I told him to mend his
manners or I'd wash his mouth out, an' that I wouldn't have nobody
hit me horses on the head. He kep' along, an' I see it was a bad
example for the other drivers (this was only a year ago, an' I had
three of 'em); so when he hit the Big Gray ag'in, I hauled off and
give him a crack that laid him out. I was scared solid for two
hours, though they never knew it."
Then, with an almost piteous look in her face, and with a sudden
burst of confidence, born, doubtless, of a dawning faith in the
man's evident sincerity and esteem, she said in a faltering
tone:--
"God help me! what can I do? I've no man to stand by me, an'
somebody's got to be boss."
IV
A WALKING DELEGATE LEARNS A NEW STEP
McGaw's failure to undermine Tom's business with Babcock, and his
complete discomfiture over Crane's coal contract at the fort, only
intensified his hatred of the woman.
Finding that he could make no headway against her alone, he called
upon the Union to assist him, claiming that she was employing
non-union labor, and had thus been able to cut down the
discharging rates to starvation prices.
A meeting was accordingly called by the executive committee of the
Knights, and a resolution passed condemning certain persons in the
village of Rockville as traitors to the cause of the workingman.
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