ay, sir. His words was, and I 'eard
him,--'from Nero down to Slocum.'"

"It amounts to the same thing, and is enough to make one laugh, if
he didn't make one want to swear. I hear that that was a very lively
meeting the other night. What was that nonsense about 'the privileged
class'?"

"Well, there is a privileged class in the States."

"So there is, but it's a large class, Denyven. Every soul of us
has the privilege of bettering out condition if we have the brain and
the industry to do it. Energy and intelligence come to the front, and
have the right to be there. A skillful workman gets double the pay of
a bungler, and deserves it. Of course there will always be rich and
poor, and sick and sound, and I don't see how that can be changed.
But no door is shut against ability, black or white. Before the year
2400 we shall have a chrome-yellow president and a black-and-tan
secretary of the treasury. But, seriously, Denyven, whoever talks
about privileged classes here does it to make mischief. There are
certain small politicians who reap their harvest in times of public
confusion, just as pickpockets do. Nobody can play the tyrant or the
bully in this country,--not even a workingman. Here's the Association
dead against an employer who, two years ago, ran his yard full-handed
for a twelvemonth at a loss, rather than shut down, as every other
mill and factory in Stillwater did. For years and years the
Association has prevented this employer from training more than two
apprentices annually. The result is, eighty hands find work, instead
of a hundred and eighty. Now, that can't last."

"It keeps wages fixed in Stillwater, sir."

"It keeps out a hundred workmen. It sends away capital."

"Torrini says, sir"--

"Steer clear of Torrini and what he says. He's a dangerous
fellow--for his friends. It is handsome in you, Denyven, to speak up
for him--with that eye of yours."

"Oh, I don't love the man, when it comes to that; but there's no
denying he's right smart," replied Denyven, who occasionally marred
his vernacular with Americanisms. "The Association couldn't do
without him."

"But Slocum's Yard can," said Richard, irritated to observe the
influence Torrini exerted on even such men as Denyven.

"That's between you and him, sir, of course, but"--

"But what?"

"Well, sir, I can't say hexactly; but if I was you I would bide a
bit."

"No, I think Torrini's time has come."

"I don't make bold to advise you, sir. I