thing that I wanted."

"And what is that?"

"These men clearly do not want what they are asking for. They want
chiefly war--at least, McNish does."

"I am deeply disappointed in McNish," replied the minister, "and I
confess I am anxious. McNish, above all others, is the brains of this
movement, and in that mood there is little hope of reason from him. I
fear it will be a sore fight, with a doubtful issue."

"Oh, I don't despair," said Maitland cheerily. "I have an idea he has a
quarrel with me. He wants to get me. But we can beat him."

The Reverend Murdo waited for a further explanation, but was too much
of a gentleman to press the point and kept silent till they reached his
door.

"You will not desert us, Mr. Matheson," said Maitland earnestly.

"Desert you? It is my job. These people are my people. We cannot desert
them."

"Right you are," said Maitland. "Cheerio. We'll carry on. He shook hands
warmly with the minister and went off, whistling cheerily.

"That is a man to follow," said the minister to himself. "He goes
whistling into a fight."

CHAPTER XIII

THE STRIKE

The negotiations between the men and their employers, in which the chief
exponents of the principles of justice and fair play were Mr. McGinnis
on the one hand and Brother Simmons on the other, broke down at the
second meeting, which ended in a vigorous personal encounter between
these gentlemen, without, however, serious injury to either.

The following day a general strike was declared. All work ceased in the
factories affected and building operations which had begun in a moderate
way were arrested. Grant Maitland was heartily disgusted with the course
of events and more especially with the humiliating and disgraceful
manner in which the negotiations had been conducted.

"You were quite right, Jack," he said to his son the morning after which
the strike had been declared. "That man McGinnis is quite impossible."

"It really made little difference, Dad. The negotiations were hopeless
from the beginning. There was no chance of peace."

"Why not?"

"Because McNish wants war." He proceeded to give an account of the
evening spent at the McNish home. "When McNish wants peace, we can
easily end the strike," concluded Jack.

"There is something in what you say, doubtless," replied his father,
"but meantime there is a lot to be done."

"What do you mean exactly, Father?"

"We have a lot of stock made up on hand. The market is d