Day after to-morrow,
Mr. Reade, you wouldn't be able to borrow twenty dollars from
our whole force."
"It's a shame," burst from Tom indignantly, as the three turned to gaze
westward across the desert. "These men work as hard as any toilers in
the world. They receive good wages. Yet where do you find a railroad
jack who, after years and years of toil on these burning deserts, has
two or three hundred dollars of his own saved?"
Hawkins shrugged his shoulders.
"I know all about it," he responded, "and I grow angry every time I
think about it. Yet how is one going to protect these, men against
themselves?"
"I believe there's a way," spoke Tom confidently.
"I hope you can find it, then, Mr. Reade," retorted Hawkins skeptically.
"At any rate, I'm going to try."
"What are you going to do, Mr. Reade?" demanded the superintendent
curiously.
"You'll be with me, won't you?" coaxed Tom.
"You'll stand with us, shoulder to shoulder."
"I certainly will, Mr. Reade!"
"And the foremen? You can depend upon them?"
"On every one of them," declared Hawkins promptly.
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