ismarck. The other two members of
the committee were Ferguson, a thin, alert-mannered Yankee of forty, who
spoke with a pronounced drawl; and McMahon, a short, red-headed, shrewd
Irishman, with a face on which shone a volatile good-humor. The three,
on entering the library and being greeted by Hamilton, found that their
employer had fortified himself for the conference by the presence of Mr.
Delancy, in whose business judgment the younger man had great
confidence. The men received the pleasant salutation of Hamilton with
awkwardness, but without any trace of shamefacedness, for they had the
consciousness of their righteous cause to give them confidence in a
strange environment. Hardly were they seated at their host's request in
chairs facing him and Mr. Delancy, when Schmidt bounced up, and, after
squaring himself resolutely in a position of advantage before the empty
fireplace, proceeded to declaim vigorously as to the rights between
labor and capital, speaking sonorously, with a pronounced German accent.
After some five minutes of this, Mr. Delancy, who was both nervous and
irritable, as the orator paused for breath at a period, ventured to
protest.

"Yes, yes, man," he exclaimed, testily. "But I don't care a damn about
Schopenhauer and socialism, and I'm sure Mr. Hamilton doesn't. Let's get
to the wages paid in the Hamilton factory."

Ferguson came to the support of Delancy, as did McMahon, who said
amiably:

"Give the boss a chance, Smitty."

Schmidt, however, was inclined to be recalcitrant.

"There was no arrangement yet to give the boss a chance," he argued.

"Just give him a chance then because he's a friend of mine," urged the
Irishman with a grin of such exceeding friendliness toward the German
himself that it was not to be resisted. Schmidt nodded in token that the
employer should be allowed to speak, but he retained his position as a
presiding officer before the fireplace.

Hamilton forthwith set out to present his side of the case to the men
before him.

"As you know," he said briskly, "I'm the owner of the Hamilton factory.
I pay the wages. Now, the Hamilton factory has been kept running through
good times and through bad times for more than thirty years. Sometimes,
too, it has been run at a loss, without any cut in the wage-scale to
help the owner in that period of loss. Well, it seems to me under the
circumstances that I have a right to run my own business."

"Oh, certainly!" Ferguson agreed,