself and to this dearest of all creatures. But THE SILENT CONFLICT 151 the morning had brought its fresh duties, and new calls had been made upon his pro fessional skill. In fact he had not yet breakfasted, and the recollection of his purpose and the time he had allotted from his day s duties joined with pangs of hunger, brought a happy thought. He would make an excuse to stop and ask for a simple cup of coffee from Clarissa Watson; the thought consoled and rejoiced him; for he thought to himself, "I can see her busied with its preparation, and have the pleasure of partaking of this simple re past from her own, dear hand!" He turned his horse and drove at once to the poor, mean hut, and tied the animal to the fence. He approached the door and tapped lightly, for it would require no heavy knock to accost its occupant, for it was a very small house. He waited; no response came to his summons. He listened; there was no stir within, perhaps Clarissa had not awak ened, for had she not been out till a late hour? But he would try again, and he knocked quite loudly, and then listened. Was that a call to come in? no; he listened; it was a moan, and his practised ear told 152 THE SILENT CONFLICT him it came from some one in pain. He tried the door and found it unlocked; he pushed it open a little way and listened again. Yes, he was right, for a low moan again fell upon his ear, and now without further hes itation he closed the door behind him, and made a search for her whom he expected to find; he drew aside the thin curtain that formed a partition of the two scanty rooms. His heart stood still and pain drove every color from his face. "Oh! God! what is this?" he exclaimed; "Clarissa, Clarissa, my darling, my love! what has happened?" and the strong man who had seen horrors and had ministered to pain and great physical suffering, broke down under the awful sight that met his gaze. He dropped upon his knees beside the couch where lay the girl, beautiful in her ghastly plight, bleeding and stained in her own crimson, her hair hanging in disorder, her dress torn, and her usually bright eyes glazed and staring. He caught her hand; he kissed her blood stained cheek; he raised her drooping head and looked into her dull, set eyes! "Clarissa! darling! speak to me, if you can, and tell me, my child, my love, what THE SILENT CONFLICT 153 or who has done this!" The man was in sane in his anguish of heart, and his suffer ing overcame his self-control for the moment, and drove from his mind the more sensible course open to him, of applying his med icals skill for her relief. He dropped her hand, and gently replaced her head upon the couch, adjusting the pillow that her head had evidently not touched in all her pain the night before. Then recollecting himself he applied his fingers to her wrist. Her pulse was still beating, but feebly; he placed his ear against her breast; thank God! her heart beat lightly, to be sure, but regularly. Now he was the strong physician again and quickly his mind took up the train of rational, professional thought; it brought its own relief. No matter just now the cause of her injuries; that question could wait. He hurried from the house, and quickly sought his medicine case, which he had left in his carriage, for he was not making a professional call. He caught the sound of a footstep on the rough, icy ground, and turning saw a girl walking along the path. 154 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Come here, my child; I may want you in here," pointing to the hut where Clarissa lay. "Why, doctor, what is the matter? oh, what can be the trouble?" and the man recognized the voice and face of Margery Waring! "Quickly, but quietly, Margery, my child; and do not you must not give way to ques tions, for I cannot explain; and not a moment must be lost. Come, you may see, but you must be brave and stay to help me." The doctor lead the way into the house. "Now be calm and brave, my child, for it is a terrible sight, your eyes will rest upon;" and the man who had passed through scenes of horror before showed the agitation he could have wished to control. "Oh, Clarissa, dear Miss Watson." "Quiet, Margery; we must both be brave. Bring me water and cloths, and some water in a glass or cup," and Dr. Acton raised the pale stained face, and kissed it as he gently placed Clarissa s head upon his strong arm. A sigh of reviving powers escaped her lips and a half conscious look broke from her eyes. The doctor chafed her hands that THE SILENT CONFLICT 155 lay limp and lifeless by her sides; and now he bathed her brow and laid upon her head the cloth, wet from the icy cold water, Margery had brought. There were better signs now, and the current of life changed perceptibly. He substituted a pillow for the arm he re luctantly withdrew, and taking up his case of medicines prepared a reviving draught; this he applied to her lips, and intently watched the effect. The sufferer shuddered violently, and opened her eyes wide and looked around her; she spoke, but he could not at first catch her words. "I am so cold," she murmured. "Yes, darling, it is very cold in here; we will have you warm," and drawing the covers of the wretched couch over her, he directed Margery to build a fire upon the hearth. "What has happened to me? Oh, my side and my poor head how it pains me!" she said looking about in a questioning manner. "You have been very badly hurt, dar ling, but I do not know how," replied the doctor, "And," he added, "it does not matter how this happened, just now; we must find relief for you and care for your 156 THE SILENT CONFLICT injuries." The tenderness of the man caused a smile to mount for an instant upon the face of the sufferer, but only for an in stant and a look of troubled pain took its place. "There, Clarissa dear, you must be quiet, both in mind and body; do not think of any troubles," conforted the kind physician. "Tell me! oh, Dr. Acton, and tell me truly, what of my father? have they put him to death yet?" She spoke as one who had been long absent and had lived in intense fear of some awful calamity. "No, my darling, your father is safe and no one is going to put him to death, or harm him," said he reassuringly. "But how can I know that you tell me the truth, sir? You told me long, long ago, that Gaudio was better, very much better, and Dr. Acton," by a great effort she raised her head looking piteously at him "Gaudio is dead!" A look of distrust and unutterable pain came over the lovely face, as she sank back upon the couch. Dr. Acton groaned aloud. "What is the matter, Doctor?" inter rupted Margery, called to the couch from THE SILENT CONFLICT 157 the adjoining room by the cry of suffering from the Doctor s lips. "Has she fainted again?" "No, child, get the fire going and the room warm." He did not want the girl to see his agitation! "Now, my darling," addressing Clarissa, when the child had gone, "do not think of any imaginary trouble, and for my sake, for your own sake, dear one, do not doubt that I am telling you the truth." "Dr. Acton, why do you call me darling and dear one ? And tell me did you not say that Gaudio was very much better but I know that Gaudio is dead. He is dead and my poor, wretched father will surely be put to death." She groaned and tried to hide her face, but her strength was not sufficient. He sat a moment regarding the look of trouble and shame that spread over her unprotected countenance gladly would he have veiled it from his sight and it seemed like the gaze of the avenging angel, down, deep into his soul it burned. "Oh, God forgive me! Clarissa, forgive me, and forget that I deceived you, even in 158 THE SILENT CONFLICT my love for you" he cried in a piteous, entreating voice and the strong man bent his head upon the hand he took and held between his own. Gently her other hand was raised and fell heavily upon the bowed head, and lay there soothingly; she murmured sorrowfully, but firmly, "Dr. Acton, I forgive you as I hope to be forgiven, and as I pray that my poor father may find forgiveness." "Now, Clarissa, may I tell you why I called you darling and dear one ?" The slight, soft, chill hand pressed his own twas all the answer she could make, and the pen itent man continued earnestly, putting all tenderness in his tones. "It is because I love you, and ask only that I be permit ted to love you and care for you now, tomorrow, forever!" His frame shook with emotion; he raised his head to look into her face, but it was turned aside he did not meet the eyes he had hoped to behold, but his ear caught her murmured response, "Some other time." We need not follow the scene further. Suffice it to say that all everything that medical skill could do or fertile ingenuity THE SILENT CONFLICT 159 contrive was despatched with the prompt ness of experience and love. Margery, when the wounds and bruises had been dressed, and the bed of pain was made as soft as gentle hands could make it, was left to watch beside Clarissa, and Dr. Acton went upon the errand of securing every luxury and comfort that could in any way contribute to her ease and speedy heal ing. For his heart was in this work as it had never before been in any work in all his life and yes, he was happy; he would seek that "Some other time." As he passed from the scene of suffering, he picked up a coal miner s cap, and regard ing it a moment put it into his satchel; his mind gathered a meaning in this that grew stranger and stranger as he drove away. CHAPTER XII STICKING TO PRINCIPLES "The heart is wiser than the intellect, "And works with swifter hands and surer feet , "Toward wise conclusions." Holland s Kathrina. The morning after his return from Phil adelphia, Luke Darrell called at the office of Supt. Sumner, and when he met the eager questioning gaze of that gentlemen he smiled in reply reassuringly. "Ah, what luck, Darrell? You seem happy my man!" Luke coughed; he did not understand, himself, why he had looked smiling and happy, for his feelings were most serious. "Did you get along all right with the directors, sir?" asked the Superintendent with a little air of annoyance at the man s manner. "Yes, I think I got along all right, sir; not to speak boastfully," this by the way of modest apology. 160 THE SILENT CONFLICT 161 "And will they compromise, Mr. Darrell?" was the next question. "That I do not know yet," said the miner laconically. Still further irritated by Luke s apparent moody treatment, Mr. Sumner thought to com pass the whole matter by asking him for a de tailed report of his mission. This solved the difficulty, and the miner entered into an enthusiastic account of his interview with the governing board of the Mother Lode. When he had finished Mr. Sumner asked when they might expect the promised letter but Luke expressed his fears that the time was indefinite. "Well, Mr. Darrell, something must be done soon as matters here are getting in very bad shape." "What is the trouble now? Has anything else occurred since my absence," enquired Luke. "Well, yes; first of all the fellows that I was obliged to turn over to Corliss, to work in the Black Diamond have taken fifty of our hands, three more are under arrest for the affair at the Four Corners and now I have just received this note from the Pit 162 THE SILENT CONFLICT Boss at the Mother Lode." He handed the paper to Luke. This note read, "We are short of hands; it seems that the miners are falling sick all around us. Can t you return the Ital s and Bohe s we lost yesterday morning?" (signed) Dale. The miner shook his head in deep thought for a moment. "That s bad. What can be done?" "Ah, that s it! what can be done? is more than I can tell. I have just phoned to Corliss asking for the return of the men I lent him, and he said that every one of them had asked to stay in the Diamond s works." "But will they accept them? do they need them so badly? Of cpurse there is a matter of honor after all in the case!" queried Luke. "Oh, as to that Corliss was quite ready to return the men, to-morrow; and that would be as early as I could justly claim them; but he replied that the foreigners were so eager for some reason to hire to the Black Diamond outright." "Strange!" said Luke. "No, I see it; it s as plain as daylight." THE SILENT CONFLICT 163 "What is plain, Mr Darrell," quickly en quired the Superintendent. "Why, it is just this way" said the miner making some imaginary diagrams on the table before him, "Here is the Mother Lode, and trouble among the men; there is the Black Diamond and no one to interfere. Again, if they return to our works they must look for a cut on the first: Have the Diamond people posted a reduction?" and the workingman looked up at his superior meaningly. "Right, man, right!" exclaimed his com panion. "Now, what is so be done? If these things continue and this epidemic of disease grows any worse we shall soon be without men to tend the pumps even." The miner mused thoughtfully: "It would be a strange solution of our plans, Mr. Sum- ner," he observed. "Our plans! what has this to do with our plans? with anybody s plans? I should think such a calamity would call for very decisive and drastic measures," returned the Superintendent, emphatically, seriously. "Ah, you forget, Mr. Sumner, that I went to Philadelphia yesterday to place certain plans before the directors." 164 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Yes, I recollect but I don t see that such difficulties can solve the problem that confronts us now, and least of all how they can cause the adoption of our plans?" com plained the manager. "Nor I altogether, sir." The brief res ponse came decisively. Both sat in silence some minutes. "But it is a solution after all." Luke moved his chair nearer to the table, indicating that his thought had taken tangible shape. "Mr. Darrell, you have been a bundle of enigmas this morning what is the matter? You have impressed me heretofore as a very clear-headed fellow; are you in love?" play fully challenged the manager. "Well, I may be that, Mr. Sumner; for a man scarcely reaches the good round years of six-and-twenty without passing that fatal milestone, and yet if my actions have seemed strange to you, you need not lay it to that score." Luke took up a piece of paper ly ing loose upon the table. "Let me explain," he continued, "I have been in a brown study, nay, a very black one, if you please; for I came to the conclusion last night that there was no way out of the present difficulty, THE SILENT CONFLICT 165 excepting to continue the present wages; my belief is that the directors will not offer any relief and the men will go out on the first." "You seriously think so, Darrell?" inter rupted Mr. Sumner. "Well? of course it may be prevented, and we must do all we can; but I am certain that wages have reached the bottom. I really expected that the foreigners you sent away yesterday would not return unless the Black Diamond was to follow our Com pany s example." "I see, I see? Of course we must meet competition on both hands, Darrell." The Superintendent was awake now; he real ized that he had been napping. "The Diamond people may stand firm, how ever, and not entice your men by giving them work; in fact, they may have all the miners they need," suggested Luke. "Now what can be done? We must have men; we can make a call upon the agencies." "And still reduce wages? Never! The news of a Cut will make it difficult to in duce men to come here; then there is the transportation and," the speaker looked 166 THE SILENT CONFLICT closely at the Superintendent "the men at your works will be sure to strike they will see a double reason for doing so; a re duction and a fresh importation." Mr. Sumner evinced the despair he felt. "Do not feel so downhearted, sir," en couraged the miner. "You were of the opinion yesterday that some concessions ought to be made by the Company; are you still of that mind?" "Entirely, Darrell, entirely; but conditions have changed; what is the philosophy of the new conditions, answer that?" "This is your competitive system again, but one phase of it that is in favor of labor. If the epidemic and other like calamities were to give us a stringent labor market, labor would go up and the whole system would suffer in consequence. As it is now we only see the Mother Lode at a disadvantage. The Company must maintain wages for the present at least." Dr. Acton entered the office. "Ah, good morning, Doctor. Come right in. How s everything this morning, Doc tor?" Mr. Sumner spoke. "I should say that everything is bad; very bad," and the distraught man drop ped into a chair. Both the miner and the manager started. "Is it so serious after all, Dr. Acton," ven tured Mr. Sumner. "Most serious, sir," and he tossed a miner s cap onto the table before them and glanced toward the door into the main office. It was closed. "Mr. Sumner, Luke," he began, "we must find the owner of that cap." Again the others started and fixed a ques tioning look upon the strangely agitated doctor. "Please explain, my good man; what has happened? and how can this," picking up the greasy and soot-begrimed cap, "or its owner concern us?" The physician told what he had seen at the home of the Watsons (omitting the little details that concerned only himself, of course) and also how he had found the cap in front of the house He also related how he had mislead Clarissa into beleiving that Gaudio was better and the discovery on his part that she had learned the truth of the matter. After a brief conference it was determined to report the case to the legal authorities, 168 THE SILENT CONFLICT and to give out that Miss Watson was ill, perhaps with the prevailing malady, and together they would try and ferret the per petrators of the fell deed. "We are having a great deal of sickness in the settlement, are we not, Doctor?" asked Mr. Sumner. Here, read this," hand ing him the note from the Pit Boss. "Yes, more than I can attend to; ah, I see," returning the note. "I was just about to come here to suggest that we telegraph to the general office to send me an assistant from Philadelphia, but somehow I neglected it; oh, I recollect now it was the discovery of Clarissa the Watson g , Miss Watson, I mean," the color and his confusion al most betraying the secret his heart would keep. "She is a most estimable young woman, I beleive, is she not, Mr. Darrell?" said Mr. Sumner recalling how she had asked the men to cheer Luke at the shaft. The young doctor looked more confused. Luke looked at the floor. Mr. Sumner looked at each a moment, and then out of the window. "I will telegraph at once, Doctor; you must THE SILENT CONFLICT 169 have help," taking a blank from the drawer. "Mr. Darrell, take that cap in your pocket, and try your powers as a detective. I believe if any man can get at the bottom of that case, you can. By the way," he added, "I shall send a warm letter to President Crosby at once and may I use some of your ideas, sir?" looking at Luke. "Yes, sir; they are yours, too, I hope. I trust they may see things right down at the city." Luke took his hat. "Good morn ing, Doctor; good morning, Mr. Sumner." The door closed after him. "That, sir, is the bravest, brainiest man I know, and he is every inch a gentleman, Dr. Acton." "Thank you for my absent friend," res ponded the doctor. "I have an abiding faith in his future career." "I should like to go over the talk I have just had with him, but neither of us have time just now; some other time, Doctor." The young man winced at his words, "Some other time," and we understand. "You will attend to notifying the au thorities, will you not, Dr. Acton?" It was so arranged and they parted, each 170 THE SILENT CONFLICT to take up the thread of his own peculiar duties the thread seemed like a cable to the physician, and it was pulling him toward a humble abode in the distant part of the village. CHAPTER XIII CLUTCHES OF THE LAW "Better twere "I snatched him in his sleep, and dashed him gainst "The rocks, than let him live to " Byron s Cain. On learning of the death of the Italian, Gaudio, a charge of murder was entered against the three men who had been ar rested pending the result of his injuries. At the preliminary examination the evi dence of Dr. Acton and the ante-mortem affidavit of the Italian were considered of sufficient gravity to warrant the holding of Burly Pete as the principal, while Jack Farnam and Watson were named as ac cessories. These latter two were admitted to bail with Herbert Acton and Ralph Sumner as sureties. Thus so far as the little village of Carbon Vale was concerned the incident was, for the present, closed. Worry, somewhat subdued and chop-fallen, upon being liberated, sought his humble 171 172 THE SILENT CONFLICT home, now more cheerless than ever, since its brightest luminary and sweet comforter was still lying quite helpless upon her bed of pain. When his step sounded through the outer room, and, ignorant of the condition of his daughter, he pushed a chair beside the heap of dull coals in the dingy fire-place, dropping sullenly into the seat, he mused over the disagreeable events of the past few days . "Who is there? Is that you, Dr. Acton?" called the feeble voice of the girl from her couch. "It s me your father^ child Why should you suppose it was the doctor?" he replied in tones none too tender. "Oh, father, come to me, dear! I can not rise. And you are free; you are free at last, thank God," and she endeavored to rise to meet her parent who quickly sought her side. "My child! Rissey dear, what is this?" His eyes rested surprised and sorrowful upon her bandaged head and outstretched arm. "Nothing very serious, father; I shall soon be all right again, thanks to Dr. Acton, THE SILENT CONFLICT 173 and Margery s tender nursing." She looked upon him fctadly and caressed his rough cheek as he bent to kiss her. "But tell me, father, dear, are you free and will they not punish you for for that awful deed?" The word crime was on her lips, but she could not utter the hateful thought. "Well, Rissy," he turned his face aside, for shame he would not let her see was written there, "they have taken Burly Pete to Read ing; Jack and me are let out on bail." "Oh, I am so glad! and now we may be happy again; it was so lonesome here except when ." She did not finish the entence. "Except when?" enquired the father! "I have had such tender care, dear! every body has been kind to me, father," and her face brightened even more at the sweet rec ollection of her many friends in suffering. "And who have been kind to you, girl?" he asked with a show of much genuine interest, for Worry Watson loved his child as much as natures like his could love. "Oh, Dr. Acton and Margery most of all; but I owe much to Luke Darrell and his good mother, and to the father of little Margery; you know Mark Waring, father?" 174 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Yes, Rissy, I know im. But what has happened to you; have you hurt yourself, my child?" he again questioned her. "Very badly, father; but you must not mind that; I shall soon be well. Many, very many of the people in the settlement are sick; it is a sort of epidemic," she an swered trying to lead his mind to other things. "You do say so, Rissy! Then you are only ill of the epidemic, hey?" and his curi osity was quieted for a moment. The house-door opened and a light foot-fall was heard in the outer room. "Is that you, Margery?" called Clarissa. The child hurried to her, "Yes, dear; I have come in to bring you some supper. Oh!" and she started back as she beheld the rough man before her. "Come right in, Margery," said the in valid, "this is my father, dear." "I did not know I thought I never remember seeing you before, sir." She bowed in child-like courtesy to the miner. "Now I will bring in your supper," and she went to fetch it "Here, Clarissa, is some tea I may have to warm it again," THE SILENT CONFLICT 175 feeling the little pitcher; "yes, it s quite cold; and there is some nice slices of bread, I ll toast that by the coals while the tea is warming. See! these are little cakes and here! ain t that pretty?" holding up a tiny glass of red preserve, "real currant jell, my dear !" thus she chattered in her childish glee. "You have a feast fit for a king, Margery," said the young lady smiling. "A queen, you mean; and such a dear, dear queen," and dropping upon her knees beside the low couch she kissed the pale cheek of the sick girl. "How I wish I had you for a sister, Clarissa; you are so good and kind; perhaps I could learn to be like you," and she looked so eagerly into the other s eyes. "Oh, you little Miss Modesty! yes, I am going to call you my Miss Modesty. To think how good, and kind, and cheering you have been to me!" the sufferer stopped for the tears filled her large, lustrous, eyes and a something choked her utterance. This scene was too much for Worry, and, before the girls had noticed, he had gone; he closed the door noiselessly and hurried out toward the business section. When 176 THE SILENT CONFLICT Margery sought him he had disappeared. "My poor father!" exclaimed the daughter. "How my heart aches for you." "He will be home again soon, dear," comforted the child. "Now I must attend to your sup per," and she busied herself for some mo ments in the adjoining room. When she returned with the fragrant tea and crisp toast, Clarissa put her hand softly on her arm, and bestowed a look of loving gratitude. "And you got all these nice things for me, Margery?" she asked. "Oh, no, indeed! I only had the bread; and then father gave me a nickle that bought the cakes. Mrs. Darrell sent the tea and the jell." She would not take credit for what did not belong to her! "Dear, good hearts. We do not know how others love us, until a great misfortune overtakes us." She glanced around the room for some moments, her eyes resting upon first one comfort or luxury, then another, in happy contemplation of each. Her face beamed with pleasure, and for the time she forgot the tempting repast before her. She was thinking of the change that had THE SILENT CONFLICT 177 come over her heart no, not a change, but rather the discovery her recent exper ience had brought. She thought of the hansdome, gentle man who had held her hand and vowed such strange things, and, oh, had made her life so strangely different. Would he speak to her thus, again? would he fill her ears with such sweet promises, and lift her poor wretched heart with such exquisite hopes? He had never, in his many visits during the past few days, recurred to the scene of that delightfully happy mo ment. All his words and acts had been com mon-place, except that Dr. Acton was al ways gentle and tender, he was gentle and tender to everyone for that matter. No, there was nothing in either words or manner she recalled, that could possibly lead her to think he was mindful of that precious moment in her life. Her eyes filled with tears she could not repress, as she thought that perhaps all her gladness was only a transient dream. "O God pity me! and bless him!" she mur mured. "Why, Miss, you are letting your tea get cold. Will you not eat a bit, dear?" urged Margery. 178 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Ah-h! yes, child; and I am quite hun gry, too," replied Clarissa! "Then eat like you were hungry; you must not be thinking too much of your father and his troubles. They say that Dr. Acton and Mr. Sumner stood for his free dom." The invalid started. "Do you know anything more about it, Margery?" "Nothing, only father said it would not go hard with Mr. Watson, for he was dr ; oh, excuse me, Clarissa," she pleaded both by word and look. "There, child, there!" in pardoning tones, "I understand." Clarissa sipped of her tea. "Oh how nice that is! You are a capital cook, darling. Margery was glad to find that her charge had eaten quite heartily of the tempting food. She smoothed the pillow and laid the sore, weary head upon it again. Then she gathered up the remnants and care fully stowed them on a shelf. "I ll wait a little, Clarissa," when she had finished; "Dr. Acton told me that the night nurse would come early." "How thoughtful you all are." She turned THE SILENT CONFLICT 179 her face toward the wall. "Did Dr. Acton say he would come again, today?" she asked, blushing at her own question. "Oh, he will be here, Miss; he always takes good care of his patients," declared she artlessly. Luke Darrell on leaving the Company s office with the cap in his pocket had walked directly to the house of the Watsons. He decided that if he was to act as detective in the case to which he had been called, he must begin at the right end. If anyone had been so careless as to lose a cap at the scene of the tragedy, perhaps other evidence could be secured that would assist in finding the perpetrators of the dreadful deed. Quiet ly he searched the ground in front of the house, and soon had his pains rewarded by the discovery of foot-prints of a peculiar and un mistakable shape. In order that these might not be obliterated by the sun s heat that would soon fall upon the soft snow he covered these tell-tale tracks with some bits of board that lay at hand. Then he looked about to find if possible the direction in which these approached or receded from the hut. In this, too, he was equally fortunate, 180 THE SILENT CONFLICT for he found just these very shoe marks leading away toward the Black Diamond settlement. While pursuing this absorbing occupation he suddenly ran up against a man approaching from the opposite direction. "Ah, your pardon, sir," he exclaimed. "Well, well, friend Darrell," rejoined the other, "if it was many another fellow in these parts, I should say he was the worse off for liquor." He laughed pleasantly. "Oh ho! Mark; and you are out, I see; do you begin to feel all right again, old fellow?" enquired Luke. "Well, not all right, Darrell; but I can get out a little. I came over to watch a few moments with Miss Watson; :you have heard of her case, I suppose?" "Yes yes; I have heard; but see here, Mark, we must not have this matter talked about; there has been some foul play here, and we are trying to get at it; if too much is said about the settlement, it may give the alarm, and we shall fail to catch our game," continued Luke. "Aye, aye, sir; I told Margery she s my little girl, sir I told her that the case was like that, and I just said to her, keep quiet THE SILENT CONFLICT 181 and Margery has a wise head it keepeth a still tongue , you know," reassuring his friend. "That s right, Waring; does anybody else know? We can just say it s the epidemic," suggested Luke. "None know, I guess, but Dr. Acton and Margery and you and me," replied the man. "Well, that s quite enough; we ll keep it down to that number. Going to the Watson house, then? Well, I ll go with you for a moment; I want to see the injured girl; perhaps we can then walk home to gether," and the man in the role of detective followed Mark toward the house. Here Luke gently put questions to Clarissa and learned for the first time what had oc curred at the time of her misfortune. Some few minutes after she had returned from the jail with Dr. Acton, she had been startled by a loud angry voice, and on the instant the door opened revealing two rough- visaged men. They were demanding in brok en English, with menacing threats, that Worry* should show himself. This, Clarissa had told them was impossible as he was not at home; to this information they showed much doubt, and, violently seizing her, had 182 THE SILENT CONFLICT declared that the Italian Gaudio had died and that the father of the girl was one of his murderers. To this she had stoutly returned denial Dr. Acton had mislead her into be- leiving that Gaudio was out of danger and she momentarily resented the charge of murder flung upon her household. At this denial they became even more angry; and, although she was unable to interpret their language, the gestures and threatening looks of the men told her that they had learned positively of the injured man s death, and that they proposed wreaking vengeance on her father; finally, exasperated at not finding the man, and perhaps fearing that she might betray them, they fell to blows upon her; beyond that all was dark, until the morn ing brought Dr. Acton to the relief of her suffering. When the story was finally finished, after much painful effort on the part of the victim of these horrors, Margery returned and Darrell and Waring left the house in company. "I am doing a little bit of investigating in this case, you see, Mark," ventured the amateur detective as they emerged upon the street, "and I want your help." THE SILENT CONFLICT 183 "You have taken to the detective pro fession, then," suggested Waring; ."I shall be only too glad to help you. What can I do , sir?" "Tell me, where will I find the foreign quarters over at the Diamond s settlement?" enquired Luke. The situation of these houses was explained by the man; he was quite familiar with the whole topography of the place. The dis covery of the foot-prints was then made known to his companion, while Luke care fully uncovered and recovered the tracks as before. They also together followed these until they disappeared completely upon the hard beaten path; they concluded, however, that the feet which had made them, had car ried the desperadoes, straight to the Black Diamond settlement. Thither Luke went, admonishing the crippled man to return to his home and take good care of his poor mut ilated limb. CHAPTER XIV IN THE TOILS OF THE TEMPTER "Than entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve." St. Luke. The morning of December first came at last, but no intimation that the hateful reduction would not stand had reached the men. In response to Supt. Sumner s urgent request for relief of some kind, a few hands had been shipped in from other places, and the promise of still fresh importations was hinted. The much talked-of day brought Pres ident Crosby and another of the Board of Directors to Carbon Vale; the reports of Mr. Sumner warned them that it might be necessary to give some personal assistance to their manager by way of counsel and direction under these strained conditions. "We shall advise you to show the miners every consideration," continued Mr. Crosby, 184 after a long consultation with the man of affairs, at his office. "I should say, be easy on all; do not let the bosses be too exacting about little things; the mines are now in good condition, you report, and it is well that it is so. I believe the water is now com pletely under control since we put in those new rotary pumps; you find they work ad mirably, do you not, Mr. Sumner?" The answer was in the affirmative. "Well and as to gas; we have had no gas troubles for some time; in fact, I do not believe there is a thimble full of fire damp in the mines. By the way, we have been investigating some improved electric lights for miners use, that we expect will super sede the old Davy; it will d o away with a great nuisance. Have we the open lamps in sufficient supply? We have? Well, then, permit the men to use the open lamps; they generally like them better; yes, humor them that much, and in any other way you think best." "You advise the use of the open lamp, then?" questioned the Superintendent, in great astonishment. "Why, certainly; there is no danger in 186 THE SILENT CONFLICT nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand, and the present condition of the Mother Lode workings eliminates that one-thousandth. Now, you see." he went on, "many of the men are off on ac count of this epidemic; and two of the leaders, I am told, these fellows that are out on bail, are practically quieted; we have put in only a few men only a few more than enough to make up for the fellows you sent to the Black Diamond say, Sumner, that was a double service you did us; guess you built better than you knew, that time," stroking the manager s arm. "By the time pay day comes around," resumed the head of the Company, "most of our old crew will accept the new rates without a word, and of course the new ones we shall put on will go to work with noth ing better before them; do you see Sumner?" "Perhaps so I hope so, sir, if the cut must stand," replied the Superintendent. "Stand? Why of course! We must make it stand." And with emphasis Henry Crosby rose to his feet. "Let us go about a little; per haps, if we are seen in the settlement it may THE SILENT CONFLICT 187 have a good effect; really, I begin to believe we ought to show more of a personal interest in our dependents," and the president of the Mother Lode stroked his beard and looked wise and confidential, as though he had fur nished the world with an original thought and was giving it now to his friend, in ad vance of the world. Mr. Sumner looked straight at him, "You are right in that, Mr. Crosby; please keep on thinking that, sir; and let it be genuine interest, too." He concluded with con siderable warmth. Mr. Crosby coughed; he had not meant so much as he had said; at least in the sense in which Ralph Sumner took it. "Where is your friend what s his name? the fellow you sent up to the city about the plan?" with a peculiar, ironical emphasis on "plan." "Mr. Darrell you allude to, sir," said with just a little seasoning of scorn. "Mr. Darrell returned to the mines this morning. He has been laid up with a bad hand got it on account of standing by tjie Company on this reduction, sir Luke Darrell is a most excellent gentlemen, Mr. Crosby." "Gentleman? Why, Sumner, are you turn- 188 THE SILENT CONFLICT ing Socialist; that fellow is chuck full of socialism. We bored his scheme through and through in the conference that followed his talk; of course, I knew that he was your friend, so I did not want to offend you, or affront him, and so I let him get away first. Oh, no, never! why his plan s all rot as the politicians and newspapers say it." "Well, nevertheless, I am willing to stake my reputation that Luke Darrell is one of the truest, wisest, and brainiest men in the employ of the Mother Lode; I am willing to make a few exceptions, sir, for courtesy s sake but I do not except myself." "No, if you are going daft on such social istic ideas as that fellow Darrell carries, you certainly ought not to except your self. Eh, Sumner?" and Mr. Crosby indulged in a coarse, bantering laugh! The gentlemen made quite a tour through the settlement and inspected the diggings. The Mother Lode s dignified president met the bosses and engineers with a hearty hand shake and bestowed a gracious bow upon many a humble toiler in the mines. He personally directed the Pit Boss and Fire Inspector to permit the use of the open THE. SILENT CONFLICT 189 lamps, and accord every possible freedom to the miners. "Yes, yes, we must show these poor, hard working fellows that a corporation has a heart; hey, Sumner?" They were convers ing with Pit Boss Dale, at the bottom of the shaft. "Now that light is very poor, Dale," confidentially; "just give the men those open lamps; it ll please em, you know. Mr. Sumner will issue an order to that effect, but you may as well begin at once I ll have Sumner get out the order today. Well, goodbye, Dale; keep the men in good humor." The head official shook the hand of the man cordially. When the hand was with drawn the Boss beheld a shining gold piece. "Now, Sumner, we ll go back to Earth Up, up! Will we never get to the top?" He sighed relief, when at last he stood in the free air and sunlight. When an hour later President Crosby stood on the station platform preparatory to boarding the train bound for Philadelphia, he addressed the superintendent. "Oh, about the order, to permit the use of the open lamps. You need not make a formal order, unless I direct you to do so 190 THE SILENT CONFLICT later. Good-bye, Sumner; keep a stiff upper lip; all will come out right yet." He waved his gloved hand and entered the train which was soon speeding cityward. CHAPTER XV WARNED NOT ALWAYS FORE-ARMED King Henry Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my queen. Shakespeare s King Henry V. "Glad to see you, Doctor; walk right in, sir; this is a stormy night! Mother, here is Dr. Acton." The speaker was the co-conspirator of the guest for the defense of vested capital. "Well, Luke, what is the situation in the mines? Is there much discontent shown by the men?" taking the proffered chair. "Ah, good evening, Mrs. Darrell; I hope you are well, madam?" rising again to ac knowledge the cheery greetings of the aged woman. "How are your patients, Doctor? you could scarcely answer that question, I fear; but is the La Grippe, I believe you call it now, are there any new cases?" "Yes, there is much sickness, and several 191 192 THE SILENT CONFLICT new cases have made their appearance to day. Dr. Wendt, he is the new doctor from Philadelphia, and I have our hands full." The physician looked wearied and troubled. "And Clarissa Miss Watson, I mean; is she improving?" asked Luke. Dr. Acton colored at the familiar mention of the girl s name. "Yes, she is improving slowly. That was a very sad affair." "Very sad. Doctor. But I am now in possession of some pretty good evidence against the perpetrators." He looked seri ous no shade of pleasure disturbing his handsome face. "Indeed? and may I know what you have found out?" returned the doctor. "Certainly, sir! You must place these facts before the authorities; for, you see, I am at the diggings again, and must rely upon you to help me. There is lots for me to do down in the mines, sir, but about that later." Luke was even more serious now. Dr. Acton bent forward in an eager, ques tioning attitude: "What have you learned about the assault, Mr. Darrell?" His at tention did not seem to be attracted by pos- THE SILENT CONFLICT 193 sible important news from the scenes of his friend s daily labors. The miner arose from his chair and open ing a small trunk, took out a few articles, placing them before the physician. The latter regarded these articles the tell-tale cap, a miner s heavy hobnailed shoe, and a dingy pocket handkerchief, with great curiosity. "A pretty good array, I should say," ob served the detective, noting the look of puzzled interest on the other s face. "Yes, I should say so too, my friend, if if they point in the same direction. What of these, Luke?" pointing to the articles. "Well, this you found," holding up the cap. "This I stole;" here he smiled. "This shoe Mark Waring got by a forced exchange." The whole seemed so like an enigma to Dr. Acton, that he turned a questioning glance from son to mother. "Seeing you are not good at solving the Sphinx, I will explain," ventured Luke. "Go on, Mr. Darrell, I certainly cannot guess your riddles, sir." He waited for the solution. "When you told what had happened and 194 THE SILENT CONFLICT where you had found this," he pointed to the cap, "I went directly to the scene, and, looking carefully about the doorway, I dis covered footprints, such as a heavy shoe like this would make in the fresh snow these I have covered, by the way, and they may still be there. Then I met Mark Waring, and I showed him the footprints leading toward the Diamond s works. I got all the details I could from Clarissa," here Dr. Acton winced again; "and then I struck out for the Black Diamond to that quarter where the foreigners are housed. Here I got only the lay of the land. Then I called on Supt. Corliss who gave me the information again, that the Italians would not return to the Mother Lode you know, Mr. Sumner told us. But I also found that their leader went into the pit that morning without a cap, only a bandana tied over his head that is it," holding up that object for inspection. "How did you get it, Luke?" "Well, I waited you must wait, too, d ye see?" with a sort of tantalizing manner, so unlike him that Dr. Acton laughed. Luke, you are becoming as full of enig mas as a genuine detective," said Mrs. Darrell, THE SILENT CONFLICT 195 as she thought she observed just a little vexation in the physician s laugh. "Come, tell the Doctor, Luke." Thus gently admonished the man con tinued: "I went to see Mark Waring again, knowing that he was familiar with everything about the Black Diamond settlement, and was on good terms with all the men; also thinking, that his injuries would get him in where I should fail. Well, we arranged that Mark was to take an old shoe, one for the right foot you see this is a right-hand shoe, and has a peculiar patch on the sole and by hook or crook manage to exchange it (as he did manage) for this one. The brave fellow went to the Italian quarters, sized up his man and where he slept, and actually succeeded after the fellow had gone to bed," and the wary man enjoyed the look of astonishment on Dr. Acton s face. "Now you have been patient, I will re veal the mystery of the handkerchief." He moved forward, betraying his deep interest in the narrative. "I returned to the shaft about the hour of six and talked with the guard at the cage entrance. I asked him if he had heard of the troubles at the Mother 196 THE SILENT CONFLICT Lode he had I asked him if the Diamond directors were going to reduce wages he hoped not, but expected it would come sooner or later. Well, pretty soon a cage-load came out of the shaft; we stepped back on opposite sides of the extrance; I was witch ing for the man with a bandana on; he was not there; and so a second, and then a third; my man with the strange head-dress was in that load; I could see his face and knew the man, for I have seen him in our mines; he is a strong-limbed. Italian by the name of Stefano Giochio. Write that down, Doctor; he is our man!" The miner stopped here, while Dr. Acton pencilled the name in his pocket-book, spelling it as he wrote. "All right, Luke; go on; how did you get the handkerchief?" The professional man s curiosity was so aroused that the importance of Luke s revelation had not so great con cern as the gratification of that feeling. "Well, I followed him, shadowed him, is what the detective would say I followed him with much difficulty, although the light of the moon made it easier to keep the ban dana in view. He went straight to his quar ters, and hanging the head-dress on a nail, took THE SILENT CONFLICT 197 up a wash-basin, and entered the quarters. I lifted the cloth in true fashion, and here it is," and Luke turned it to view. "Do they point in the right direction, Doctor?" he asked. "Most plainly! You have made out a capital case. Now what is to be done ?" It was determined that Dr. Acton should take charge of the things and swear to a warrant for the arrest of Stefano Giochio and John Doe. Presently the conversation turned to the affairs of the Mother Lode, and matters of much moment were brought to the at tention of his guest by the gifted miner. Luke Darrell related briefly some of the occurrences of the past two days in the mines, and it will be necessary, for the purposes of this story, to give only in substance some of these facts. He found that his return to his work was pleasing to the men in general; only his old foes, Jack Farnam and Worry Watson, evincing a strong dislike, and a disposition to put such little obstacles in his way as might tend to annoy him and also show their dislike. That which troubled him most was the 198 THE SILENT CONFLICT promiscuous use of the open lamps. He had remonstrated with Pit Boss Dale, but had been told that he had best mind his own business; that if he did not choose to carry the open lights which the Company per mitted Dale informed him, he might take the Davy, and it must be locked according to law. Later he put the matter to Fire Inspector Walsh, who also told him that it was by wish of the Company, and that the open lights could be used on all work except in the new pit, just opened the mines had all been inspected, and cleared of any fire damp , but he would be care ful that no one went into the new pit with an open lamp. "Now, Doctor, do you think this right? We are endangering hundreds of lives by allowing this hazardous practice; and I am surprised that Supt. Sumner permits it! Do you think, sir, that he knows of this breach of the law? Mr. Sumner is a brave and humane man. I fully believe that if such an order were to come from the Company, he would find a way to veto it." The warmth of the speaker was apparent in voice and manner; he was walking earnestly to and fro. THE SILENT CONFLICT 199 "He shall know about this at the earliest moment," reassured the doctor. After some further conversation the visitor withdrew. Out into a night of blinding snow and baffling wind this earnest man of duty passed. How he shuddered when he looked over toward the little cluster of poor cottages and meaner huts, where the wretched toilers of Carbon Vale lay sheltered from the cut ting, merciless blasts that rendered his path so difficult. He did not "thank God" that he was not as "these poor," but rather thought, how can I bring gladness and comfort to these toilworn and suffering people. His walk carried him past the home of Clarissa; it was a little out of his way, to be sure, but he would go that way; he knew not why, but he went. His steps slowed as he approached, and again he shuddered as he looked upon the dark, low hut, now veiled behind the fast driving snow. He would go to the door and knock; it was not yet late. What excuse could he offer? nay, what purpose could he possibly have? Ah, well, as for that, he almost smiled at the interpretation of his purpose, but he was too intensely pained by his accompanying/ 200 THE SILENT CONFLICT reflections to smile; nay, he was too serious with his own part in his feelings. He would only meet the master of the house, unless he could frame some excuse to see his patient; but he had called professionally that morn ing he always liked to call there of morn ings, for somehow it sent sunshine upon his path all the day long. Yes, he would go; if the girl s father were there, he wanted to learn what he could do for his defence. This met with his approval. But suppose he were not at home, and he knew his ap petite and habits well enough to doubt his being there, "Why, I can ask for him and then wait." He advanced to the door and knocked. No answer greeted him, he knock ed again and called, "Is Mr. Watson at home?" "Oh! Dr. Acton, come in! Is that you? I so much feared that perhaps those rough men had come again." The voice of the girl was tremulous yet joyful. "Miss Watson, you will pardon me, but I wish to see your father," said he a part of the truth thus serving for all of it. "Oh, my poor father! But, Doctor, will you not light the candle that stands upon THE SILENT CONFLICT 201 the table?" He produced a match and lighted the candle. "You see I have not retired, and, having a wish to wait up for father, am so glad of your company. Will you kindly put more coals on the fire. This is a terrible night! How my heart aches for the poor people about us." She shuddered as the wind howled without and a gust brought sparks down the chimney. "Yes a wretched night, Miss Watson. May I ask how your injuries are to-night? You see I may as well be professional." He was satisfied to be anything professional, or friendly, or simply curious, if he might only sit by her and listen to her sweet voice. Ah! Herbert Acton! You, perhaps, ac cused yourself of unnatural feeling in thus intriguing for these fleeting moments of new found happiness. But it is human nature after all. "Your father will return soon I suppose?" with interrogative inflection. He was about to say "hope," but he despised a falsehood and would not utter it. "My poor father; he does not get in early these nights; but I hope expect he may 202 THE SILENT CONFLICT return at any time now. You will wait, Doc tor? Did you not say you wished to see him} She looked at his absent manner. "Yes," he replied mechanically. "You remember, Doctor Acton, the night you brought me home from from the ," she began. "Yes, Clarissa, I remember; do not speak of that terrible night," he quickly reinter- rupted. "Not about the very unfortunate calamity that befell me, if that pains you, sir; for I could not bear to cause you one thought that was painful or unpleasant." She looked compassion toward him; oh, happy moment for both. "Nay, go on my dear Miss Watson," and he righted himself as a boat that might have been over-borne by the storm of passion in his case. "What I was going to tell you is that on the night I recalled, I overheard something I wish you to know," explained the young woman. "Well, my friend, and what is it? Speak freely, please; if there is anything unpleasant to tell, do not fear to offend me, for that, THE SILENT CONFLICT 203 Clarissa, you cannot do." He spoke with much decision. Her eyes fell upon her hands clasped in her lap before her; she was moved by his voice; it sounded so like that other time, when for a painful, but joyous moment her heart had been filled with such hope and gladness. He looked toward her as she sat thus with down-cast eyes and happy, unconscious smile; the strong man s heart was deeply moved. He hesitated between the explanation that it was the recollection of her mission or her so sad home coming. "No, you will not think that I intend to offend you and besides, it does not all concern you. It is what I overheard father and the other two talking about," and she looked up again, straight into his eyes, as she seemed to recall herself to the perform ance of a sacred duty. "Well, my dear Miss Watson," He liked to put words of tenderness now into his ad dresses, and this form was as near to the real phrase as he dared to come. "You may tell me anything you wish, and, I assure you, no question of what you say no thought of 204 THE SILENT CONFLICT impugning your motives can cross my mind; you are too pure, too true, too good to have either an unholy thought or unjust purpose." Herbert Acton was speaking the inmost conviction of his heart, and Clarissa Watson knew it. She trembled slightly, not so much at his earnestness and the nature of his declar ation, nor at the consequences such feel ings might have for her own happiness; but she trembled in the fear that he might re open declarations of a plainer, but not less grateful kind, and for this she was not yet prepared. "Doctor, I heard those men say they would harm you that they would kill you, Dr. Acton, oh, why must my life be filled with such dread and shame!" and she covered up her face to shut out the horrible sight "that they would blow up the mines," She did not see the young man move toward her. He tenderly took her hand in his and look ing down into her troubled face, exclaimed in low, passionate voice: "You are my guardian angel, Clarissa! God bless you, dear." But before another word could be exchanged the rude, unsteady THE SILENT CONFLICT 205 step of Worry was heard, and the door opened, revealing his form covered with snow. He muttered incoherently, "Rissy, gurl, why do you wait up so late? Come, child, to bed, to bed." "Father, I have been waiting for you; and here is Dr. Acton, who wishes to speak with you," replied the trembling girl. "Oh, ho, Doc-ter! An what can you be wantin with such as old Worry Watson, man?" getting a better command of him self when he learned of the presence of the young man. "Well, Mr. Watson, I wanted to speak with you about about your your case, sir; but it is late pretty late now; I can come again, if you prefer," replied the doctor. "Perhaps another time would do as well," said the man. "I am late in tonight, and I am very tired and it s a pretty bad night, sir." expostulating, for in fact he had no relish for such an interview. "Any time you may say, Mr. Watson. Suppose you come to my office, any evening after supper." The thought occurred to Dr. Acton that thus he could possibly save the father from one night of debauch and also 206 THE SILENT CONFLICT keep the disagreeable discussion of the case from the daughter s ears; he knew both would be a relief to her. "All right, Doc tor, I ll come to the office some evening," expressing by his hes itancy the great indefiniteness of the time. "Then I must say, good-night, Mr. Watson;" he extended his hand. "Good-night, Miss Watson." He despised to connect the name the father had bestowed, with her he so dearly loved, but he pressed her hand gent ly for an instant and was gone. Out into the night again with the wind blowing a gale from the east, and the wet, clinging snow beating in his face. But some how he did not notice it now; his heart had been warmed at the glowing fire of his strange, new affection. CHAPTER XVI SPIKING THE ENEMY S GUNS "Clasp, Angel of the backward look "And folded wings of ashen gray "And voice of echoes far away, "The brazen covers of thy book;" Whittier s Snow Bound. Affairs at Carbon Vale were now in a seem ingly quiet state. Except for the occasional disgruntled expression of muttered hatred toward the owners of the Mother Lode, in particular, and the the heated arraign ment of centralized capital, in general, a casual observer would say that the late feeling of opposition from the miners had given place to one of contentment. These workingmen might be seen plod ding their weary, homeward way, or going in the gray dawn and gathering dusk to their places of toil. The slow, measured strokes of the pumps and the whir of machinery, the rumble of heavily laden cars, and the 207 208 THE SILENT CONFLICT shouts of the laborers made the air vocal with the pleasant yet melancholy hum of industry. Everywhere upon the scene the eye was gratified with the cheering sight of thrift and the heart raised with the hope that all was again well in the little Penn sylvania settlement. To the close observer matters presented a different aspect. The tall smoking chim neys of the Company s furnaces told of fires within and so, too, the weary, anxious faces of its thousand toilers betrayed the fire of hatred fed by the fuel of discontent, which might at any moment supply a mighty engine of organized resistance. There were those who stood at hand with fingers upon the pulse or with heads bent to catch the quick breath and fiery heart throbs of social and industrial distemper. With the adjusted regularity of a working- man s habits, one sentinel went daily to his wonted haunts of labor in the pits; another took up the cable of oft recurring rounds of humane, professional duty among those suf- ferining from sickness or injury; a third, with silent business mien, found the line of his observation in the steady, clock-like THE SILENT CONFLICT 209* train of a great corporation s affairs. Each in his prescribed field learned lessons from the great book of human nature, or took bearings from that part of the industrial sea to which his peculiar labors called him. Twice since that much dreaded December first, had pay-day come for the Carbon Vale crews, and the third of these recurrences, much feared on the one hand and equally desired on the other, was approaching. Incident to the usual course of events was the arrest and hearing in the case of murderous assault upon the life and person of Clarissa Watson. The Italian, Stefano Giochio, lay languishing in the jail which had been lately the scene of another incarceration, but com- panionless and unvisited by anyone tenderly concerned in this prisoner s welfare. Likewise the abuse of the unlawful prac tise in the use of unprotected lights in the mines had been corrected by a peremptory order from the Superintendent of the works. Among the men and also in the case of Pit Boss Dale the explanation of the immediate cause of such an order, was that the miner, Darrell, had made complaint to the man agement. In this we know too that they 210 THE SILENT CONFLICT were correct, but the motive charged by his silent accusers was so different from the truth that it weighed with a gravum of prej udice against the sincere fellow. Luke knew that the promiscuous use of these menaces to the common security of life was also a tremendous hazard of the Company s property, likewise it was in direct violation of the statutes of the state, and he felt, too, that the clean, humane rep utation of Ralph Sumner, his good friend and the Corporation s trusted representa tive, was involved, and much to the man ager s discredit, if this unlawful practice were permitted to continue. We know, too, how the detection of this breach of duty was reported and its correction secured. The publication of the Superintendent s order caused much feeling of resentment and was the occasion for a fresh outburst of indignation from those most ready to seek new cause of complaint. "I tell ye it s an oppression, sir," observed Dale to Inspector Walsh to whom fell the unpleasant duty of publishing the orders. "I m thinking its a little over-precaution ary, myself, Dale," returned Walsh. "You THE SILENT CONFLICT 211 heard what Pres. Crosby said in our presence; yes, and Sumner heard it too." "Yes, and Sumner had his orders from the general office to allow the lamps to the men, for Mr. Crosby told me told me, mind ye that Sumner was to issue the per mit at once. I acted under Crosby s orders, remember; not under Sumner s. And I ll be damned if I don t believe I ll do it still," angrily exclaimed the boss. "No, no, Dale, don t do that. I know how you feel, and, by God, I can t blame ye. If it was me, I am thinking I d cuss that Sumner out of his job. But then, ye know, I m responsible to the state as well as to the Superintendent to see that this damned order" shaking the written notice in the air "is obeyed, and I could not per mit you to disregard it, Dale." "Of course, Sumner is stainin at a gnat ; there is ab-so-lute-ly no danger." The inspector was wavering between the duty imposed by his office and the inclination to use his own judgment in the matter. "You ll see what a hell of a time we ll have with the men. And don t you for get what I say. New hands and old hands, 212 THE SILENT CONFLICT both, will have an excuse to kick and growl at the Company and at me an you, too. We ll get the most of the blame, Walsh." Dale moved away to see that the old Davies were in readiness, for they had been cast aside most unceremoniously during the past two or three days. He did not take the precaution, however, of removing the more preferable lamps to a place of safety, out of the reach of the men; somehow he wished that the miners would disregard the order, and in a rebellious spirit, left this temp tation in their way. Many were the muttered imprecations on the Superintendent, and disapprovals of the new order. As the pit boss had declared, new and old hands alike took up the cry of "oppression"; and, as they surlily fitted on the detested Davy they exchanged words of angry dislike. "You look like you se goin huntin , Worry," was Jack Farnam s observation as he watched his boon companion equipped with a Davy tightly locked. "Pity I m not goin shootin for some bigger game, Jack. I m thinkin that a good fat director or two of the Mother Lode would THE SILENT CONFLICT 213 make a better and fuller bag." Watson swaggered off, with his pick shouldered like a sportsman s fowling piece. "I only wish there was damp enough in the hole to be dangerous, Worry, we would not be long in blowin up the shebang, mines, mules, machinery and all would go to hell together. Yes, and directors too, I imagine; fer a good blowing up would hit them pal- asheal princes in Philedelfy bout as hard as anybody," and he laughed boisterously at his rude conceit. "If it s gas ye want, I know where there s a plenty of it. D ye know, Jack, that I m of the o-pinyun, that the new pit s full of it." He spoke confidentially now. "Or why should Walsh have kept the naked lights away?" "D ye think so, Worry? Now if Burly was only here! Poor Burly, I guess it s yer last job ye ve done fer us; hey, Worry?" Neither man seemed, however, to enjoy the recollections that Jack s words suggested. "I shouldn t mind firin the stuff myself, man," returned Watson with great brag gadocio in his manner. But here their paths separated, as their work took them to 214 THE SILENT CONFLICT different rooms, and the conversation closed. Luke Darrell had been a willing listener to these things, as he had followed at a close, but safe distance in the friendly gloom of the place. The discovery of what to him seemed plain was a plot of Worry and Jack to wreck the Company s works caused a shudder of horror to pass through his strong frame. It was with some difficulty, too, that he suppressed a cry which rose to his lips when the full nature of their confidence dawned upon him. Upon a more sober thought, however, he was sufficiently convinced that such a catastrophe could not be immediately brought about, as the conspirators were working in his own neighborhood, and this was in a line opposite to the new pit, several rods distant from the pit s "eye." But Luke s mind was not at rest, and he bent over his task that day, deep in thought and with a determined purpose. So much was he absorbed in these thoughts and he worked with such unwonted diligence, that the car-tally showed he had exceeded his usually large stint . The pit boss noted this and alluded to it at the close of the day THE SILENT CONFLICT 215 when the men gathered at the bottom of the shaft preparatory to going out of the mine. "That ledge seemed to yield unusually easy, sir" explained the miner to Dale s implied question. "Tryin to make up for the time ye lost while workin fer the devilish company." The speaker was a known hater of anything, or anybody of merit; he likewise flouted his animosity toward his "Satanic Majesty," The Mother Lode Company. But Luke took no notice of the fellow s savage denunciation of himself, and the fling at the corporation; he was used to these things and really did not mind them. Thoughtfully he turned his steps homeward, resolved on a course that would tend to avert calamity of a heinous character to aril concerned. Wearied beyond his usual degree he dropped into a short nap by the warm home fire after supper; and when his mother noticed his tired appearance she mused with herself: "My boy is unusually sleepy tonight." "Luke," she said a few minutes later, "don t you think you d better go to bed, now; you seem so worn out, my soft." 216 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Aye, mother! he exclaimed starting from his chair. "Did you hear that roar and the terrible cries?" passing his hand over his troubled brow. "No Luke!" briefly replied the surprised mother" "Oh, I was just dreaming, mother dear." He laughed, but the troubled look still clouded his handsome face. "Sit down my boy! What are you going to do, Luke?" enquired Mrs. Darrell; for the young man was moving about, seeking coat and hat. "I m going over to Watson s, mother," laconically and in absentminded manner. "But ain t you too tired, Luke? I know it s a long while since you have been over to see Clarissa, and you ought to go. It s hardly neighborly, I know; but this is a cold, unpleasant night and you are so tired." "Well, mother, I m not so tired, now; I ve had a little nap; I ll not be gone long," and he stooped to kiss the withered cheek, and bestow a parting smile. "God bless you, my boy" reverently. "My love to the dear girl, Luke." He took his hat and was gone. THE SILENT CONFLICT 217 - Whistling he went; but he was serious and thoughtful. He whistled because rec ollections of many a joyous walk to the home of Clarissa, in boyhood days, came up in his thoughts; he was serious because of the burden that lay at his heart and mas tered his feelings. It was but a short walk, and the still, crisp air gave energy to his wonted quick step. Shortly after, he knocked at the door and was admitted by Miss Watson herself. "Why, Mr. Darrell, What a pleasure! Come in, sir. I presume you want to see my father." "Not just at present; later, perhaps." He entered the house mechanically. CHAPTER XVII EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENSE "Freeze, Freeze, thou bitter sky, "Thou dost not bite so nigh "As benefits forgot: "Though thou the waters warp, "Thy sting is not so sharp "As friend remembered not." Shakespeare. "Stefano!" No response only the sounds of distant noises disturbed the night. "Giochio Stefano!" again called a voice. "Piu! whata you want?" The voice of the Italian came from the inside of the barred window; for with apprehension he crouched closely beside the wall, fearful of some bodily harm. "Say Stefano, come nearer to the window: I want to whisper to ye." encouraged the speaker. "Howa I know you not keel me? Whata I want fra you?" asked Stefano. 218 THE SILENT CONFLICT 219 "We have come to get ye out o this, man. Can t ye understand?" explained the man outside. "Howa I un-derstan? You not tella me. Whirra you come fram?" This time his voice sounded closer and clearer. "We come from yer friends, Giochio; and are here to tell ye how to get out o here; is that plain?" "I know not-a thata plaain; ees that you hum? Howa you calla ya name, ma fren?" asked he wearily. "I m Jack Jack Farnam; you know me Stefano. And here is Worry Watson ." The speaker might have added some further explanation, but with a startled cry the Italian suddenly disappeared from the win dow. "Say, Stefano, come here, I ll tell ye how to get out o this place." Thus reas sured that perhaps a way of escape was open to him, the wary foreigner cautiously ap proached the opening a second time. "You tella me how; tella me, what must I do then you go away, Jack and Worra go too!" His voice betrayed the fear he felt. "Well listen then. Here take this bar; 220 THE SILENT CONFLICT there now. If we d only had such friends, Worry, we could ave slept in our beds, man! Now Stefano, go to the door and pry up the stone under it." Jack mounted as high as possible and placed his face close to the grating. "Here, man, is a bit o candle and a match. Strike a light and I can show ye." The Italian lit the candle. "Now I gotta eet; whirra must I deeg?" "There, that big stone; see?" and Jack directed his efforts to the task of liberating himself. In the course of a few minutes the great stone was loosened, and by much prodding, an opening was made large enough for the man, Stefano, to get his huge body through. "Now, Stefano, before ye come out I want to talk with ye." The prisoner grunted assent. "Ye ll have to come into the mine tomorrow, fer the deputies will be lookin fer ye, and least of all will they expect to find ye there." "Howa I do that?" "Oh, we can work it all right, and we have clothes fer yer too," Jack talked rapidly with a show of confidence that begot con fidence in his listener, and that indicated a well devised plan. Stefano grunted his ap proval. "Blow out that light! Now give the taller to me." The man obeyed, and Jack con tinued the unfolding of the prisoner s part in the plan for his escape. "You ve got to stick to the job, once yer get out, Stefano; er you ll git in agin, mighty quick." The plan slowly developed and the dark scheme that lay beneath it half revealed, half colored did not appear to the untutored foreigner, but he under stood enough to see that it meant a chance for liberty and, therefore, met his approval. Giochio was now hauled through the uncomfortably small opening, and the men left the place making a wide detour of the village, thus to escape discovery. At the hut of a fellow Italian who for the fact had been well chosen was down with the grip, they left Stefano. He was directed to appear at the entrance of the Mother Lode on the following morning, dressed in the garments of the invalid. While these things were in progress at the town jail, Luke Darrell was carefully reducing to form, his plans for the saving 222 THE SILENT CONFLICT of what he apprehended might be a deep laid scheme for great harm to the interests and safety of human life and property. "Miss Watson, may I inquire how your father s health is, these days," he asked, after the usual formal observations on the weather and kindred topics had been exhausted. "Father has been pretty well, sir," answered the young woman. "You must pardon me, if I seem to ask impertinent questions, Miss Clarissa, but I ll explain my purpose later." He looked furtively at her. What could he be coming at! The girl was both curious and alarmed now. "Does he maintain his purpose of stir ring up the men, Clarissa?" This question without much show of interest. "Really, Mr. Darrell, I know so little of what my father s views or purpose is; I have hoped, though, that his recent trouble," she hesitated and colored deeply a blush of shame "I have hoped, that he would give up his purpose to cause a strike." Her eyes dropped to the floor. "Your father? is he away much of nights, Miss Watson?" The trend of this she could THE SILENT CONFLICT 223 scarcely conjecture, and it pained her to answer; for he so seldom spent a moment in her company now. "Yes Luke, a great deal; and I would so much like to have him home, since that fatal night and since I was hurt." Her face wore a far-away eager look that told of heart longings and with but small hope of their realization. "And he never makes excuses for his neglect his absence, I mean, Clarissa?" He liked not the word "neglect," so corrected him self. "Your pardon, dear Miss Watson, but I am not asking from idle curiosity, you know." "I hope our long acquaintance, Luke will be proof against my thinking any thing wrong that you may do. Let that reassure you." She tried to look cheer ful. "Now your question; Yes father is always making excuses, but I sometimes feel that they are very lame ones." Her head dropped upon her hand, and the sweet face was hid from scrutiny. "Then you are not so sure of his doings, when not at his work and away from you?" The question was a harsh, unfeeling one to put to the loving, sacrificing daughter of 224 THE SILENT CONFLICT this wretched man. Luke would have spared her too, but his purpose required as much of such information as she could give. A sense of shame kept her head bowed, and yet she answered bravely in a clear straight-forward way. "I doubt his words very much, some times; he is so changed of late; and it is all due to drink;" and she sobbed a moment, then looked up: "Oh! Mr. Darrell, pardon this burst of feeling, please! She looked up through her tears, straight into the eyes of the strong, noble man before her. "Clarissa, child! Forgive my unfeeling ques tions." His tenderness touched the well- spring of her feelings anew, and she wept a moment in silence. Rising from her chair, she went over to the friend who had caused her such pain, and clasping her hands before her which meant both resignation and re solve, "You shall not be troubled by tears again, my good friend," smiling trustfully. "I will be brave for your sake, and for the sake of the good you hope to do." She held out her hand thin and white from the recent, severe suffering. "Clarissa," he cried, taking her hand in THE SILENT CONFLICT 225 his own great rough one, "I am tempted to kiss you, my dear, and tell you that which has long been at my heart, but I cannot take advantage of your feelings now." She drew away from him; she had never sus pected this! "No not now, dear; at some time when you are strong, and when a great duty is not weighing upon my heart. Then I want to come to you and tell you, how I love you, little one ." "There!" and he did print a kiss, tenderly, sincerely upon the hand he held. "Oh Luke Mr. Darrell you must not talk so to me now! No my dear friend, never! I am all unworthy of you." She looked up smiling a sorrowful, but confiding smile. "You will leave this, and return to your questions?" Somehow she felt that such talk would be less painful to her. Oh, if he only knew that Herbert Acton in her thoughts she liked to call him Herbert Acton. But what was Herbert Acton to her? She had never given him any promises nay, nor hope. And if Luke Darrell sought her out as the choice of his love, did that signify anything to Doctor no, Herbert Acton! And besides was not Luke of her own station in life? Could 226 THE SILENT CONFLICT she not be happier as the wife of the noble miner? Aye, was he not the noblest man she knew as noble as as Herbert. She noticed herself trembling violently. "There, my dear girl! I have startled you, Clarissa. Forgive me; let me return to my questions?" comforted the miner, his gentle- manliness and strong sense of duty to himself, to her and to the cause of humanity, which he had espoused, ruling his actions with a strong, masterful power. He resumed the seat from which he had risen, and mo tioned Clarissa to be seated also. "Do you think your father spends much time with Jack Farnam, Clarissa?" "Yes, I think he does, mostly; and I know Jack is not good company for anyone. Oh, why does not my father choose for companions such men as you or or Dr. Acton?" "I think Jack uses his influence over him and not for his good, either," He modestly paid no notice to the compliment her words bestowed on himself; but why Dr. Acton? "Perhaps we can prevent Jack s bad influence." He must say something encouraging. Clarissa interrupted him; he had scarcely THE SILENT CONFLICT 227 time to say so much. Eagerly she leaned forward and, looking into his face beseech ingly, -exclaimed: "Oh! Luke, how? tell me how to save my poor, wretched father, and anything you may ask, I will do, even even to yes, Luke, even to giving my life to you." She did not say love the word came to her lips, but she could not utter the lie that would make. She trembled; but why? Did she have any right to utter such a vow? Yes, he had told his love for her; but had she a right to give that which did not belong to her; but would Luke barter his love for her life? Luke was sensibly moved by this show of strong filial affection, and then he realized his own personal gain in her promised self- sacrifice. But that was the very weakness of her promise; and, besides, had he not just now disavowed any wish to take ad vantage of her weak condition and severely wrought feelings? No, he could accept no sacrifice! He would seek a more suitable time for the formal declaration of his love, and await an answer, clear, calm, and truth ful from her inmost heart. He would have 228 THE SILENT CONFLICT no sacrificial love under any circumstances. "I know that you will be glad to learn that I have a plan for such a fortunate ar rangement; but I must tell you about that another time. Can you trust me, Clarissa?" He was troubled for her sake. "Trust you! oh, Luke, I trust you in every thing." "ThenI will say that I will see Mr. Sumner; he will help me to bring it about. Now, of the other questions, Clarissa; and I know they will be less cruel." He waited for her permission to proceed. "Ask me anything, Mr. Darrell. Anything," she repeated emphatically. "When Mr. Watson went from home this evening, did he make any excuse?" resumed the questioner. "Yes;" she thought a moment "he said he wanted to take some things to a poor foreigner, who needed them; it was so un like my father; I hope, I do him no wrong he hates or dislikes the Italians and Hun garians so." Yes; this question was not so trying as the others had been. "Ah, he did! What things did he take for the poor man?" He said "poor man," THE SILENT CONFLICT 229 for he wished her to feel that he put some credence in Worry s excuse. "Well, let s see." Recalling a list. "A pair of shoes he had an old pair that were much too big for himself, and a cap, one of a strange outlandish cut he had never worn it but once or twice; he didn t like it. I think it was too large, and too out landish, he did not like the foreign cut of it; and then an old pair of blue trousers; that s all," and the girl looked up inquisitively, as much as to say, "And how can these matters interest you?" "Will he meet Jack tonight?" was the short question. "Yes, I am pretty sure of that, for these things were for a poor man that Jack knew, he said; so it is pretty plain that they meet tonight." "Now you have answered all my questions." A moment of thought, it was such a relief, she sighed. "Just one thing more, and I must be going." She trembled again now, for she feared that her friend, assured by her own recent prom ises, might reopen a scene which she hoped was closed, closed forever! For if Luke 230 THE SILENT CONFLICT Darrell was to declare his love now, how could she answer him? She had often thought that this worthy man and true friend had a very tender regard for herself, and she had at times expected and even perhaps hoped that he would tell her of it but that was past now. Still she knew it to be as she had suspected; partly hoped, before Herbert Acton had come into her life. But now it would be so hard to hear him; and what could she possibly answer? How wildly her heart beat! "Will you question your father tonight, and learn all you can." She sighed the sudden relief this gave. "All you can; take any explanation, any excuses. But be careful to remember all; and when he goes to the mines tomorrow morning, meet me at the crossing yonder," pointing "and tell me about everything; we can walk to the shaft together. Can you do this, dear?" He lapsed into such tenderness that she started. "Have I offended you, Clarissa? do I ask too much? Oh, how inconsiderate I am! I am for getting that you have been very ill." He took her hands in his own big, rough ones. A moment she stood, dumb and trembling: THE SILENT CONFLICT 231 "Oh, no: I am quite well again; and I shall do as -you ask me. But what strange things to do! yet, I will trust you as always." The look of entire confidence restored his momentary unbalance. "Then, Clarissa dear, goodnight: Brave, brave girl, remember that some day, I have something to say I must not trouble you now. No, it would not be right at this time, but some day. Goodnight!" He opened the door and pressed his lips to her hand "Good night, dear." "Good night, Luke! and God bless you." The clear, cheery tones of Clarissa Watson sounded out into the cold, frosty air. And the girl disappeared within. "I beg your pardon, sir!" "Ah, Doctor, you are making your calls at this late hour?" Luke rallied him in a pleasant manner. Herbert Acton had been an unwilling listener to the parting words of his friend and his dearest friend. He must explain. He had come to see if the long looked-for talk with Worry Watson could not be se cured. The trial was set for December 26th, and only a few days intervened. He had 232 THE SILENT CONFLICT come late, for he had met the man earlier in the evening, and knowing his habits could not expect to find him at home until a late hour. He did not add that it was still an early hour for Watson to return, but that he could improve his time quite agreeably. He had consoled himself with the thought. Clarissa, hearing the call of Luke making excuses and the continued friendly inter change of words, very naturally concluded that it was her father whom Luke had met. On opening the door she was very much astonished and equally disturbed to find that Luke Darrell, her lover, was talking to no other than Herbert Acton her beloved. Were they ignorant of each other s feelings toward her? Dr. Acton enquired for the father of the young woman and getting, "No, father has not yet returned," bade her goodnight, and hastened to overtake the miner, with whom he wished to exchange a few words. CHAPTER XVIII WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING "Hark! a swift step! she had caught its tone "Through the dash of the sea, through the wild wind s moan. "Is her lord returned with his conquering bands?" Heman s The Lady of Provence. The dread scourge of influenza that pros trated so many of the inhabitants of the eastern states in the Winter of iSSg- ox), swept with alarming severity through the village where the scenes of our story have been mostly laid. Now it was at its height, and there was scarcely a house in the town, but had its victims. This accounted for the now almost daily arrival of fresh workers for the Mother Lode. Supt. Sumner looked with alarm, first to one and then to the other horn of the dilemma which confronted him: If the prostrations continued, a season of great suffering stared in the face of the community; on the other 233 234 THE SILENT CONFLICT hand, a rapid recovery of the many afflicted would over-stock the Company with laborers, and great unrest with its train of social and industrial evils must follow. He reported faithfully the condition of affairs at the works, each day, and lately his letters advising a more conservative treatment of these conditions became more frequent and urgent. But still the general office in Philadelphia could see no reason why the full force of active employes should not be kept up; the market was steady, and the demand for coal was increasing beyond their present ability to meet it. And so the shipment of raw hands came almost daily. It was not difficult to know how to dispose of these fresh importations; for the present, they only took the place of those laid off by sickness; but the future was before him, dark, unprovided, threatening. The suffering which had followed the ravages of the epidemic; the lack of means to provide the bare necessities of life and also to secure the equally necessary luxuries which the sick so much require, was well beyond the reach of the poor and unem ployed of Carbon Vale. THE SILENT CONFLICT 235 The good physician gave freely of his professional services and also of his by no means plethoric purse. He disliked to make appeals to the generosity of others, and yet his own slender means, but fertile resources were nearly exhausted; relief must come from some new and more powerful source, to stay the hand of want that would not wait. He would make his appeal to Ralph Sumner, the large-hearted man of business, he knew he would not be turned aside; the man of noble principles must, to his thinking, be the man of strong charitable impulses; and Dr. Acton was not mistaken. "Yes, Doctor; when you find need, pro vide against it by ordering in my name. When my inability to pay overtakes me, I will notify you." This the manager of the Mother Lode said in response to the doctor s importunity. "But I hoped to reach the heart of the Company itself through you, Mr. Sumner; I hardly expected you to do it all, sir," apologized the friend of the poor. "What is to be done in that line can only be done by personal contribution; the Company as a corporation, will do nothing, I am sure," 236 THE SILENT CONFLICT discouraged the superintendent. "But," he quickly added, noting the effect of his words, "I will write a strong letter to Mr. Crosby, asking for some assistance in the matter." "That will be the thing to do, Mr. Sumner; I thank you for your interest," and he took up his hat and gloves ready to depart. "Any news from among the miners? By the way, I have not met our friend Darrell for some time. How does he come on?" asked the manager. "Well; I met him last night, on the street a few moments; and, say! You know of his success in the role of detective in that that assault case? Well, there is another cap and shoe trail that he is following; but I do not know where it may lead; in fact, Luke scarcely sees the trend himself." As he could not acquaint the manager with any more facts in this matter, he bade him good-day. His professional visits brought him into the Latin quarters of the town, and here he soon stood within the little hut where, on the previous night, Jack and Worry had brought the Italian Stefano. He found the occupant of the place restless and feverish, THE SILENT CONFLICT 237 and no one to give him even a cup of water to slake his burning thirst. The physician, as in many other similar instances, found a cup and placed it, filled with cool, fresh water, within the man s reach. He also put the scanty furnishings in order, somewhat. It was while thus employed that he started with some surprise, when his eyes beheld the cap, shoes, and trousers described by Luke, as being the gift of Worry Watson to some needy person; he was also sure that the clothing of this sick Italian had hung in the same place on the previous day. Dr. Acton was now certain that some thing was wrong, but it presented an enigma he could not solve. He scrutinized the features of the sick man and also looked around him to make sure that this was the place he supposed he was visiting; but this only carried the stronger conviction, as he was, now doubly certain of the change of the clothing. His mind sought an explanation. Did Worry Watson or Jack Farntfm make this exchange, in order to effect a disguise for criminal purposes? Quickly the practised mind of the physician, skilled in reading 238 THE SILENT CONFLICT disease from slight symptoms, ran over the stock of events connected with the lives of these two desperate men, that had come to his knowledge. Was it their purpose to jump their bail bonds? This would mean much to himself and Mr. Sumner, and should be prevented; he knew that the circumstances connected with the killing of Gaudio would be entirely in favor of these men-, who had been named as accessories in the case; but was it so plain to them? He had tried to see Worry several times about the matter, but without success. Had Jack Farnam also provided himself with a disguise in like manner? Then his mind turned to other incidents until he recalled the scene at the jail in which Clarissa had figured. What had been said and done there? Suddenly he turned pale; he grasped the back of a chair for support! Was he the principal victim of this deep-laid de ception? He recalled Clarissa s warning that the two men on that fatal night had sworn vengeance on his head. This was, then, the trend of Luke s new discoveries! Had his friend purposely kept him in ignorance of the mean ing of the facts he had learned? If so, for THE SILENT CONFLICT 239 what reason? It would be most natural, he thought, for Luke to put him on his guard. Herbert Acton was now much disturbed in his thoughts; what course to pursue he found a difficulty in choosing. He could go to Reading, to Philadelphia, anywhere. He could go before the magistrate, and ask to be released from the bail bonds of these two offenders; and this would deprive them of their liberty. Each of the above plans of escape, from what he now concluded was his destiny, he discarded as either dis honorable or cowardly; he could be neither. Likewise the thought of arming himself was distasteful to him, for he had always felt perfectly secure in and out among the people of Carbon Vale; a truly brave man generally despises the thought that defenses against assassins and lawbreakers are at all necessary. He would consult Luke; this met his approval; and for this he knew he should have plenty of time before his foes could strike. He might also lay his fears before Ralph Sumner, but he hesitated, for he did not like to show the white feather. Thus debating with himself, the good Samaritan went his rounds, giving cheer 240 THE SILENT CONFLICT on every hand and dispensing both medical skill and real charity. One thought, however, was uppermost in his mind; yes, his con clusion was early reached, and it somehow took the edge off his fears; he would seek the opportunity of again declaring his love to Clarissa; she was now quite recovered from her injuries, and he so much desired to know her heart. This purpose occupied his thoughts and cheered the anxious, wait ing hours. When Luke came to the meeting of the roads, in the gray dawn that morning, he found Clarissa Watson already awaiting him. "Good morning, Clarissa! You are punc tual, my girl," greeted the miner, shifting his dinner pail to the other hand. "Here, take my arm, please; for the path is rough and slippery; you are not strong, either, dear." He still felt that he had some right to show great tenderness, for had he not told her of his affection for her; therefore, could he not not also express it? The young woman did not greatly enjoy these overtures of her friend; for, while she knew his sincerity and pardoned his slight presumption, she sensibly recoiled for THE SILENT CONFLICT 241 reasons all her own; but he could not imagine that any obstacles to his suit existed; she knew that. "You must be very attentive, and listen now," she said, giving these overtures little notice; to enter upon the mission on which she had come would wholly disarm him in any familiar advances. "Yes, Clarissa; go on, my dear," he tenderly persisted, bending his tall form, courteously, to catch her confidences. "Father came home very late last night, and he was very much ." Here she hes itated, and he felt the tremor that passed over the girl s slight form. "There, there, dear; I understand." He would spare her feelings as best he could. "I asked him so many, many questions, and learned that he had passed the whole evening in the company of Jack Farnam; he had not a little to say about the Italian and about an Italian, and that leads me to think he specially met two of the race." "Yes, yes; I see; go on! encouraged Luke with deep interest. "He said the clothes he took to the man didn t fit; but that the fellow was going to exchange them with another, so both would be suited." She stopped, for her companion had pressed her hand somewhat closer to his side and had looked so earnestly into her eyes. "Do you think, Luke, that any of the signs you seem to see in these things point toward harm to to anyone?" She spoke rapidly; she regarded his face, now in a brown study, wistfully. "I fear so! yes, I fear so but I can hardly tell what I fear." He answered first hastily, then evasively. "Oh, Luke! Do you think it is Herbert? Dr. Acton, I mean?" She betrayed great emotion; her hand slipped from his arm and she stood now, pale and trembling be fore him, blocking his path. "And why Herbert Acton?" with the slight emphasis indicated. "Why, really, I have some reason to fear that Jack and father harbor some ill feel ings toward Dr. Acton." She said doctor very distinctly this time and Luke noticed the careful change. Hurriedly, Clarissa related the conver sation of the men, overheard at the jail THE SILENT CONFLICT 243 when they threatened the physician s life. Her companion quieted her fears on that score as best he could, but she continued standing before him, blanched and trembling. "Let us move on, Clarissa Miss Watson?" He changed his address to the more formal, for his suspicions were suddenly aroused by her great emotion and the facts betrayed in her unguarded reference to Dr. Acton. "Is that all you have to tell?" Luke spoke calmly the lack of tenderness, so usual in his voice, was also apparent. "Luke, what is this?" taking a small roll- like package from her pocket. The man carefully removed the paper from a small, cylindrical, gray object; at one end gleamed a bright copper-point. He started in alarm. "Where did you get this, girl?" "Father was very careful to take this from his pocket last night, and hid it, as he supposed; but I watched him, and, oh, Luke, I did what I have never done before; I took this and put that in its place which would deceive him. He did not know; for he was very careful this morning to hurry it into his dinner-pail. But what is it Luke?" 244 THE SILENT CONFLICT The strong man stopped and held her back. "Now look, or listen rather." As he spoke he hurled the thing at a rock some two or three rods away, striking on the bright copper point. A report like that of a gun rent the air about them and brought a shower of snow and icicles from an overhanging pine. "There! I guess it can do no more harm! Enough! enough! Miss Watson; now go home, girl, and do not give over your watching; for, I will say, that such things mean trouble." He stopped speaking abruptly. Her face white and anxious, she quickly asked, "What was it, Luke?" "Dynamite, girl! Did you not see and hear? But say nothing about it. There, go home now. I must thank you too, Clarissa." He started on his way. "Goodbye," he called over his shoulder, and in another moment he was gone in answer to the warning whistle from the works, which she well understood left no time for delay. Her heart would not stand still; her limbs trembled, and the road seemed strange and uncertain to her. What did all this mean? Did her father really contemplate some THE SILENT CONFLICT 245 awful crime? or why should he have such an engine of destruction in his possession? Would he use it? and for what? V She thought, as the only possible explan ation, of his threats upon the life of Herbert Acton. What should she do? What could she do? Yes, she would tell her lover he was her lover; she was sure of that, for he had told her so! And, yes, she knew that she loved this noble, self-sacrificing man; or why should she tremble so at his impending danger? When she reached home, broken down with fatigue and dread, she sought her couch for rest; this tended to quiet the fear and agitation which was upon her, and ere she realized this her eyes were closed in sleep, and nature s gentle restorative com posed both mind and body. It was bright noon when she awoke, with the low south sun shining full upon her face. She started up, and tried to recollect what had happened; she was calmer now. "Clarissa, may I come in?" It was the childish voice of Margery Waring. "Why, Margery, how glad I am to see you." "There, I thought you had forgotten 246 THE SILENT CONFLICT me, quite; where have you been?" She looked the gratitude she felt for the kindly visit of the humble, sweet child. "Father and me have been helping to nurse the poor people who are down with the la grippe" Most of the people had learned to call the epidemic "the la grippe." "How very kind!" exclaimed Clarissa. "Yes, and we have been well paid, too. See! Dr. Acton gave me this;" holding up a shining dollar. "And he gives father good wages for just seeing to some of the sick. Ain t he good, Clarissa?" She put her question with upturned, eager eyes. "Yes, Margery; Dr. Acton is the kindest, noblest man I know! I am so glad he has been kind to you and your unfortunate father," said with a double sincerity. "Yes and he told father that when he was well again he would see that he was made a regular nurse. Won t that be nice? And then he won t have to work in the mines any more. "Her face glowed with the an imation that real pleasure gives. "Yes, yes, child. How noble! how like Herbert!" She would have violated her truest feelings had she said Doctor Acton. THE SILENT CONFLICT 247 "Is that his name, Clarissa? Herbert, Herbert! Ain t it a pretty name!" The girl was delighted with the new-found name for one she so much respected and admired. "Yes, Margery, it is the name of a noble man; it is a dear name." She felt the need of some one with whom to share her confi dence, and she knew that she could speak freely with her little caller without arousing a suspicion of her own deep and tender passion. "Clarissa, Dr. Acton asked me if I knew anyone who would watch a few hours this afternoon with a poor sick I-talian, and I told him I d find someone. But I didn t think of you then. Can you go, Clarissa?" The girl was pleading for her friend s help. "Yes, dear, I ll go. Where ll I find the place?" Eager, now, and ready even in her weak condition and trouble of heart. And Dr. Acton needed her! "I can take you there; it isn t far from our house. Father told me to bring you if you could come; and we ll eat dinner that he is getting ready for us, first." Margery was dancing her delight in the pleasant prospect of this new surprise for her friend. Til go, Margery dear," said Clarissa. "T l 248 THE SILENT CONFLICT And when Herbert Acton called that after noon at the home of the Watsons, the one he had thought all day to find was gone; and he did not know that he was, indirectly, the innocent cause of her absnce. CHAPTER XIX CHASING A PHANTOM "The maid who binds her warrior s sash, "With smiles that well her grief dissembles, "The while beneath her drooping lash "One starry tear-drop hangs and trembles," Anon. The day in the mines was one of unusual activity; the tracks leading to the new pit had been rushed to completion, and the pumps which had, up to this time, been run ning at full speed, were telling off their strokes with a monotonous regularity which plainly said, the water in that part of the works was now under control. "She s all right now, Dale!" exclaimed Inspector Walsh, with an air of satisfaction. "Hope to God, she is!" was the brief response. "D ye find any damp in that quarter, Walsh?" "None," was the laconic answer. "Then where in hell s the use of stickin to the Davies?" asked Dale pettishly. 249 250 THE SILENT CONFLICT "No use! Only it s the order; and on the Company s part a damn poor order, too," observed the inspector. Both men remained silent for some mo ments; both seemed to consider how the order prohibiting the naked lights might be circum vented. At length it was the Pit Boss who spoke. "If the men choose to use the open lamps what s the harm, Walsh?" "No harm; there can t be a bit o danger; only some one might report it, and I for one don t want to be held responsible," was the guarded reply. "Who s goin to blow on us? Besides, if it does get to the Superintendent s ears, we can both say we had our orders from Crosby. Aint that enough! He was still angry at Supt. Sumner s order an order interfering with what he was pleased to re gard as a permit from the official head of the Mother Lode. "All right! If you think you can manage it, and don t go to layin the blame on my shoulders, do as you please. Only I wash my hands of the whole matter." It was Pilate who set the mine inspector a remark able example. THE SILENT CONFLICT 251 Dale moved away, pleased and fully re solved that so many of the pit men as chose could go to their work on the following day equipped with naked lights. He would thus gain the approbation of the Company s president and also the good will of the miners, and then, his grudge against the Super intendent would be partly paid off. Luke Darrell looked in vain for other signs of treachery on the part of Jack Farnam and Worry Watson. He also failed to iden tify the man he expected to see rigged out in the regimentals described by Clarissa. If the dynamite cartridge was to aid in carry ing out the threat of the men the day before, it was safe. That part of their plan had been actually exploded. Everything went on smoothly, and the wonted hum of industry alone rewarded the sturdy, listening fellow s keen ears. He won dered several times, how the arch conspirators explained the fraud which must have been found in Watson s dinner-pail. Would they charge Clarissa with practicing this fraud upon them? If so, what would be the con sequences to her? Worry Watson, though a rough man, possessed of many brutish 252 THE SILENT CONFLICT instincts, he knew, loved the girl most ten derly and always treated her kindly. But he knew too, that she had never, perhaps not in the slightest matter, by word or deed, deceived her father. Well, on that matter only time could answer. Finally he for sook his conjectures. The fact was that Jack and Worry had overheard the conversation of Walsh and Dale, and had decided to delay their purpose until the following day; a flame was a much safer and surer way of accomplishing their object, than was dynamite. Hence the bold artifice of Clarissa was not dis covered. The roll lay untouched at the bot tom of the pail. But the man who was so determinedly defending the interest of the Mother Lode the safety of human life and property did not know this phase of the matter. When, therefore, he was interrupted at supper- time by a loud knock at the door, he was not wholly surprised to see Clarissa Watson. On opening the door he found her, terribly agitated and panting for breath. "Oh, Luke Mr. Darrell! You will pro tect me," and she dropped faint and tremb- THE SILENT CONFLICT 253 ling into the chair which Mrs. Darrell quickly pushed toward her. "Be calm, dear; there, there! do not fear anything; for I will defend you with my life, Clarissa!" The strong man was in specting his limbs and muscles and brawny fists, as the trained soldier might his accoutre ments of war. "Indeed, he will, my child! Don t be skeared; but tell us about it," reassured the old lady. "Did Worry or your father, I mean Did he discover what you have done with the dynamite?" He supposed of course, that he was called upon to protect her from her father s wrath. "Dynamite! What dynamite, Luke? D ye mean to say they re goin to use dynamite?" anxiously enquired the mother. "No, mother dear! That dynamite s been used. Hey, Clarissa?" An effort to com fort both and dispel their fears in his mean ing smile. "Oh, ,no, Luke! Don t think it is my father I fear. It is one of the men who beat me so; he works in the Mother Lode; I saw him tonight. He is the man, father gave the 254 THE SILENT CONFLICT clothes to and I mean that, if possible, he shall wear them to his work tomorrow; and then the officers can arrest him." This short disjointed account called for further explanation which we can give only in sub stance. The young woman had watched beside the sick man in the little hut where hung the articles of dress that her father had taken from home, and which we have learned so greatly disturbed the peace of Dr. Acton. The gentle, confiding daughter, on behold- the outfit, had too readily credited her parent with a genuine act of charity; yes, he had really given these things to this poor, sick Italian. But latershe was startled by the entrance, at quit ting time, of another of these foreigners, and upon looking into his face, was hor rified to find that he was one of the men who had beaten her so severely and left her for dead, on that dreadful night. The man had perhaps recognized her; or he might have imagined it to be the ghost of her former self, for he incontinently fled, after his first sight of her. Knowing her father s habit of stopping about the saloons on his way from work Clarissa had taken advantage of the fact to hurry to Luke and acquaint him with her discovery of the John Doe in her case, as she supposed and as Luke also believed. The girl further suggested that if Luke could see Mark Waring, the latter might be able to remove the clothes- of the criminal while he slept, and thus he would be compelled to wear the distinguishing costume pro vided by her father. Assured by her friends, the Darrells, that her plan should be carried out, she hastened home to serve the evening meal for her parent. Mark w&s soon in possession of the girl s plan, and his own ready wit and ingenuity assisted not a little in bringing the same to a successful issue. He knew the place; had been there before under Dr. Acton s directions; he would go again; now! and would tell the occupants of the hut the sick Italian and the suspected Italian that he would return again at a late hour; on taking his second leave, he would put out the light he would carefully take bearings first; and then he would "lift" the brown clothes, and leave instead only the outlandish cap 256 THE SILENT CONFLICT and blue trousers for the well man to go to work in. Luke patted him playfully, but gently on his well shoulder: "You are going to make your way, Mark, in spite of your loss." "I am beginning to do quite well, already, friend Darrell. Dr. Acton has promised to put me on the regular staff of nurses, when I am strong again." Pleasure shone in his face, and thrilled his voice. It was determined that on the morrow Mark Waring would inform an officer of the law, that John Doe, wanted for assault, could in all probability be found in the dig gings of the Mother Lode; the officer was to apply to Luke to point out the man. These two friends and fellow detectives, little dreaming how their plans were to be thwarted, parted for the night. When Herbert Acton failed to find Miss Watson at home on the afternoon of this day, he consoled himself with the thought that he could call again in the evening; his fears had so far been dispelled that the dread of meeting an assassin on such a mis sion did not occur to him; in fact, he laughed THE SILENT CONFLICT 257 at his own foolish fears. He could give no motive to any threats either of Worry or Jack; and, now that he stood bound for them before the law, he was sure that any motive that might actuate them to vengeance on his head, was entirely removed. He would seek Luke, however, as he had planned, and learn what purpose the noble miner might have in following such lines of investigation in which he seemed so much absorbed. After his evening meal, there fore, he took hat and cane for a walk to the home of the Darrells. The good lady was "just tidyin up a little" as she expressed it: "No, my son is not at home just at pres ent; but come in, Doctor; he ll be back soon. There, now take this easy chair, near the fire." "Very lovely weather we are having, Mrs. Darrell; ah, I thank you, for it is quite cold out." He took the proffered seat at the glowing fire-place, warming his hands to show his appreciation of the good woman s intended courtesy. "The la grippe is still pretty bad, I hear. This will be a sorry Christmas for many 258 THE SILENT CONFLICT a poor family, Doctor." Her strong sympathy went out to the suffering and poverty-stricken about her. "Yes, I don t see how the health of the community could be much worse. There is great distress among the poor of this little village, Mrs. Darrell." He lapsed a moment into deep reverie. The housewife completed her "tidyin up," and took up a piece of sewing; her withered hands were never idle. "How is it, Mrs. Darrell, you women are always busy? always at work, even while resting?" and the young man smiled at his apparent paradox. "Well, as I . used to tell Mr. Darrell, that s Luke s father that was I used to say, man works from sun to sun, but woman s work is never done," she replied. "But, Dr. Acton, your work has been from morn to night, and from night to morn again; h ain t it?" "I must confess, my good woman, that for the past few weeks there has been but little time to swap jack-knives." "And how is Mark Waring, Doctor?" Still deeply concerned about the well-being of others. THE SILENT CONFLICT 259 "It s wonderful how well Mark is getting along; why, he is up and at work most of the time, now." He showed real pleasure in telling the good news. "At work, did you say? why, that is won derful; and only one arm; and that his left one! How can he handle pick or shovel?" The old lady adjusted her spectacles, to read her visitor s face. "Oh, you misunderstand me, Mrs. Darrell! Mark is not at work in the mines; he is help ing to take care of the sick. He makes a capital nurse. When he is well and strong again, I mean that he shall be on the regular staff," explained the guest. "Dr. Acton, let me thank you for your kindness to this poor man. Why can t the world always be so towards the poor? A few Sundays back our pastor preached from the text. The poor ye have always with you ; and in that sermon he said, God give us the poor to make us charitable and good to em; but how much the rich forget em, ex cept to use em for slaves." It was a great effort this little plea for the oppressed and forgotten; and she showed the surprise she felt at its length. 260 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Yes, there are many, many things that are wrong in the social constitution of our world, and this is one of them; that a cor poration should be permitted to use a man up to the limit of his bodily strength until disease, or injury, or old age overtakes him, and then throw him upon the world to seek his living as best he can or to starve!" This was a new view of the case to the simple- minded woman, but it required no deep insight to see that Dr. Acton was referring to the too common practice, that the law winked at and that was wholly unjust. "Well, well, Doctor! That would be called downright socialism, by the companies ; you sure ly don t preach such doctrines before them?" And the old lady really looked concerned for her friend s safety or soundness of mind. "Well, if that kind of doctrine is distaste ful to the Mother Lode Company, or any other corporation, it could make no differ ence to me. It is unjust and, therefore, I can fearlessly proclaim against it; for did not our Saviour say to his disciples, what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops ?" A strong determination lighted the features of the young philosopher. THE SILENT CONFLICT 261 It was quite late when Luke returned. The construction which he placed upon his discoveries was ratherr natural, and had the effect of completely removing the fears of his medical friend, that, somehow, these strange facts pointed to his own undoing. The hour for calling to see Clarissa was past, and, with some reluctance, and much good taste, he decided to postpone his call to the following afternoon. CHAPTER XX A SOUND OF REVELRY "He got some gold, dug from the mud, "Some silver, crushed from stones. "The gold was red with dead men s blood, "The silver black with groans. "And when he died he moaned aloud, "There ll be no pockets in my shroud!" Joaquin Miller. The residence of Henry Crosby, president of the Mother Lode Mining Company, was a blaze of splendor. The walk leading from the front door was hooded in, for the fast- falling flakes of a wet, clinging snow rendered the path unpleasant for the lightly-clad feet and sweeping trains that traversed it. Streams of carriages passed up to the gate discharging their occupants and then wheeled away again, their liveried drivers and footmen clad in the ermine snow that hid all save the brass buttons and other shining insignia. At the door of the mansion, the guests were received by well-dressed attendants and, when elegant, costly wraps had been 262 THE SILENT CONFLICT 263 laid aside, the announcements were called at the door of the brilliantly lighted drawing- room, where assembled the elite and fashion able of the Quaker City. Strains of music discoursed by a select orchestra, flooded the air; choice exotics shed sweet perfumes; beauty of form and elegance of dress ap peared everywhere; and society rich, showy, refined paid its obsequious homage to op ulent wealth. The great Arch Street magnate was to give on this occasion, the hand of his brilliant and admired daughter to a man of reputed wealth and a devotee to fashion. Everywhere throughout the magnificent palace which financial power had reared as a monument to the fabulous wealth of its owner, were to be seen jeweled hands and necks, costumes of silk and broadcloth, smiles of pleas ure mingled with looks of expectancy. Happy conversation and society chit-chat held the company in little groups, while here and there lounged some at luxurious ease, silently regarding the several groups of fashion s superb models; all anxiously awaited the happy climax to this gorgeous show and flutter. 264 THE SILENT CONFLICT "We could scarcely credit that a driving storm was raging without, in such a scene as this," remarked a gentleman, one of the late arrivals. He glanced about him at the almost tropical, midsummer prospect. His companion raised a lorgnette in her jeweled hand, glancing from object to object; "Ah, how very exquisite it all is!" She sighed with true, fashionable pathos. "They tell me that the bride s father is very rich." Her glance at the gentleman was a question. "Yes; Henry Crosby is worth his millions." He answered indifferently. "He has made a great success of his mining business, I believe." This again with the interrogative glance. "Yes; the Mother Lode that s his com pany manages to pay low wages; and then Mr. Crosby and his friends have a great influence with Uncle Sam," exclaimed he. "I do not exactly understand how that can bring riches, Mr. Chalmers?" She still questioned. "Why, the corporations, like the coal mining "syndicate and some others, control legislation in their own favor; and besides, THE SILENT CONFLICT 265 they secure valuable contracts for the supply of the Government. There are many ways now-a-days for the rich to become richer and the poor poorer." He was interrupted by a burst of music, the wedding march from "Lohengrin." "There!" exclaimed the lady. "It is the bride leaning upon the arm of her father! Isn t she beautiful!" A murmur of pleasant surprise and admiration came instinctively from the assembled guests. And now in the prevailing custom of society, Mr. Henry Crosby, coal magnate, and millionaire, went through the imposing cere mony of giving his daughter away, to be the wife of a rising man of fortune. Trie pretty and impressive rites of the Episcopal marriage service concluded, and congratulations and happy well-wishing followed. At this triumphant moment in the lives *The instances in support of this statement are very numerous, but we give only one specially applicable in this connection, viz.: . . The duty on coal was lowered 30c per ton in 1893; this seems to have been largely the work of a Nova Scotia coal-mining syn dicate and was done almost solely in their interest. The coal taken from mines in Nova Scotia was dug by foreign labor and thrown upon the market of the United States, much to the detri ment of vested interests of both capital and labor in the latter country. The states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, and others have vast coal fields, and in the mines are hundreds of thousands of poor, half-fed miners who receive only a few cents a day in wages. The Author. 266 THE SILENT CONFLICT of this rich man s family, a liveried servant approaches the happy father and, with his usjifal bow, extends a salver on which rests a telegram. He retires and Mr. Crosby holds the message a moment, hesitating. "Open it, Henry! It is no doubt a mes sage of congratulations. How opportunely received!" observed the wife of the magnate. Without further delay he tore open the envelope and read. "My God!" Reeling, he grasped the arm of his new-made son-in-law for support. The telegram, clutched tightly in his clenched hand, revealed only the signature, and Mrs. Crosby read the name of Ralph Sumner. Consternation reigned throughout the crowded salons for a brief time, during which the aged host and his amiable wife sought retirement in another part of the house. Explanations were vainly sought, but the contents of the telegram were for the time securely locked in the breast of the recipient. But after only this brief spell, the gaiety was resumed and feasting and dancing continued until a late hour. Fashionable Philadel phia, and many invited guests from abroad went through with the fascinating, entranc- THE SILENT CONFLICT 267 ing waltz and brilliant cotillion, after the recognized custom for such occasions. The snow that put such uncomfortable obstacles in the way of society in the Pennsyl vania metropolis fell with even greater sever ity over the wretched huts of the Carbon Vale miners, and brought chill into the hearts and around the firesides of the poor, sick, and anxious toilers. Oh, God! Why this difference in the con ditions of Thy creatures? Is it the lack of Thy love? Dost thou hide Thy face from these because of Thine anger? Does Satan pre vail and sin abound here, and Jehovah and righteousness reign among them whom for tune favors? Nay, it is not true; it can not be true that our God is no longer a Being of compassion! "Man s inhumanity to man" makes the great disparity of condition and casts these awful burdens upon the unde serving poor. It was with some such thoughts as these that Herbert Acton, following his resolve to see Clarissa Watson, went forth in the blinding snow to call at her home. Home! Could anyone imagine that such a place should bear so dear a title? The 268 THE SILENT CONFLICT young man s mind went back to his own boyhood days, and in the pleasant vista thus opened to his active memory, he beheld a far away home, where the beloved faces of parents and friends had oft cheered his exultant boyish life and warmed his am bition for a career of usefulness. That was home! But the poor, squalid abode of this new-found joy of his heart! There was naught to suggest either comfort or glad ness; there were none to love and cheer her; no tender lessons for her guidance; she was its only sunshine! How his heart went out toward her! How this very thought quickened his foot-steps and made him unmindful of the heavy path and baffling storm! He painted in fancy a picture too bright for description, and in it he put Clarissa Wat son s face, bright, smiling and happy. Sur rounded by only such simple luxuries as recom mended themselves to a mind trained in a school of self-denial, through which he was passing; her presence reigned queen of a household all his own; his to provide and cheer; to rear in honor; and to protect in loving duty. In setting forth he had thrown over his THE SILENT CONFLICT 269 shoulders the long cape of his mackintosh, and, as the storm beat and whistled about him, had drawn his hat well over his eyes to shield them. This and the gathering gloom prevented his seeing a person ap proaching to join his path; nor did he catch the sound of a sharp call that was made to him, to stop. Therefore when a rough hand was laid quite unceremoniously upon his arm, he was greatly startled. "Halt, I say!" were the words that rang in his ear. Dr. Acton stopped; a feeling of fear for the moment unsettled his usual mental equipoise. "What is it, sir?" trying to recover his composure. "Ah, this is ?" The man waited for him to supply the name. "I am Dr. Acton, sir," he replied in some surprise; then, supposing that the fellow might be in search of him for some of the suffering sick, he quickly enquired, "Are you seeking me?" "No, not exactly; anyone would do, who can direct me to the house of Mark Waring. Can you tell me, Doctor?" explained the stranger. 270 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Ye s*; directly yonder; you can see it almost hidden by the falling snow; take this road." He pointed to the distant cottage. The man thanked him and took the diverg ing path, leaving his guide in deep conjecture of what could be wanted with his crippled friend. Now he was at the door. How his heart beat! He knocked and waited for the brief time it took the footsteps, plainly heard on the bare,wood floor, her footsteps! he knew the light, girlish tread. to reach and open it for him. "Oh, you, Dr. Acton! Won t you come in?" He waited no further invitation. He knocked the clods of ice from his feet and, casting the cape from his shoulders, shook off the white, clinging snow and stepped within. "I am glad to find you at home, Clarissa Miss Watson." He thought best to avoid the familiar use of her name, and yet the word "Watson." almost choked him; he could not learn to like the name Worry had bestowed. "How very kind of you to call! Ah, this wretched, blinding stbrm! This is a bleak THE SILENT CONFLICT 271 outlook for Christmas, Dr. Acton." Her mind flew away to the poverty-pinched people of the settlement. His heart beat cordial sympathy. "Yes; it may be so; the weather is rather threatening." He must say something more cheering. "But my dear Miss Watson, you will be pleased to hear, that the health of the community is rapidly improving; that will help to make Christmas more cheerful for many a poor family." "That is truly a bit of good news, sir." He was pleased to see her face wear its happy look. "This improvement permit s me to call for a short time today, Clarissa." He gave her a meaning look. "How very good to think of me." She dropped her eyes; she felt the flush of pleasure that so kind a compliment brought. "Do you think you should always like to live here, among the miners, Clarissa?" Her visitor betrayed great tenderness for such a question, she thought. He was thinking of the bright picture, so rudely dispelled by the stranger on his path. "I have never been able to hope for any 272 THE SILENT CONFLICT different place Mr. Acton; except well, ex cept when father has told me of where we used to Jive, but that was before I can re member." Her face wore a far-away look, so unlike her usual bright, happy expression. She had likewise thought, except that your kind words have filled my heart with hope; but she would not say that! "I know that you must at times get tired of the scenes of suffering and wretchedness about you, Clarissa." He spoke with deep est tenderness now. "I have been thinking, that perhaps you would like to get away from them, if if I could find other employ ment for for Mr. Watson." He found it awkward to say just what he wanted. "Do you mean that you would try to help my poor, dear father, Dr. Acton?" A look of deep gratitude chased every line of sorrow from the pretty face. The young man felt he was succeeding better. "Yes; but if there were conditions, Miss Watson?" He said, Miss Watson, with in tended formality; but a smile played about his lips. "What then, Clarissa?" "You would make the condition that that father should give up give up ? She could not say the hateful word drink, but her caller quickly supplied another, better one. "His daughter, Clarissa!" He was now on the highroad to success; but he anxiously looked to catch an answer in her face. Her face was bathed in blushes; she felt confused; she dare not speak; she must not encourage him, even by giving his speech notice. Had his words pained her? He felt baffled now. "Pardon my approach to this matter, Clarissa, in such an awkward manner! But what I wish to say to you is difficult, only because I speak from the depths of tenderness. Let me ask you now to be the brave, noble woman, I know you to be, and hear what I have to say." He waited for the permission. She gave him a confused questioning glance. "Once I told you, my dear Clarissa, that I love you; but then you were weak and suffering; then your body was racked by pain, and your heart and mind disturbed by fears. Now you are well and strong again, Clarissa, and I have sought that some other time ." He searched her face to see if she too recalled the words she had spoken. 274 THE SILENT CONFLICT "I will hear you, Doctor Mr. Acton." All her resolution and calmness of manner re turned. "Yes, for your sake, my friend, I will be brave." She smiled like her own sweet self. "Ah, and your bravery almost makes a coward of me! But, Clarissa, hear me. I love you! There, that is plain, and it is what I came here to tell you." She was looking at hands folded in her lap, but she glanced up at him, now that he hesitated. He felt that he must go on. "Now, Clarissa, let me ask, if you can be assured of my love; if you can trust me and give your life into my keeping; will you, dear one, tell me that my love is returned?" He pleaded now, standing by her chair and looking down at the confused trembling girl; his hand was extended to her as if to say, I am all unworthy of you, but do not reject my suit. She looked up full and fearlessly into his clear, truthful eyes. "Suppose, Doctor Ac ton suppose, that all you say is true; how, oh how can I answer you?" She did not turn her gaze, and her pretty, expressive, face wore the same look of tenderness and pity he had seen once before. THE SILENT CONFLICT 275 "You do not doubt my sincerity, Clarissa?" His voice trembled with emotion. "No, oh no! I could not doubt you, my good dear friend! It rs not that; I only doubt myself." She covered her face to hide her deep agitation. He took her hand. He would show that naught of what she might misjudge un worthy in her life, her station or herself had existence in his mihd. "Clarissa, do you love me? Answer me that, dear." He spoke in husky tones; he could not be sure; he stood like one awaiting life, or con demnation at the judgment bar. She gave him her hand freely now; he felt a strange relief. She spoke: "Herbert Acton," he started up thus to hear her lips pronounce his name "I call you Herbert in my thoughts, for it seems so much better, better than any other name for one so noble so good." He was eager now to fold her in his arms; would she come? No, she sat as before, firm, brave and lovely in her enforced composure. "Let me say," she entreated, seeing that he was eager for her reply, "Let me say that all you have told me of your love at that other time, 276 THE SILENT CONFLICT and since, for I have not been blind to your outward expressions, nor deaf to your unspoken thoughts, and what you say now, your plain, manly declaration sounds like naught but the very truth." She was even calmer now, and he could not understand whither her words were tending. "Clarissa, then tell me; you believe all T say; you understand what I offer you: Will you not answer me? Do you love me?" He had waited so long. Was he still to be denied that answer. How impatient is love! "Do not be impatient! Let me say first, what I think should best be known to you and to me, for I have not been prepared for this trial; although I have, ever since that first happy moment in my life, been trying to prepare myself." "You must rec ollect, Herbert Acton, that you are a noble man, of noble parents, with a great life-work and much usefulness before you. I am a poor miner s child, untaught of the great world, unfit for your social position, and un prepared in every way to join my life to yours. You come to me, after mature thought I feel assured, and after seeing me in my humble life; you tell me of your love; you ask to take THE SILENT CONFLICT 277 me from that life to become " She hesitated. "My wife, darling! Say it!" he cried. "Yes; I will say that, for I trust your man hood and nobility: You ask me to become your wife. Herbert, have you thought of the sacrifice you are offering with your love?" He would interrupt her, but she withdrew her hand, and motioned him to silence. "You think only of lifting me up, just as you would now when you held my hand, and oh, how much that could mean to me! But my dear, good friend, do you not see how I might drag you down?" She covered her face with her hands, and the tears she could no longer repress flowed freely. "Clarissa, do not say these unkind things; they are unjust undeserved self-accusations. Do not you know, dear, that when I offer you my love and ask you to become my wife, I offer my life, my profession, my ambitions, my future happiness; the gift is yours, and I lay it at your feet. Do not think, that any seeming disparity of birth, or position, or opportunity have not all been set at naught by me when I bring my heart to you." His voice betrayed both emotion and earnestness. She raised her hand to him; he took it 278 THE SILENT CONFLICT firmly but tenderly. "Herbert, you are too good and noble too magnanimous! I must not hear you pleading thus. I shall not deceive you; I love " A rumble as if the heavens and earth had come together! The little hut, where they stood, rocked and quivered like a leaf in a storm. A loud report reverberated from hill to hill These two children of a strange destiny stood clasping each the other s hand and looked in questioning terror into each other s faces. "My God! The mine! the mine! Her bert, Dr. Acton, go! Oh, my poor father!" Clarissa turned pointing to the door which the quaking earth had thrown open. He still held her trembling hand and looked into her face, stern and white. "Yes, it must be! The mine has blown up! I will go, Clarissa." He still held the dear hand; he could not let it go while it trembled so. "There, be calm, dear." "Goodbye!" and he pressed his lips to hers white and quivering. "And I will go too, Herbert!" with a re turn of resolution. She gave no heed to his endearing caresses. THE SILENT CONFLICT 279 "Where? To the mine? No, Clarissa! There will be too many horrors for you to look upon. No, I cannot permit that!" He sought to restrain her impetuosity. "Dr. Acton No, I will call you, Herbert always now! Herbert, if I am not fit to go with you there, how can I hope to merit your love? As you love me, let me show my love for others now." She threw her arms about his neck and gave one moment of sweet embrace. "There! I may go?" He did not try to forbid her now, but tak ing the mackintosh, he wrapped her pretty form in it, and together they hastened to the scenes of horror that awaited them. CHAPTER XXI WHERE HELL REIGNS "And many a stiffled groan: "With speed their upward way they take "(Such speed as fear and age can make) "And crossed themselves for terror s sake." Scott s Marmion. The streets of the little mining settle ment were filled with crowds of flying feet, while shoults and cries rent the air. Men, women, and children with one accord ran toward the not to be mistaken scene of the terrible disaster. The bleak, gathering night shut out the looks of mental suffering and horror written upon those pinched and woe-weary faces. The storm beat with merci less fury and spread its deep, heavy burden of ice over all. Terror seized the hurrying multitude and drove them panic-stricken to the mouth of the shaft. Having to pass by his office which lay on the road to the works, Dr. Acton equipped 280 THE SILENT CONFLICT 281 himself with the few restoratives that might be needed, and soon rejoined Clarissa Watson who, at his suggestion awaited him in the lee of the building. "Now I may as well instruct you, Clarissa," as they resumed their difficult, but rapid, walk. "Yes, Herbert, tell me what is best to do; you must lead, I will follow, dear." She spoke so tenderly, so sorrowfully. He put his strong manly arm about her to shield her if possible from the whirling gusts of wind and to assist her hurrying steps. "The best thing for any who may have been caught below is rescue from the fatal after damp that is sure to follow the explosion. Air and quickeried respiration are the best restoratives we can apply. But here are brandy and ammonia the brandy you must apply to the lips of those who are injured, the other to the nostrils of those who are suffocating from noxious gases." He looked into her face and there read that her quick intelligence enabled her to grasp the purport of his words. "Be brave now, darling, and do not for my sake, nay, and for the sake of those 282 THE SILENT CONFLICT wlio may be caught in this awful trap, do not needlessly expose yourself to danger." Tenderness and anxiety together thrilled his voice. "I shall be brave; and I shall be careful. You will find me ever by your side, Herbert," said Clarissa, in bold, reassuring tones. "Now we come near. What crowds are gathering!" instinctively he held her closer, if possible to protect her and keep her by his side. They threaded their difficult way through the surging multitude. The shouts and cries that had been heard a few minutes before had now given place to a low, moaning wail, as of many voices chant ing a requiem for the departed hopes and cheerless death that had sepulcher in the depths below. Above the murmur of the gathering multitude was heard the voice of the Superintendent, firm but pathetically tremulous, counselling and directing. The physician, leading his gentle com panion by the arm, pressed his way close to the manager, and ventured to speak a few words quietly into his ear. "Oh, Doctor, this is terrible! Aye, what can you do? Can you go below? Will THE SILENT CONFLICT 283 you dare to go down there?" He was dis traught with fears and indecision. "Mr. Sumner, I am ready to go; in fact, there is my place the only place. Make ready; we will go at once." He lead Clarissa to the entrance of the cage that had just been opened to receive a relief detailed for the descent. "And who is this goes with you, Doctor?" The Superintendent did not recognize the girl in her strange mantle. "Clarissa Miss Watson, sir." briefly ex plained the physician. "What! That must not be, Doctor. No, Miss Watson; pray do nothing of the kind; you will find too much for a woman s weak nerves; and it is a very hazardous undertaking." "I have weighed everything, Mr. Sumner. I must go to the relief, and will follow and obey Dr. Acton." The terror stricken men about them felt the irresistible inspiration her determined manner gave, and a soft murmur of applause arose to their lips. Her positive purpose and strong resolution dis armed the Superintendent. "Yes, permit Miss Watson to go, sir; I will see that no harm overtakes her." And 284 THE SILENT CONFLICT suiting the action to the words, the resolute physician and his gentle angel of mercy en tered the cage. Panic reigned in the pits below; a few had rushed to the bottom of the shaft to meet the descending load, while lying all about, with torn limbs and blackened faces, lay the limp forms of those whom rude but com passionate hands had already rescued from the almost certain death from "choke damp" that lurked in the recesses of the mine. His arrival upon these scenes was a sig nal for restoring order out of panic, of which Dr. Acton momentarily took advantage. To the bosses and Inspector he gave peremp tory orders to give immediate attention to the ventilation and air supply; as many as possible of the injured he hurried into the cage, and directed those of the relief to take the places of the wearied and nearly exhausted survivors, those who had been engaged in the work of rescue. The voice of the young man rang out clear and impres sive through the long, low chambers of the mines, and instinctively a faint, but hearty cheer greeted the close of his first rational commands. Ready hands and willing feet THE SILENT CONFLICT 285 answered his call, like well-trained soldiers. Clarissa, who at once had turned her at tention to the injured and suffering, was already kneeling by the prostrate forms, administering the restoratives she had brought. When Herbert Acton had finished his first directions, and the applause had died away he turned in search of his gentle assistant and met the upturned gaze of mingled ad miration and approval. No other encourage ment was needed to complete his resolution; he caught the infection of organized effort and courage his own ringing words had called into being. Now followed a time of busy effort for all. As form after form was brought into the lighted portion near the shaft, from the dark recesses of the dismal caverns beyond, the fresh and ever-increasing horror of the ac cident grew upon those who administered relief to their fellow creatures. The life less body of Jack Farnam was among the first of the familiar ones brought to the gaze of Dr. Acton and Clarissa. For a moment they exchanged looks, and he murmured "Poor Jack! It s all over with you, now," withdrawing his hand from the quiet pulse. 286 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Oh, my poor father! Do you think they will find him thus, Herbert?" She clung to her lover s arm with her trembling hands while her eager, pallid face told of the anguish of fear that stirred her. "Let us hope not, darling! But if if you have to meet such loss, my love must have a double value, then." He stroked her cold, clinging hands. "There, there, Clarissa, we must command our feelings; here they are bringing another." He spoke soothingly and thought thus to call her atten tion to the duty of the moment, would dis tract her mind from her own fears. They turned to view the new burden of the men who carried a ghastly form to light. "Mark Mark Waring!" exclaimed the doctor. "How came you here?" His mind ran back to the rude interruption of his walk that afternoon; it appeared an age, yet it somehow explained the fact of Mark s presence in the mine. He applied the arts of his profession. "Yes, he lives! Give him the brandy, Clarissa. But oh, what a wreck! God pity him!" The cage had descended, and now another cargo of mutilated and bleeding bodies was tenderly deposited on its floors. Clarissa was chafing the cold brow and hands of Mark Waring. Suddenly he opened his eyes: "Luke! Luke! For God s sake, save Luke!" "Where?" cried a dozen voices and the feet of a determined band stood ready to ex ecute his wishes. "There, at the eye of the new pit. And Worry lies there too." He lifted his one weak arm in an effort to point, but it fell helpless by his side The men sprang forward to do his bidding. "They will bring them; never fear, Mark; there be quiet now," said Clarissa, soothingly to quiet his anxious fears, forgetting in her self- denying efforts the pain that his words had brought to her. Soon those who had gone to our hero s relief returned, bearing the two men whom Mark had named; both had received severe, if not fatal injuries, and a quick glance showed Dr. Acton that immediate surgical skill was needed to stop the flow of blood, which threatened to exhaust the life of both suf ferers. The daughter of Worry Watson was calm and resolute, when the bleeding, mangled, 288 THE SILENT CONFLICT but living body of her father was borne into her presence. The previous scenes of heart-rending horror had, in a measure, prepared her mind for this trial; and the fact that a seeming abundance of life still remained in his otherwise shattered body, brought some releif to her troubled heart. "We must go aloft now, my my good angel," observed the physician. "We can now leave the work here to others; they must be taken where their injuries can be treated." He pointed to the three men Luke, Mark and the girl s father. Qucikly directing these to be placed in the now descending cage, he turned to speak to Inspector Walsh who at that moment returned. The latter re ported that the ventilating apparatus had been wrecked in the explosion. Signalling, therefore, to hold the cage for a few minutes, Dr. Acton took advantage of the time to instruct Walsh. "That being the case," referring to the destruction of the ventilating fans, "y u must bring everybody you can find do not stop to see whether alive or dead to the bottom of the shaft here. Have these men make raised platforms. Here, men, fetch THE SILENT CONFLICT 289 cars and boards! Be quick!" His last words addressed to the men brought the waiting response, "Aye, aye, sir!" "Now, Walsh, I must go aloft; here are brandy and hartshorn brandy for the fainting hartshorn for the suffocating Do you understand? Keep all those who can walk or work in action, and all who are in jured on the platforms; and God help you, is my prayer!" The signal for the ascent was given, and at the instant of starting Clarissa Watson sprang from the cage: "I will stay below, Herbert!" The words reached him, and the cage with the doctor and his precious charge shot upward. She was left at her post of duty. The details of the terrible disaster; the long record of deaths and injuries need not be repeated here: The reader will find appended a facsimile copy of a special des patch from the scene to one of the metropol itan dailies; it was printed on the second succeeding day when the facts could be more fully ascertained. The horror, as there depicted, passed like a shudder over the heart of the nation; a 290 THE SILENT CONFLICT feeling that too often touches us, but the circumstances of which and the cause are too easily and quickly made to give place to matters of more potent interest. The very familiarity with death-dealing accidents of this character has a benumbing effect upon our humane sensibilities, and by their frequency these seem to stifle all effort for the prevention of like occurrence for the future. We are wont to charge such outrages upon the poor and down-trod den to the inscrutible workings of an over ruling providence. Does a Being of love and compassion look down upon the poor and then send His angel of death to cut off their miseries? If so, why should His quick and grateful messenger of mercy only half-kill his victims? Why should he shatter limbs, and blind eyes, or wreck the strength of those to whom death would seem a bless ing? Nay; our God is not responsible! There, there stand those who should have prevented this present horror and who, like others of their kind, are surely filling the world with woe! And they cry at each fresh example of their inhumanity, "What have I to do with these things? Am I my brother s keeper?" THE SILENT CONFLICT 291 Yes, them art; oh rich man, whoever thou be; thou art, ruler, or master, or body corporate, the keeper of thy brother s life and soul; and in that day when the heavens shall be rolled together, and the earth and the sea shall give up their dead, the hosts of thy slain will pass in fearful array before thee, and the Judge of all will say, "In as much as ye did it not unto one of the least of these my breth ren, ye did it not to Me. Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity!" And Christmas came! In the houses of the Christian world was generally heard re joicing and mirth and loving reunion. But in the little village of Carbon Vale, with its cottages thatched with snow, its shivering tenants borne down under a weight of sick ness or bereavement or gaunt hunger, the Christ Child s birthday was forgotten! Out of the depths of their woe, they called to God for succor! But their appeal, coupled with their condemnation, should have been hurled in the faces of those upon whom rested the responsibility for their dire con ditions. On this day we see a procession starting silently and solemnly from the doorway 292 THE SILENT CONFLICT of a rude morgue built near the place where the awful carnage of death had been enacted. A long line of meanly-clad miners, with bowed heads, followed the bodies of more than forty of their friends and fellow bread winners to the last resting place of the dead. They halted by forty freshly dug graves that had been hewn from the frozen hill side. With bared heads and streaming eyes, and smothered sobs, they listen to the pastor of the village church, the Reverend Arthur Laud, as he began, "I am the resurrection and the life." Aye, well may we ask, what will be the resurrection, and what new life shall spring from the icy tombs of this numerous company? Will it be the resurrection of the hopes that lie buried there; resurrection of the love and care and manly strength that so long rolled the ever-revolving stone up the baf fling steep? Can it be that a new life shall take the place of the old, that departed from the bleeding corpse of the Mother Lode Com pany? Will a new era dawn for the intricate and inseparable interests of both vested capital and hard, sacrificing labor? On the bier of a lifeless and unholy system, will THE SILENT CONFLICT 293 a better organization and a new constitution arise? Yes! And we shall see it! If not in its lovely symmetry and beauty, now, yet in the dawn of a new century, it shall lift its beacon to light the ships of commerce from drifting upon the fearful rocks of in dustrial unrest that have so long lain hid from sight. CHAPTER XXII A STORY WITHIN A STORY "Ah! who can tell how many a soul sublime "Has felt the influence of malignant star?" Beattie. A few days after the sad rites that filled up this Christmas day for the inhabitants of Carbon Vale, a touching scene was tak ing place in the wretched building, known as a hospital, and where we have met some of our principal characters before this was when the Italian Gaudio lay there. Rude cots, which later were made more comfortable by loving hands, had been hastily provided for the wounded from the mine disaster. Hither they had brought Luke Darrell, Worry Watson, and Mark Waring, with a number of others. This had been done in order to make it possible for the limited medical staff to give better service than would have been possible had these been scattered among the various homes. 294 THE SILENT CONFLICT 295 On the day of which we write Dr. Acton was in close attendance, for the symptoms in the case of two, Worry and Mark, in dicated a very critical condition. Ralph Sumner, the business manager, and humane gentleman, was listening attentively to the statement of the latter. In a part of the long barracks some distance away, Clarissa and the Doctor bent over the weak and mangled form of Watson. "Dr. Acton, if you please," said an at- tendent, "Mr. Sumner wishes you to come to him." The physician hastened to the cot of his former patient, where he found Mark sinking in the last, painless throes of death. "Doctor," said the man, regarding him with an eager look, "I have come at last to the end of my days; and, Doctor, you have been a good friend to me and my Margery; I want to ask." His breath came now in short gasps. "Yes, Mark, my good friend, ask me any thing; I will try to grant your request." The gentle physician spoke reassuringly. "Then, Dr. Acton, take my child my little Margery, and oh, find a home for her, a home, better, please God than I have 296 THE SILENT CONFLICT been able to give." His voice died away into a hollow whisper, and his eyes closed. Margery seized his cold, withered hand the only hand he now had. "Oh, father, and must you die? God have pity on me! My heart will be sc lonely." Her words came in sobs. Herbert Acton leaned over the dying man. "Yes, Mark; I will see that your child has a good home, and love, and gentle care." He wanted to promise more, but the spirit had winged its flight, and faith ful Mark Waring was no more. The doctor drew the girl s head to his shoulder and comforted her best he could: "There, Margery! Your father s terrible suffer ing is over. How much better, my dear! Better than that he should have to live on with his sorrowful losses." "But who have I to love?" She sobbed. "Who will love me?" "I will love you, my child! And Clarissa shall love you, and be a sister to you; and you will have us both to love, dear." But he must leave her now; he placed a chair at the foot of the couch. "There, Margery, sit here a short time, and do not grieve; THE SILENT CONFLICT 297 I will send Clarissa to you, soon." He kissed the tear-stained, childish face and was gone. As he moved away, he encountered Mr. Sumner, his head bent in sombre thought. "It is all over, now?" he asked. "Yes; the brave fellow is gone," answered Acton. "Well may you say, brave, Doctor; for, could you have heard the story of that mine explosion, you would be unable to find words to describe his character." The manager pressed his friend s arm in silence a moment. "It was awful, Acton! There lies another;" pointing toward Luke; "Darrell is the grand est man in the service of the Company and of humanity!" "May I learn the details of the disaster? N*ot now, but another time?" requested the doctor. "Yes; I shall be pleased to tell you all I know, at my first opportunity." The two parted; Mr. Sumner to retire with the State s Attorney; Herbert Acton to become a witness of another scene. It was some time later that Clarissa was suddenly called by a sharp cry from the lips of her father. 298 THE SILENT CONFLICT "Rissy come! Quick, child! They are dragging me away; there, drive em back! drive em away!" "Drive who away, father? What do you mean?" quickly asked the girl. "Oh there there!" He pointed, then fell back exhausted. "They re gone away now. I only dreamed, or is it death, Rissy? Am I dyin gurl!" He tried to rise, and passed his hand over his eyes to clear their sight. Dr. Acton moved to his side, summoned by the man s agonizing cry. He heard the last question, and read the look in the daugh ter s expressive face. Taking the man s hand he quickly sought the signs, now too plainly written. They told of approaching death. "Yes, my friend. My solemn duty bids me tell you, you have but a few minutes to live." Turning to Clarissa, he took her hand: "Be brave, my darling! It will be all for the best." He placed her hand in that of her dying parent. Then he drew quietly apart, to be in reach if needed. "Rissy, the doctor tells me, I m dyin . It must be so, for he is a good man, a truth ful man, and has been our friend too, child." He spoke softly, with some feeling. THE SILENT CONFLICT 299 "Yes, father dear; all that and more!" "Alore, girl! More? how could he be more than that? But that is enough, I say." He had not lost his wonted dogmatic manner of speaking. She forebore to op pose him. "Come nearer, Rissy; I have something to tell you," tenderly. "There do not weep; you will be glad when I m gone. I have been a worry to you and Worry Watson to my neighbors; but I m neither Worry Watson nor your father child." He closed his eyes, as if to shut out the sight of the lie he long had lived. Clarissa stood in mute astonishment, with parted lips, and quivering limbs. "Then who am I, father? I must call you that, for you have been very kind to me and and what is your name? your real name?" Her mind wavered between a last duty to him and a greater duty to herself and Herbert Acton. She beckoned the doctor to come to her. "Father, now tell me, who am I? and what is your name if not Worry Watson?" She took Herbert s hand and bent her eager, expectant gaze on the face of the dying man. 300 THE SILENT CONFLICT Dr. Acton evinced a puzzled interest and looked with deep concern into the girl s anxious, sympathetic face. "I ll tell ye!" with sudden resolution. "Now that I must die, the sin must be lifted from my soul; if confession can do it." He closed his eyes, again, as if to re call far distant thoughts. Then, in broken language, rendered so by faults of recollec tion and failing strength, he told the story of his life. He had been the trusted servant of a wealthy family of New York. With a strange, mad infatuation he had fallen in love with the proud and cultured daughter of his employer. But the great disparity of po sition, of education, of all that build the barriers between hearts in high and low station, prevented him ever telling his in sane love; at least, until after the daughter was married to a man of great fortune, but of dissolute habits. After a year or two of their married life Watson was now in the young husband s employ this life became unbearable to the young wife, and she found it necessary, at times, to appeal to the man of work for THE SILENT CONFLICT 301 help, protection, and even for sympathy. The fellow gave all, for he loved her. A child was born; a little girl, that soon suffered the loss of father and later of mother too. Both were laid to rest, and the ser vant disappeared. But only for a year; he had learned to love the little girl for the sake of her whom Heaven had decreed or society s laws prescribed should not be come his wife. True, the child was none of his, but she was hers, and he loved her! He kidnapped the two-year old babe, and embarked by steamer for a foreign land. Then after a year he came back, thinking to restore the child; but fear of just pun ishment for his crime prevented. Hiding among the dregs of society in the great city his small means exhausted, he fell, low, lower continually in the scale of humanity, and deeper in vice, pursued by the Nemesis of his own crying sin. At last he found his way from the dregs of New York life into the settlement at Carbon Vale, where our story finds him. As the girl grew in beauty and the very likeness of her mother, he loved her for the sake of that mother and for her own sweet 302 THE SILENT CONFLICT self, until, of late years, no thought of ever surrendering her passed his mind. In all ways he had secured for her the best advan tages he could out of his scanty means. Schooling, the best the village afforded, he gave; books of real worth she chose; and friends the choicest sought her com panionship; under these influences she grew into the bright, beautiful, sympathetic Clarissa with whom we are so well acquainted and of whom we are so fond. His wretched home and surroundings were due partly to his fear of detection, and partly to his growing thirst for drink, that consumed his substance. When he concluded his story he waited some moments, as if the confession of his crime had brought relief he could not give sigh to; he was now very weak. "And my name, father? and your name? You have not told me that," eagerly asked the weeping girl. "Aye, Rissy; I allus called you, my pet, my child, my gurl," tenderly, "Until some one asked me, An what is her name? Has she no name? an I told em Rissy ; an after that I too called you, Rissy sometimes. THE SILENT CONFLICT 303 You can recollect, gurl, when I told you yer name was Clarissa." Again he breathed short and quick. "But, Clarissa what, father?" She would call him so, for she had loved him dutifully and it all seemed so strange to her, now. "Clarissa Chalmers, child; you ll find they re rich, New York bankers, even to this day." He gasped again. She turned, a questioning look upon her troubled face, to Herbert Acton, who had kept his post of duty through all this trying ordeal. "I know of them dear! You shall go back to them soon." A look of pain and disappointed hope came suddenly over his handsome face. "Your name, father? What was your real name?" anxious to know that too. "My name was Watson Warton, but I turned it about, you see, and have long gone by just Worry Watson ." He waited a few moments, and then asked, "Where is Luke? Luke Darrell, the brave true man? mayn t I see him before I die?" "Yes, father, anything, anything, ask it! Doctor, will you not help to bring Luke here? I 304 THE SILENT CONFLICT can lift too." Her words aroused the silent, distraught listener. They moved Luke s cot close beside that of the dying man. "Here is Luke, father; here, take his hand," and she placed the hand of the stalwart defender in her father s cold, limp palm. The touch revived the now fast-failing man. "Luke," he said, "speak fer I can t see ye, now. Tell me, ye fergive me." "Aye, Worry, my dear old friend if there is anything to forgive, and I guess there is; I forgive you my part and pray God to par don all." Luke s face was lighted with a kind, forgiving smile. "An Luke, Rissy ll tell ye all, now. But I want ye to have her if she can care fer a true, honest man who is only a poor miner. Ask her to love ye Luke and good bye it s so dark, Rissy a light! My God, the mine! the mine! a ah ." He fell back faint and exhausted. Sud denly though, he gasped again, and the breath he took in went out from his expiring body in one terrible, piercing shriek, "The mine!" that rang through the whole room. He was dead. THE SILENT CONFLICT 305 Luke Darrell and Herbert Acton looked in tender compassion upon the grief stricken girl. She, Clarissa Chalmers, gazed with pity and dying love upon the man who had stolen her from her home, and had kept her in ignorance, but duty-bound to his miserable, sinful life so many years. CHAPTER XXIII SOLVING A GREAT MYSTERY "I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word "Would harrow up thy soul;" Shakespeare s Hamlet. A week later Luke was out of bed, and took each day a short walk aided, by crutch and cane. Although his injuries of body were severe, yet they were not of that serious nature which would leave him permanently crippled, while through all his suffering, after the first few hours, his mind, had remained clear and active. The brave man employed his thoughts, therefore, as he lay upon his bed of pain, held down by the stern hand of necessity, in divising and contemplating plans for the ameliorating of the hard conditions of pov erty and sorrow about him. Each little opportunity that came in his way for learn ing the state of affairs in the community, was improved by a ready, inventive mind, a 306 THE SILENT CONFLICT 307 mind consecrated to humanity, to right and justice. His mother and Clarissa, and Margery, Dr. Acton and Ralph Sumner all gave him tender nursing, comfort and companion ship. He had never, though, in all his inter course with these, alluded to the moment of disaster in the mine. He carefully avoided all approach to the subject; and, when a question tending to draw some word of explanation from him, or a suggestion to tell, what he knew, was offered to him, he turned his head aside and affected not to hear. So his lips remained closed. But he realized that sooner or later, he must speak out, and he determined to re serve the narration of these important events for the ears of those who alone should hear them. On a bright day, then, we see him laboring slowly over the path that led to the office of the kind-hearted physician, where by agreement he would meet that gentleman and Mr. Sumner. "Take this chair, Luke. I have already prepared for your reception you see," said Herbert Acton, after a cordial greeting. "There now, isn t that better?" after adjusting 308 THE SILENT CONFLICT the large invalid-chair for the crippled man. "Ah, thank you, Doctor. This is the cheeriest place, I have seen for some time. How do you find things in your way, sir?" "I am pleased to report progress , Luke; as the dilatory committees put it. Yes, there are many changes for the better; and I trust that some who rule this sad world have learned a lesson, bitter though it be." "Ah, here is Mr. Sumner now," he added. Luke s thoughts were far away, and this announcement recalled him. Some few words of greeting and congrat ulation for the injured friend occupied a few moments. The manager of the Mother Lode was the first to interrupt these com mon places. "President Crosby died this morning," he observed, and at the quick exchange of glances he added by way of explanation, "He never recovered from the great shock, the news of the explosion caused him. His old trouble of the heart, organic, I believe they called it, returned with unwonted sev erity, and he passed away this morning." "How far-reaching that awful calamity proved itself," observed Dr. Acton. THE SILENT CONFLICT 309 "Aye, capital has its share in every dis temper that affects its dependent, labor. Labor s death means capital s demise," calmly, philosophized Luke. "It seemed that Heaven s vengeance quickly followed, in this instance." Ralph Sumner evinced a certain knowing look that silenced his listeners. At the suggestion of his friends, Luke now entered upon the story of events lead ing to the trouble in the mine, on the day of the explosion. He had left home a little earlier than usual that morning, and, taking his place at the shaft entrance, waited for the last load of workmen that entered the cage. Neither Jack nor Worry were to be seen; they had evidently gone on the first trip which was made just before his arrival. Nor did he see the Italian, whom he hoped to identify dressed in the strange garb pro vided by the conspirators. On reaching the lower levels, he was hor rified to see many of the laborers already start ing for the scenes of their toil, equipped with naked lights. He also learned that these were provided by the pit boss; he took oc- 310 THE SILENT CONFLICT casion to remonstrate with him, but Dale told him in surly tones that his interference was uncalled for; that he, Dale, was permit ting this open violation of the law by the express sanction of President Crosby him self; if Luke had a grievance he had best take it to the head of the Company. An appeal to Inspector Walsh met with a less brusque repulse, but that officer only verified the statement of the Pit Boss in regard to orders. Despairing of any re dress the sturdy Luke waited a turn of affairs, with the hope that no accidents would occur in the meantime; for he looked for an ally in the officer of the law, who, he expected, would visit the mine in search of John Doe the Italian of unknown name, wanted for assault. The hours dragged heavily on, and it was well into the afternoon when a deputy sher- riff made his appearance. Together, for Luke was at once pressed into the service of the law, he and the deputy searched the various rooms of the mines, but with no avail; the man could nowhere be found Then, as the most likely course for discover ing the fellow, he suggested to the officer THE SILENT CONFLICT 311 to go aloft and bring Mark Waring to his aid. "I see it now!" exclaimed Dr. Acton. "See what, sir?" queried the narrator with a puzzled look. "Why, the reason for Mark being there. I met the deputy and directed him to Mark s house." An expression of deep sadness settled upon the doctor s face. Luke resumed. "Well, soon the officer returned with Mark, and at once the search was begun. As we entered the eye of the new pit for I somehow thought John Doe had been put to wqrk there I overheard Worry saying to Jack Farnam, they stood just within the entrance, Stefano has started into the hole. Let him put his pick into that wall, and hell will be to pay. The whole thing flashed on me in an instant, for the deputy had told me of the jail-breaking and that Stefano Giochio was at liberty. I understood their plan in its true, diabolical nature. They had liberated Stefano for the purpose of doing the job which they knew was fraught with great danger; they had sent him with an unprotected lamp to make a rent into a gas chamber of the new pit." He stopped 312 THE SILENT CONFLICT and his listeners sat with blanched faces and staring looks. "Go on! What then?" prompted Mr. Sumner. "I drew the deputy back and Mark with him, and, in less time than you can imagine, I told them that Stefano was the man we had been looking for, and not John Doe. I unfolded the plan of Jack and Worry as I understood it, rapidly as I could. The deputy was now much frightened and trem bling like a leaf, but Mark showed me that he was game to the last degree, as events proved. Now there are two things to do, I said. One of us must stop that Italian, and prevent him using his pick and also put out his dangerous lamp. The other two must overpower these two men at once and thus give no chance for interference ." "I glanced at Mark; the poor fellow caught my meaning, and looking at his empty sleeve quickly responded, "You two must seize these men, now!" and pointing with his one arm, darted to the performance of his chosen part, to stop the work of the Italian. As he ran past Jack and Worry, I heard their curses upon him, but prepared and as quick THE SILENT CONFLICT 313 as a deer he bounded on, with the two men in close pursuit. I was now close upon Mark s pursuers, and, seizing Watson, I hurled him to the ground, and trusting the deputy to take this man, pressed on after Jack. Worry regained his feet I looked for the officer, but he was nowhere to be seen ; Jack was in the lead and Worry was pressing me hard. Pick, pick! the strokes of Giochio struck hard into the wall before him. I could see Mark as he arrested the third blow; but the fellow turned upon him with a wild, angry look, and again the pick struck the wall before him; the sound was dull and hollow; I heard the crash of falling coal and earth; " He stopped speaking and looked out upon the bright sunlit, snowy landscape; he was lost in the deep reverie of things he could wish forgotten. "Go on, go on!" cried both listeners; both bent forward eagerly, with bated breath. A shiver passed over the strong form of the miner, who relaxed no line of the pained look upon his pallid face. "The explosion followed." He looked again far into the scene before him. "Mark War- ing s body flew past me, driven by the force 314 THE SILENT CONFLICT of the terrible discharge, and Giochio seemed literally torn limb from limb. What hap pened to Worry and Jack I did not see; I was lying flat upon the ground." Again he stopped and a shudder passed over him. "And?" was the laconic question of both Dr. Acton and the superintendent. "I know no more," was the brief answer. This was the substance of the ante-mortem statement, which Ralph Sumner had learned from Mark and which he had promised to relate to Dr. Acton. He could add only some brief details now, as the fuller account of Luke had completely overwhelmed the short, disjointed story of the dead man. These additional details he gave and the narration of the past horrors was closed forever between them. "I must now ask you to excuse me, gentle men friends;" he corrected his more formal mode of address. "For, as I am called away to be present with our Board in the city, tomorrow, I must attend to matters of a pressing nature here." "The works will close down tomorrow, and remain closed until after the funeral of Mr. Crosby," he added. THE SILENT CONFLICT 315 Both Dr. Acton and Luke thought this a heavy tribute to pay from slender pockets of the Company s employes; and it was so little deserved. But they knew that Ralph Sumner was in no way responsible for this enforced idleness. The physician insisted upon taking his feeble friend back in his carriage, and when he drove on past the hospital, Luke remon strated. "Oh, that s all right, my good fellow. I have a little leisure, and, if I choose to enjoy it with a friend, what matter." He smiled pleasantly. A few minutes later and the miner guessed his friend s purpose, for he drove up to the gate of his own cheery home, now made more pleasant by the presence of Clarissa and Margery, who joined his mother in bidding her boy welcome home. "Three times welcome Luke," said Crarissa taking his arm to assist his unsteady feet up the low steps. She waved goodbye to Herbert Acton as he regretfully drove away, and sped him a tender look of thanks in re turn for one of affection. "Yes; this is a very pleasant surprise; and 316 THE SILENT CONFLICT I shall hate to see you ever goring away again, Clarissa dear." She started. "But that will not be for long I hope." He looked now into his companion s face, and his hand sought hers. But he did not grasp the hand, he hoped to find willingly reached to his own, for the look of trouble and deep distress disarmed his eager impetuosity. "Do not speak so, Luke Mr. Darrell," she said, turning her face to hide her agitation. "Some day I have something to tell you, and I hope it will give you pleasure to know it." She bit her lips to keep them from quiver ing, and tried to smile. He took it for a .smile, and somehow a promise; he looked kindly into her eyes with a reassured manner. "I will wait, my dear." Clarissa covered her face and went to an adjoining room, where she no longer tried to keep back her tears. She stood beside the little window, weeping bitterly and try ing to look through her tears into the bright, white scene before her. Oh, if she could only spare this good noble, friend the pain he must feel when he should know alii Not that she no longer bore the name of the THE SILENT CONFLICT 317 dead man; not that she no longer belonged to the poor settlement that could make no difference with her treatment of him; and she judged that so much of her story would bring him joy; it would mean her happiness, and she knew he loved her. But how could she wound his great, gentle, manly heart with the truth of her own love for his good, noble friend? She knew that Luke Darrell loved, respected, and honored Herbert Acton; but somehow the feeling of his disappointed hopes, like the ghost in Macbeth would not down, and she wept, saying to herself, "Poor Luke, poor Luke," and her tears flowed afresh. "Come; sister," called Margery, taking her arm. She called her sister now, for the large-souled Clarissa had heard what Herbert told her of Mark s dying request, and approved her lover s plans. "Why do you cry, dear?" noticing her friend s tears. "Are you not glad Luke s home?" The brave young woman wiped her eyes and smiled upon her companion. "Come then; let us make it pleasant for him, and forget our losses." Tears closed her further utterances. Clarissa was glad 318 THE SILENT CONFLICT that she mistook the real cause of her grief. Together, hand in hand, they returned to the sitting-room where the young man and his mother sat in quiet, homelike communion. After an early meal, Clarissa and her young charge bade their humble friends good-night and sought their own little cottage which held a strange contrast now with its former mean and squalid appearance. Her bert Acton had not been forgetful, nor idle; so, when Clarissa Chalmers stoutly refused to go to her new-found friends, as he had at once urged, he set about the putting of the little house in a most confortable and charm ing dress, both within and without; and many willing, hard-worn hands assisted him. Thus it was that the temporary home of the brave young woman of Carbon Vale presented a changed appearance, and these two children found themselves in the midst of comforts heretofore never enjoyed. This new cause of emotion brought re lief in tears, and together these children of poverty, bereaved and lonely, wept their gratitude and joy at the promised release. Clarissa explained her own possible change of fortune, and told the trusting child of THE SILENT CONFLICT 319 her own and Herbert s plans for the orphan s future happiness. The dreams of peace that closed their burning eye-lids pressed, too, their tired limbs upon couches of deep and and downy comfort. Another year found many changes in and about the works of the Mother Lode Mining Company. CHAPTER XXIV RUNNING THE GANTLET "Raving politics, never at rest as this poor earth s pale history runs "What is it all but a trouble of ants in the gleam of a million million of suns?" Tennyson s Fastness. A few weeks after the incidents recorded in the last chapter, Mr. Ralph Sumner, superintendent at Carbon Vale, was called to Philadelphia where he was installed as acting vice-president and general manager of the Company. The cloak of his former duties fell upon the shoulders of Luke Darrell, who the former incumbent insisted was the truest, bravest and most competent man in the Mother Lode s employ. The induction of the latter into his new office was accomplished without jar or cere mony on the part of the management. But the many warm friends and admirers of their stalwart champion, among the miners, 320 THE SILENT CONFLICT 321 accorded Luke a hearty ovation. As for himself he valued the new position on account of the fresh and better opportunities for improving the condition of the people about him. When the news of his good fortune reached the hardy workmen, they assembled with one accord at the space in front of the Superin tendent s office, with shouts of approval and rejoicing. Responding to an urgent demand for a speech, with his usual calm, unimpassioned, but impressive manner, the new Superintendent and old friend of all, rose before the assembled multitude. "Friends," he began; but cheer on cheer held him silent for some time. "Friends and neighbors," he began a second time, and a gentle murmur of applause punctuated this changed address. "I have never been called upon to speak to so large a crowd of my fellows and well-wishers before, and, while it gives me great pleasure to speak to you, I hardly know what to say." A voice shouted, "Say yer fer the workin man." "Yes;" said Luke, after the shouts that greeted this interruption had died away; "I am for the workingman 322 THE SILENT CONFLICT and for capital too. How can anyone for a moment imagine, that these two great arms of industry could be severed from the body of society and the trunk have more than a living death. When last Christmas, you, many of you, paid your parting tribute to the dead that lie buried on yonder hill-side," he pointed to the distant view, "you little supposed that great and beneficint changes would follow the woe and suffering you then felt; you little imagined that a great and living monument to the innocent slain would rear itself on the spot hallowed by our tears. And yet it is true! The enemies of labor, alike also the foes of capital have felt a power in the adversity of fortune. Circumstances have compelled your friends and your former foes to become allies for the bettering of your condition." Cries of rejoicing followed this period. "Now you enjoy better wages as an en couragement to your labors in your own behalf and for the interests of capital. * When you suffered, the Company suffered with you! Today, your pay is better, and the dividends *Coal and coke have shared in the wonderful industrial devel opment of the year, with a rise equal to that in textiles and build ing materials. R. G. Dunn & Co. THE SILENT CONFLICT 323 to stockholders have not been greatly reduced. You must give the best of your strength and your labor, and I assure you prosperity will return to the Company, and fortune shall also favor you." (Applause.). "When I was contending against a strike last November, some of my opponents charged me with defending Satan , and I tell you now, as I told the m then, that my plan meant the peaceable adjustment of all dif ferences between you and the Mother Lode. Now, I assure you, that my work, in that behalf, so suddenly and so sadly interrupted, must continue, until capital shall join labor in uplifting the stronger and equally worthy part of itself. Men, the good work must go on!" His great, strong hand was seized and wrung in genuine and heart-felt encourage ment by the rough, coal-begrimed miners; and, with shouts of, "Hurrah, for Luke Darrell! Hurrah, for the new superinten dent and workingman s friend!" the crowds dispersed, waving their caps and dinner- pails in the sincerity of their glee. Time had wrought other changes too. Clarissa Chalmers was restored to her 324 THE SILENT CONFLICT friends, and, with Margery as constant companion, had taken up her home with relatives in New York City. Herbert Acton, after some hard persuading, had induced the young woman to accept the advantages both for herself and Margery, that such a change could effect. He had undertaken the delicate mission of acquainting the Chal mers family with the facts that returned to them their long-lost relative; other proofs of Warton s story had been found among the effects of the dead miner. In her new home Clarissa was now pur suing the double occupation of student and teacher, receiving much needed lessons from private tutors and imparting instruction to Margery in turn. Her progress was rapid, and when Herbert Acton on a short visit, a few weeks after the installment in her new home, noticed these changes, he half re gretted them. The plain, coarsely clad, but beautiful Clarissa of the last winter had been transformed into the exquisite and charming exotic of the blossoming spring. "I am going to the settlement to Carbon Vale when the spring flowers come, Herbert, * she said smiling sadly. THE SILENT CONFLICT 325 "We should be glad to see you there, darling. But why do you wish to come now, Clarissa? Are you not much happier here?" Dr. Acton was puzzled. "Yes; I am happy here; and I should be mournfully happy there, too; that kind of happiness seems so much more natural to me, Herbert; so much sweeter!" She placed her folded hands upon his strong shoulder, and looked up into his face. "Then come, my dear! Come, if anything can add to your enjoyment or happiness; for you have earned the choicest blessings this sad, sad world can hold." He kissed her now, her soft white hands and then her sweet, ruby lips. "There, there, Herbert! You must not now! Some other time." He started in sudden awe of his own thoughts, or of the familiar sounding words! He had heard those words pronounced by those same lips before, but then it seemed like a prom ise that had been only half realized. Now he thought they meant his doom; had her heart changed, too with her fortune? He would disregard his fears, he would be unchanged to her: "Oh, Clarissa, are you 326 THE SILENT CONFLICT not won yet? Do you still withhold from me the happy moment of your reply? You have never told me with your dear, sweet lips, Herbert, I love ." Again he started at his own recollection of the fearful, deaf ening roar that had cut off her words at that very place. "What would you have me say, Dr. Acton? no Herbert, I am always to call you Her bert, dear Herbert." "Say these words, Clarissa; pronounce them after me; say, Herbert, I love you ." He took the hands she would not withhold from him. "When I come to Carbon Vale, Herbert, I will will answer you; if you choose to ask me." And she directed the conver sation into other and less dangerous channels. The labors of Dr. Herbert Acton, Phy sician and Surgeon for the Mother Lode Company continued at the little Pennsyl vania settlement, in accordance with his contract with that corporation; his year would not expire till July. Then he would resign and take up the practice of his loved profession at Reading; there he would make his home with Clarissa and his legal ward THE SILENT CONFLICT 327 Margery Waring. His plans were well de termined Clarissa Chalmers would be his wife, then, he hoped; and there he could be within call of Luke Darrell, the master of workmen, and the champion of a great cause. He loved the noble fellow; yes, dearer than a brother; and his own heart was in the cause of humanity, which his sturdy friend had so earnestly espoused and was so devotedly advancing. He believed that the work to which Luke and Ralph Sumner and himself had with clasped hands conse crated their "lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors," was even above riches, or fame, or success in his chosen profession, the greatest to which he could dedicate his ever-increasing influence and power of manhood. The spring came, redolent with the per fume of tiny blossoms that decked the hills and festooned the orchards; spring with its balmy, soft, southern breezes. A carpet of green spread like a grateful drapery over hill and farm; the music of birds, returning from a long exile with the northward moving verdure, made vocal the echoes of the vale where nestled the humble huts of coal miners. 328 THE SILENT CONFLICT Everywhere there was abounding vitality, where lately had been the sleep of entrancing nature. To him whose life has been spent in the tropical or semi-tropical regions of the globe, the lovely, heart-invigorating re vival of animal and vegetable growth, which springtime brings in this part of the world, has never carried the glad awakening of in nate powers of heart and mind, so surely felt here. The two staunch friends and allies in the service of man, walked slowly through the sweet, odor-laden atmosphere toward the unpretentious home of Superintendent Darrell. If the heart could want for more to cheer it than the sincere companionship of these two, it was to be found in the happy prospect before them. Hill and vale, stretch ing meadow and leafy wood, touched by the roseate flood of evening sunshine, lay all about them. Other phases of nature around them seemed to say, "We have shaken off the snowy mantle of death and have stepped forth into a bright prospect of life." They chatted in happy review of the changes that had been wrought in the homes and lives of the village; they talked seriously of the future plans for the further uplifting of its humble dwellers. Since becoming the manager of local affairs at the works, many changes had been made by Supt. Darrell, not only in the respects of better buildings and appliances for the Company but also more comforts for the men and their families. Luke had set the lesson of his own good example. Some changes he had made in the house and its surroundings, that he still called home, and many comforts had been added within; but the good man still clung to the humble place; the thought pleased him and he liked it; besides, he felt that it won on the hearts of his neighbors and friends, that sudden prosperity had neither turned his head nor changed his heart. "I have a little surprise for you, Doctor," said Luke, crushing a telegram in his hand. "Ah, you are always treating me to mysteries my friend; it s getting to be a veritable round of surprises. May I hear what it is?" asked Dr. Acton. "You may see, sir," holding the des patch tantilizingly before him, and then withdrawing it quickly! Not so fast, my 330 THE SILENT CONFLICT good fellow." He politely preceded his guest, opening the door wide quite wide too. "There! See for yourself, Doctor." Clarissa sprang to meet them, and soon Margery and Mrs. Darrell joined in the joyous welcome. Herbert Acton did not restrain his eager, o er-mastering love, but clasping the sweet, regal form in his arms printing kisses upon her cheeks and lips. "My darling! God bless you, Clarissa, my love! God bless you all!" and he turned in triumphant manner toward the astonished group of on-lookers. Luke stood a moment, moved by thoughts and emotions he could not control. He stared in silent, dumb amazement, while Mar gery clapped her hands in glee, and Mrs. Darrell stood in blank surprise, her hands raised to show it. "Well, now! I declare! Who d a thought it!" her hands dropped to her side by way of resignation and relief. Luke turned his head aside for a moment to hide the look of disappointment he knew was there, bu*t only for a moment, for almost immediately he straightened his tall commanding form, and, approaching the pair THE SILENT CONFLICT 331 who stood hand in hand, with confused looks and downcast eyes, he held out a hand to each. "God bless you, my children and my poor selfish blessing go with you!" A struggle for the mastery of himself shook his frame; he took the hands that had fallen apart, held them a moment in his trembling grasp; then he joined them together again, and silently turned away to hide his deep, bitter disappointment and surprise. When the autumn came and a great cam paign was on for the election of represent ative to the Pennsylvania legislature, Luke Darrell was selected to make the race for that office in his county. The day of election was fast approaching. Among the champions of the man from Carbon Vale were the vice- president of the Mother Lode Mining Com pany and a rising young physician of Read ing. These three, for Luke was equally active in his own behalf, formed the "Re form Triumvirate" of a new movement. A new political party, built on the foundation of higher socialistic principles, had named 332 THE SILENT CONFLICT the strong man from its most energetic and able workers. Somehow the news that Darrell was an employe of a great coal-mining corporation, and that his backers were men, either directly or indirectly interested in the Company s success, gave him a strong opposition from the old parties. Their speakers and the servile party press held his business connection and advocacy of seeming antagonistic prin ciples up to ridicule. But in his own im mediate vicinity, where the character of the man was understood, there was little or no opposition and Democrats and Re publicans alike flocked to the standard of the new leader. Strenuously the aids of the movement fought the battle upon the platform, in the fields of politics, and at the polls. When the returns were in Luke Darrell was elected by a clean majority. And now the newspapers that had so bitterly opposed him took up the canting wail: "ANOTHER BLOW TO CAPITAL Labor scores a Victory The Workingman to the Fore:" And then followed a diatribe of scorn and belittling character: THE SILENT CONFLICT 333 "The great Mother Lode Mining Company puts its man in the Legislature. Luke Darrell, superintendent of a mining cor poration at Carbon Vale, will represent his Company s interests in the next Assembly. He successfully passed as the champion of labor, and now goes to Harrisburg to look out for the welfare of his opulent backers. Perhaps never before in the history of our great state the legacy of William Penn and the commonwealth of Benjamin Franklin, has so great a deception been practised upon a helpless and confiding com munity. Labor will see its error when or ganized capital through its suborned and carping representative, succeeds in grind ing its heel upon their servile necks, in the coming legislative enactments." With smiles of contempt for such examples of political bias and ignorant prejudice; to say nothing of the want of honest intention and fair judgment in matters of public wel fare; the man of strong and holy purpose cast all such stuff from him, and taking a firmer hold of the plow-handles resolved that nothing should swerve him from his duty. 334 THE SILENT CONFLICT He had little time for the congratulations of those who sought favor in the Legislature or the spoils of office, and no time for the prying busy-bodies and reporters who sought by interviews to bring him into compromising positions or expression which in turn they they should use for their own selfish ends. Likewise the lobbyists of the coal interests, of the iron interests, of the railroads, the canals and the what-not s gained little com fort from him. He simply turned them over to their own fertile imaginations, and disregarded the screeds of the journals (?) that severally advocated their views and reforms. In making up the legislative committees, therefore, the man from Carbon Vale was put upon the obscure and usually perfunc tory one of reformatories and eleemosynary institutions; but he was to make his power and penetration felt in a degree and after a manner his adversaries little anticipated. CHAPTER XXV THE ARCH-ENEMY DETHRONED "As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, "Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, "Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, "Eternal sunshine settles on his head." Goldsmith s The Deserted Village. On a bright winter day that made the blood course through the veins and gave life and vigor to those who felt its exhilara ting effects, a sleigh drove cheerily, with jingling bells, through the streets of Harris- burg. It stopped at the Capitol building, where the legislature sat in session. Out of it stepped four persons we have met be fore. "Now, Mr. Sumner, I will trust Clarissa to you. Please find seats in the gallery, where we can join you. I will bring Margery, in a few minutes." The speaker handed his companion on the drive to the manager of the great Company. 335 336 THE SILENT CONFLICT As these two took their way up the broad, stone steps, Dr. Acton and Margery Waring turned aside and soon entered the shop of a florist where tasteful displays of bright and variegated colors in nature s own handi work were seen in great profusion. A little later the gentleman and his companion emerged, bearing a large bouquet of choicest flowers. "Oh, Herbert! What lovely, what lovely beauties!" She held out her hands in admir ation as if to receive them. "What are these for?" she asked, unable to fathom her es cort s purpose in buying such exquisite floral beauties. "Our dear friend, humanity s friend! That s better for it includes us all, Margie. Luke is to speak today in behalf of his great bill. You have heard us talking about what he is doing for the poor and rich alike?" His words took the form of a question. "Yes, brother dear; but what have these pretty flowers to do with it?" "I want these placed upon his desk the moment he rises to address the Assembly; and this little message will go with it." He held up a card on which was written sim ply the names Clarissa, Margery, Ralph, Herbert, and the brief line below, "Mother sends, "God bless you, my son." She clasped her hands in ecstasy. "Oh, how beautiful! How like your dear, noble self, Herbert." She called him Her bert, or brother, now. Dr. Acton left the bouquet in charge of an attendant, giving him minute instructions as to the place and time for the presentation. He slipped a coin into the man s hand. "There, I think that is the first time I ever bribed a member of this house." He chuckled in an amused manner. "And I will say that it shall be the last time, too." They found seats reserved by the friends who had preceded them, seats command ing a good view of the house and facing the desk of the member from Carbon Vale. Luke was already at his desk, with head bent low over a pile of manuscripts and documents; this prevented his seeing his friends in the gallery before him. The House was going through with its usual, large budget of routine business to which our hero gave a running, but interested attention, while he plied his labors at his desk. 338 THE SILENT CONFLICT "The special order of business for this hour," said the Chairman, glancing at the clock and then at a paper handed to him by the Clerk of the House, "is the debate on House Bill, Number one-thirty-nine." "If there is luck in odd numbers, our friend wins," jocularly observed Mr. Sumner to his eager listening companions. "There is Luke on the floor, and that is better than odd numbers," smilingly re turned Dr. Acton. They all laughed and felt some releif from their former nervous anxiety. The Clerk was now ordered to read the Bill designated, No. 139, and he began: "Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania in House and Senate assembled, and it is hereby enacted:" Then followed the reading of the bill, para graph by paragraph, line by line. At its close, but before the Speaker could declare the matter open for debate, the eyes of all, on the floor and in the gallery, were turned, toward its author s seat, for the attendant was placing a large floral tribute upon his desk. There followed a hearty clapping of hands, while Luke glanced at THE SILENT CONFLICT 339 the beautiful offering; then his eyes scanned the card a moment. He cast a swift, search ing look into the gallery and caught sight of four fluttering handkerchiefs. He arose in his place and bowed his thanks to the friends above him, then his acknowledge ments for the hearty, gentlemanly applause from the body of Representatives on the floor. "The mover of this Bill Number one- thirty-nine, now has the privilege of open ing the debate." The voice of the Speaker was the signal for attention that brought a deep hush upon all. The Clerk passed the name of the mover to the Chairman. The gentleman from Carbon Vale arose from his seat and addressed the Speaker; he was recognized by the occupant of the chair. Straightening his form to its full, com manding height and squaring his broad shoulders, Luke Darrell sent a look about the assembled representatives and then at the crowded gallery; as his eyes returned to the face of the Speaker, his voice, full, calm and sonorous, broke on the ears of the listening multitude. "Mr. Speaker and Members of this House: "It is with some trepidation that I enter upon the momentous task, which, as mover of this bill, number one-thirty-nine, falls to me, so little used to addressing so im portant, so powerful a body, for good or ill, as the Assembly of the great State of Pennsylvania. "In order that I may come properly at the inherent purpose and true tenor of this bill, number one-thirty-nine, permit me to ask, and if possible to answer the question, What constitutes a great State? Is it riches? Is it power? Is it tradition? Is it miles of railroads and canals? Hum ming factories and productive farms, or far- reaching internal and external commerce? Can it be large and magnificent schools? and colossal libraries? Are fine public build ings and imposing monuments to dead, but immortalized heroes greatness in the true sense? If you wish to bequeath to posterity the best thing that shall make us truly great and stamp our age as one of wholesome and beneficent gifts, would it be any of these or all of them? I answer, No! If these be our boast and we have THE SILENT CONFLICT 341 not a contented and prosperous yeomanry; if gaunt poverty and stealthy crime beget their breed of misery and suffering; if slavery abounds and oppression exults; if cowardly power grinds upon cringing dependency, and yet every material and intellectual bless ing which the Ruler of all can bestow be ours, then I answer, our State is neither great nor holy, nor just nor human in the like ness of our Creator. * (Applause.) "I am here, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen, to confess that I am a man of humble but, I believe, of just and honest ancestry; I confess, that up to a short time ago, I was but the very humblest toiler in the very humblest occupation a coal-miner in the deep, rich and valuable mines of this great State. (Applause.) Today, I am the super intendent of the Company s works where, from my earliest boyhood, I earned the rude shelter and bare crusts of a toilsome existence. Perhaps my rise in this Company s service was due to merit; I hope it was; but I do know that it came largely from cir- *The freest government cannot long endure, where the tendency of the law is to create a rapid accumulation of property in the hands of the few, and to render the masses of the people poor and dependent. Daniel Webster. 342 THE SILENT CONFLICT cumstances, and from those friends," his voice thrilled with pathos and he glanced straight into the faces in the gallery which eagerly watched him "friends who found in me a champion alike of down-trodden labor and selfish, suicidal capital. How much of worth, as a manager of that Company s business, they have found in me, I do not know. But I do know, Sirs, that out of discontent has grown contentment; out of discord, harmony; out of shrinking income and lowering wages have come larger dividends, improved plants, wholesome san itation, higher wages, and regular dividends to labor. * (Applause.) "But this is not my work altogether; had I stood alone, none of these things would be; and, if not these improved conditions, then the old, miserable, woe-begetting system would still flourish no, not flourish, but rot, rot, rot! *The industries are closing the most extraordinary year of their history. Long established branches have undergone a veri table reconstruction, vastly increasing their capacity, while new industries have enlisted a vast capital, altered the mode of busi ness in almost every direction, and the improved conditions for the future are almost beyond calculation. R. G. Dunn & Co. In industrial affairs the year has been one of enormous expan sion. Certainly nothing like the general advance in wages of in dustrial employees has been witnessed for many years and this has been accomplished with a minimum of friction. Bradstreets s Reports. "Therefore, I call you not to witness of my deeds, good or bad but of the whole change wrought by men of just and God- given hearts; of minds capable of seeing and knowing, as are your minds, Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen, as are the minds and hearts of all within hearing of my voice, yea, and even beyond and up to the throne of the Eternal Judge and Lawgiver. These minds have grasped a new meaning in the terms capital and labor, in employer and employe, of master and servant. All in and about and within the influence of the Mother Lode Brotherhood you see we have dropped the old name, Company; we rechrist- ened our compact on Christmas day all, I say, that come under our influence know what mainspring actuates our corporate existence and begin to see the fruits of our system. "Now, Sirs, in urging the adoption of the measure which this Bill, number one- thirty-nine, provides, I am asking you to make profit-sharing easy and oppressive measures hard; I am asking you to change, upon the Statutes of this great Common wealth of Pennsylvania, laws that have their foundation in the preposterous maxim 344 THE SILENT CONFLICT that Might makes right to those that rec ognize only that Justice alone is right . I ask you to take out of the selfish, irrespon sible hands of organized capital the power, nay, the incentive (in its own interest it believes, but is mistaken) to pay a grudging alms to labor and call it, wages . I shall hail the day, when the archeologist must search the musty tomes -of history to find the hateful word, wages and wonder what could be its meaning; and I hope to see the day when, instead of asking, what are your wages? we shall say, what is your worth?" He touched upon the Bill, item by item, paragraph by paragraph. All gave him at tention and the encouragement of sym pathetic faces. At the close he lifted up his voice in one last appeal. "The result of measures such as this Bill contains, My honored Sirs, will be the ceas ing to make the rich richer and the poor poorer, but will make the poor rich and rich richer and all more contented, more pros perous, more happy! Then these penal and eleemosynary institutions, which come under the care of the committee to which your honored Speaker has seen fit to appoint me, THE SILENT CONFLICT 345 will rank beside your schools, your libraries, and your holy churches. Alms grudgingly cast to the undeserving poor but beggars him who gives and him who receives. The poor must claim their own by right, by the holy law of justice; and proud capital must learn to recognize in labor its true and worthy handmaid labor that digs the treasures from the earth, which enrich both. "When our great industrial system, Sirs, is reorganized upon lines which this Bill provides and my remarks have indicated, then the millennium of peace and good-will, of even and increasing prosperity will take from gaunt famine the hollow eyes, and from suffering, trembling labor the heavy shackles which bind it!" Amid prolonged applause his speech merited, he took his seat. Later, casting a glance upward to the place where his friends sat, he saw that they had gone. He hastily withdrew to the lobby. Here heartfelt congratulations were showered upon him, and the cheering words of his friends told of the success they surely expected. "My dear, old friend, let me introduce to you another, who wishes you every success 346 THE SILENT CONFLICT and God speed. Luke, this is Mrs. Acton." presenting Clarissa. Congratulations for the happy couple were now in order and were both given and received. But we must part; the dearest friends must sometime part. The home of Dr. Herbert Acton in Read ing is the Mecca of Luke Darrell and Ralph Sumner on many a pleasant occasion. Mr. Sumner goes because he enjoys the genial flow of friendship; and so does Luke, but of late years, his visits are more frequent and protracted; he really did love the happy doctor s wife long ago and found in her such charms of mind and person as he never hoped to match then. He finds that now another budding woman hood stands on the threshold of life, she has learned many a charm from the brave girl of Carbon Vale; nay, she too is brave, and was once of Carbon Vale! Margery Waring has indeed grown charmingly beauti ful and an interesting companion for Luke s leisure hours, when he comes to visit old friends. THE SILENT CONFLICT 347 It was on one such visit that he drew the pretty, faltering girl from the seat at the window where they had been chatting cosily together, and taking her hand led her into the presence of Herbert and Clarissa Acton. "I came to introduce Mrs. Darrell, that is to be." He spoke tenderly; both looked happy. "God bless you, my children, and if our blessing can be as purely unselfish as yours has been, Luke, our blessings go with you," and Herbert, in imitation of that other time, joined their trembling hands together. "La sakes! Luke!" exclaimed the aged mother. "Will wonders never cease where you are?" Her hands rested in blessing upon her children s heads. THE END UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles r his h -n the ast date stamped below. 001 247 113 2