older.
There's a lot of you who will have to go into dry-dock before long and
get patched up. And there's some that can't afford to lay up. You've
been working with your hands too long. You've got to ease up and use
your brains. That's what I want to hire now. These young fellows are
eager to help you. It will be up to you to show them what to do."

Could this be the girl who had angrily announced that she intended to
run her business in her own way? Gregory could only stare at Dickie
Lang. So far, she had not even included him as being a partner to the
idea, save by her pledge of the profits of his cannery. Surely she would
explain her sudden change of heart. Listening intently, he heard her
conclude:

"Think it over, boys. It's a chance that may never come again. If there
are any questions you'd like to ask, shoot."

Blagg noted that her words were having a marked effect upon the silent
fishermen. Seeking to stem the tide of the reaction which he felt was
setting in against him, he began to make objections.

Dickie Lang met his arguments with painstaking explanations and the
objections gradually became fewer, simmering down into more or less
intelligent questions. Gregory noticed that the fishermen began to
retire and clustered together in little groups while they talked
earnestly among themselves. Still there came no explanation from the
girl. She was championing his ideas as if they had been her own
cherished plans.

At length the various knots of men drew further apart and faced each
other in two well-marked divisions. To the left stood Joe Blagg, about
him clustering the younger and more radical element of the fishing
colony. On the right the property-owners and heads of families for the
most part, drew closer to Big Jack Stuss, their acknowledged leader.

Dickie Lang regarded the two factions carefully, striving to count their
ranks. Each was about evenly divided, she figured, with Big Jack's
constituency slightly in the lead.

Blagg stepped forward and began to speak: "It's six straight for me and
mine," he said. "Them's our terms. The boys can't see your new-fangled
proposition at all."

"It's up to you," the girl replied coolly. "If that's the way you feel,
you can get your money. But before you do, I'd advise you to talk it
over at home. Don't forget that I'm fighting for you--not against you.
It might be pretty nice to remember some time that you tried to help
yourselves. Think it over before you