nvelope to Darrell, hastened on without a word.
Darrell saw smiles exchanged among the men, but he preserved the utmost
gravity until, having reached his desk, he opened and read the little
note. It contained merely a few pleasant lines from Kate, expressing
disappointment at his failure to come to The Pines on the preceding
Saturday, and reminding him of his promise concerning the violin; but
the postscript, which in true feminine style comprised the real gist of
the note, made him smile audibly. It ran:

"Papa has donned his paint and feathers this morning and is
evidently starting out on the war-path. I haven't an idea whose
scalps he intends taking, but hope you will at least preserve your
own intact."

At dinner Mr. Underwood maintained an ominous silence, replying in
monosyllables to any question or remark addressed to him. He soon left
the table, and Darrell did not see him again till late in the afternoon,
when he entered the laboratory. A glance at the set lines of his face
told Darrell as plainly as words that his line of action was fully
determined upon, and that it would be as fixed and unalterable as the
laws of the Medes and Persians.

"I am going home now," he announced briefly, in reply to Darrell's
somewhat questioning look; "I'll be back here the last of the week."

"What do you think of the outlook, Mr. Underwood?" Darrell inquired.

"It is about what I expected. I have seen all the men. They are, as I
supposed, under the thumb of the union bosses. A few of them realize
that the whole proposition is unreasonable and absurd, and they don't
want to go out, but they don't dare say so above their breath, and they
don't dare disobey orders, because they are owned, body and soul, by the
union."

"Have any of the leaders tried to make terms?"

"I met one of their 'walking delegates' this morning," said Mr.
Underwood, with scornful emphasis; "I told him to 'walk' himself out of
the camp or I'd boot him out; and he walked!"

Darrell laughed. Mr. Underwood continued: "The boarding-house opens on
Thursday; on next Monday every man not enrolled in that institution will
be ordered out."

"It's to be a strike then, sure thing, is it?" Darrell asked.

"Yes, there'll be a strike," Mr. Underwood answered, grimly, while a
quick gleam shot across his face; "but remember one thing," he added, as
he turned to leave the room, "no man ever yet got the drop or the first
blow on me!"

Matters