's view, I don't know what we've come down here for.

ANTHONY. To tell the men that we've got nothing for them----
[Grimly.] They won't believe it till they hear it spoken in plain
English.

WILDER. H'm! Shouldn't be a bit surprised if that brute Roberts had
n't got us down here with the very same idea. I hate a man with a
grievance.

EDGAR. [Resentfully.] We didn't pay him enough for his discovery.
I always said that at the time.

WILDER. We paid him five hundred and a bonus of two hundred three
years later. If that's not enough! What does he want, for goodness'
sake?

TENCH. [Complainingly.] Company made a hundred thousand out of his
brains, and paid him seven hundred--that's the way he goes on, sir.

WILDER. The man's a rank agitator! Look here, I hate the Unions.
But now we've got Harness here let's get him to settle the whole
thing.

ANTHONY. No! [Again they look at him.]

UNDERWOOD. Roberts won't let the men assent to that.

SCANTLEBURY. Fanatic! Fanatic!

WILDER. [Looking at ANTHONY.] And not the only one! [FROST enters
from the hall.]

FROST. [To ANTHONY.] Mr. Harness from the Union, waiting, sir. The
men are here too, sir.

[ANTHONY nods. UNDERWOOD goes to the door, returning with
HARNESS, a pale, clean-shaven man with hollow cheeks, quick
eyes, and lantern jaw--FROST has retired.]

UNDERWOOD. [Pointing to TENCH'S chair.] Sit there next the
Chairman, Harness, won't you?

[At HARNESS'S appearance, the Board have drawn together, as it
were, and turned a little to him, like cattle at a dog.]

HARNESS. [With a sharp look round, and a bow.] Thanks! [He sits---
his accent is slightly nasal.] Well, gentlemen, we're going to do
business at last, I hope.

WILDER. Depends on what you call business, Harness. Why don't you
make the men come in?

HARNESS. [Sardonically.] The men are far more in the right than you
are. The question with us is whether we shan't begin to support them
again.

[He ignores them all, except ANTHONY, to whom he turns in
speaking.]

ANTHONY. Support them if you like; we'll put in free labour and have
done with it.

HARNESS. That won't do, Mr. Anthony. You can't get free labour, and
you know it.

ANTHONY. We shall see that.

HARNESS. I'm quite frank with you. We were forced to withhold our
support from your men because some of their demands are in excess of
current rates. I expect to make the