ught her, and
brought her up the Saint Lawrence to the sea--and down to New York. I
made a fortune on that deal. Then did I retire and smoke my pipe of
peace? No. I looked for another chance.

"When our country went into the war she needed ships of her own. She
had to have shipyards first to build 'em in. My lifelong ambition was
to make ships from the keel-plate up. I looked for the best place to
put a shipyard, picked on this spot because other people hadn't found
it. My partners and I got the land cheap because it was swamp. We
worked out our plans, sitting up all night over blue-prints and
studying how to save every possible penny and every possible waste
motion.

"And now look at the swamp. It's one of the prettiest yards in the
world. The Germans sank my _Clara_. Did I stop or go to making
speeches about German vampires? No. I went on building.

"The Germans tried to get my next boat. I fought for her as I'll fight
the Germans, the I. W. W., the Bolshevists, or any other sneaking
coyotes that try to destroy my property.

"I lost this right arm trying to save that ship. And now that I'm
crippled, am I asking for a pension or an admission to an old folks'
home? Am I passing the hat to you other workers? No. I'm as good as
ever I was. I made my left arm learn my right arm's business. If I
lose my left arm next I'll teach my feet to write. And if I lose
those, by God! I'll write with my teeth, or wigwag my ears.

"The trouble with you, Iddings, and the like of you is you brood over
your troubles, instead of brooding over ways to improve yourself. You
spend time and money on quack doctors. But I tell you, don't fight
your work or your boss. Fight nature, fight sleep, fight fatigue,
fight the sky, fight despair, and if you want money hunt up a place
where it's to be found."

If Iddings had had brains enough to understand all this he would not
have been Iddings working by the day. His stubborn response was:

"Well, I'll say the laboring-man is being bled by the capitalists and
he'll never get his rights till he grabs 'em."

"And I'll say be sure that you're grabbing your rights and not
grabbing your own throat.

"I'm for all the liberty in the world, for the dignity of labor, the
voice of labor, the labor-union, the profit-sharing basis, the
republic of labor. I think the workers ought to have a voice in
running the work--all the share they can handle, all the control that
won't hurt the business. But the bus