nd Smith--poor Smith, the ex-convict, to whom Jonathan's kindness had
been as water on a lame duck's back--had to bear the brunt of Hegner's
distemper. He stood it as long as he could; which was not very long.

One noon hour he presented himself, sullen and whining and bleeding at
the nose, with a grievance for Jonathan's ears. The latter looked up
frowningly from the pile of letters he was signing; they were sadly
misspelled, the agitated Miss Brown having been at her worst.

"Yes, Smith," he said wearily. "What is it? A complaint, I suppose?"

"I wants to know," began Smith in a whine, "why I can't git a square
deal here. The shop boss he--"

"Is Hegner mixed up in it? Then go bring him here and say what you
have to say before him."

Smith departed, to return a few minutes later, an apprehensive eye cast
back at the trailing Hegner.

"Now, Smith," said Jonathan, "what is your complaint?"

"The boss he keeps damnin' me up an' down all the time," Smith
explained. "An' this morning he slugs me--right here on the beak." He
laid a gentle finger on the corpus delicti.

"Hegner," inquired Jonathan, "why do you keep damning him up and down
all the time? And why did you slug him on the beak?"

"Because," Hegner grinned sheepishly, "his beak was the place most
convenient."

"This isn't a joking matter," Jonathan reminded him sharply.

"So it ain't." Hegner turned a glance of contempt on Smith. "He's a
bum an' a loafer, He won't learn an' he won't try to work. Why, Braun,
who'd ought to be in bed instead of at a lathe, turns out half as much
again as him. How can I jack the other men up if I let him lag behind?
An' this morning I told him I'd had enough of his soldierin' an' what I
thought he was good for. He hauled off with a steelson to crack
me--but I beat him to it. That's all." Hegner blew tenderly on his
knuckles.

"Smith," said the judge, "what have you to say to that?"

"'Tain't so. He's only huntin' an excuse to fire me an' give some one
else my lathe."

"So I am," Hegner put in grimly. "Some one who'll work an' who ain't
an ex--"

"Hegner, hold your tongue!" Jonathan turned to Smith. "I have to
believe Hegner, because I've been watching you, Smith. I took you on
here, as I told you at the time, not to do you a favor, but because I
thought you were in earnest and would justify it. I was willing to be
your friend. And you soldiered. You stole the time I paid you for,
which is th