do anything you said to make myself
agreeable and fit company for you."

"You are very fit company for me now, Tom," I said, "and you are of a
great deal more use in the world than I am; you know more that is worth
knowing than I do. Only let us be good friends, as we have always been,
and do not talk about anything else."

"I will not talk any more of it now," said he, "if so be it don't please
you, and if you'll promise never to say any more to me about the Mills
gals, or any of them critters down in Catlettsburg,--I can't abide the
sight of them,--and if you'll let me come and see you all the same, and
row you about and take you to the mill when you want flour."

I held out my hand to Tom with the earnest assurance that I always liked
to see him and talk to him, and that there was nobody whom I would
sooner ask to do me a kindness.

The poor fellow choked a little as he thanked me, and then, recovering
himself, rowed a few strokes in silence, when, looking round as if to
assure himself that there was nothing near us but the quiet trees, he
said suddenly,--

"I'll tell you what, Janet, I've a great mind to tell you something,
seeing how you're not a woman that can't hold her tongue, and then you
think so much of Hammond."

I started with a quick sense of alarm, but Tom went doggedly on.

"You know what a hard winter we've had, with this low water and no
January rise, and all that ice in the Ohio. They say they're starving
for coal down in Cincinnati, and here we've no end of it stacked up.
Well, Hammond, he's had hard work enough to keep the men along through
the winter. Many another man would have turned them off, but he wouldn't
do it; so he's shinned here and shinned there to get money to pay them
their wages, and they've had scrip, and we've fairly brought goods up to
the store overland, on horseback and every kind of way, just for their
convenience; and now the damned Irish rascals, with some of the Sandy
boys for leaders, have made up their minds to strike for higher wages
the minute we have a rise, just when we'll need all hands to get the
coal off, and all those boats laying at the mouth, too. I heard it day
before yesterday, by chance like, when Jim Foushee and the two O'Learys
were sitting smoking on the fence behind the store. The O'Learys were
tight with the Redeye they had aboard, and let it out in their stupid
'colloguing,' as they call it; but Jim Foushee saw me standing at the
window, and righ