rap, and he was propelling Grady straight toward the edge of
the building. Four big timbers had just come up and Bannon caught the
released rope as it came trailing by. "Here," he said; "put your foot in
the hook and hang on, and you'll come down in no time."

Grady laughed nervously. "No you don't. I suppose you'd be glad to get rid
of me that way. You don't come that on me."

The men were watching with interest; Bannon raised his voice a little.
"All right," he said, thrusting his foot into the great hook, "if you feel
that way about it. We'll have a regular passenger elevator in here by and
by, with an electric bell and sliding door, for the capitalist crowd that
are going to own the place. But we workingmen get along all right on this.
Swing off, boys."

He waited for Grady down below. It mattered very little to him now whether
the walking delegate chose to follow him down the hoist or to walk down on
the ladders, for every one had seen that Grady was afraid. Bannon had seen
all the men grinning broadly as he began his descent, and that was all he
wanted.

Evidently Grady's fear of the rope was less than his dread of the ridicule
of the men, for Bannon saw him preparing to come down after the next load.
He took a long time getting ready, but at last they started him. He was
the color of a handful of waste when he reached the ground, and he
staggered as he walked with Bannon over to the office. He dropped into a
chair and rubbed his forehead with his coat-sleeve.

"Well," said Bannon, "do you like the look of things? I hope you didn't
find anything out of the way?"

"Do you dare ask me that?" Grady began. His voice was weak at first, but
as his giddiness passed away it arose again to its own inimitable
oratorical level. "Do you dare pretend that you are treating these men
right? Who gave you the right to decide that this man shall live and this
man shall die, and that this poor fellow who asks no more than to be
allowed to earn his honest living with his honest sweat shall be stricken
down with two broken ribs?"

"I don't know," said Bannon. "You're speaking of the hoist accident, I
suppose. Well, go and ask that man if he has any complaint to make. If he
has, come and let me know about it."

"They call this a free country, and yet you oppressors can compel men to
risk their lives--"

"Have you any changes to suggest in the way that hoist is rigged?" Bannon
cut in quietly. "You've been inspecting it. What d