ing man, 'aw often wonder if
thaa'll be content when thaa geets up aboon to see us lot in
t'other shop.'

'Yi! and when we ax him, as th' rich mon axed Lazarus, for a sooap
(drink) of summat cool, it'll be hard lines, wirnd (will not) it,
owd lad, when thaa cornd help us?' asked the man who sat against
him.

'Happen it will,' replied Amos. 'But thaa knows there'll be no
sharin' baggin (tea or refreshment) there. Them as hed oil
couldn't gi' it to them as hed noan.'

'Then thaa'll not come across the gulf and help us, Amos?'

'Nowe!' cried Dan. 'He'd brun (burn) his wings if he did.'

And at this all laughed, save the thoughtful man who put the first
question to the old Calvinist.

'Thaa knows, Amos,' said he, 'I look at it i' this way. Supposin'
th' factory geet o' fire this mornin', an' yo' hed th' chance o'
savin' that lass o' mine that back-tents for yo', yo'd save her,
wouldn't yo'?'

'Yi, lad, if I'd th' _chance_,' replied Amos.

'Then haa is it yo're so mich better nor Him, as yo' co th'
Almeety, for yo' reckon He'll noan save some o' us?'

'I tell thee I'd save th' lass if I hed th' chance. We con nobbud
do what we're permitted to do. We're only instruments in th'
Almeety's honds.'

'But isn't th' Almeety His own Measter?'

'So He is, but His ways are past findin' out.'

'An' thaa means to say thaa'd save my lass, and th' Almeety
wouldn't save me?'

'It's decrees, thaa knows, lad, it's decrees,' said Amos, unshaken
by the argument of his friend.

'Then there's summat wrang with th' decrees, that's all, Amos.
There's been a mistak' somewhere.'

'Hooist, lad! hooist! durnd talk like that. Woe to th' mon that
strives wi' his Maker.'

'If thi Maker's th' mon thaa maks Him aat to be, I'm noan
partic'lar abaat oather His woes or His blessin's.'

'No more am I,' cried Dan, as he stood up and stretched himself
with a yawn. 'We mud as well mak' most o' life if we're booked for
t'other shop, though mine's a warm un i' this world, as yo' all
know.'

'It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy,' said Amos, in solemn tones.

And the whistle sounded for the renewal of work, and the men
dispersed.

* * * * *

The clock in the factory yard pointed to the hour of ten, and four
hundred toilers were sweating out their lives in one of
Manufacture's minting-shops of wealth. Overhead the shafting ran
in rapid revolutions, communica