“Nonsense！“criedPatriciaindignantly。“Jacktookmeyesterdaytoseethework。Heshowedmealltheplansandwewentoverthegrounds。Itisamostsplendidthing，Mamma！Heislayingoutathleticgroundsforhismen，withaclubhouseandallthatsortofthing。Theyaregoingtobeperfectlysplendid！Doyoumeantosaytheywereblaminghimforthis？Whowas？“AndPatriciastoodreadyforbattle。
“Kamerad！“criedVic，holdinguphishands。“Notme！However，Jackwasexonerated，foritappearshesentthemalettertwoweeksago，tellingthemwhatheproposedtodo，towhichlettertheyhadraisednoobjection。“
“Well，whatthen？“inquiredPatricia。
“Oh，theusualthing。Theyallresolvedtostandpat——nosurrender——
or，rather，letthewholelineadvance——youknowthestuff——whenintothiswarlikeatmospherewalkedthedeputationfromtheMinisterialAssociation。ItgavetheE。D。C。aslightshock，somyDadsays。TheDoctorfiredthefirstgun。Mygovernorsaysthatitwaslikeabreathfromanotherworld。Hisfacewasenough。
Everybodyfeltmeanforjustbeingwhattheywere。Iknowexactlywhatthatis，forIknowthewayhemakesmefeelwhenIlookathiminchurch。YouknowwhatImean，Pat。“
“Iknow，“saidPatriciasoftly，lettingherhandfalluponhermother’sshoulder。
“Well，“continuedVic，“theDoctorjusttalkedtothemasiftheywerehischildren。Theyhadn’tbeenverygoodandhewassorryforthem。Hewouldliketohelpthemtobebetter。Theotherside，too，hadbeendoingwrong，andtheywerehavingabadtime。Theyweresuffering，andashewentontotelltheminthatwonderfulvoiceofhisaboutthewomenandchildren，everymanintheroom，sothegovernorsaid，waswonderinghowmuchhehadinhispocket。
AndthenhetoldthemofhowwickeditwasformenwhosesonshaddiedtogetherinFrancetobefightingeachotherhereinCanada。
Well，youknowmygovernor。Ashetoldmethistale，wejustbothofusbowedourheadsandwept。It’sthetruth，sohelpme，justasyouaredoingnow，Pat。“
“Iamnot，“criedPatriciaindignantly。“AndIdon’tcareifIam。
Heisadearandthosemenarejust——“
“Hush，dear，“saidMrs。Templetongently。“Anddidtheyagreetoanything？“
“Alas，notthey，foratthatmomentsomeoldJohnnybeganaskingquestionsandthenthatoldfire-eater，McGinnis，hornedinagain。
NoArbitrationCommitteeforhim——noonecouldcomeintohisfoundryandtellhimhowtorunhisbusiness——sameoldstuff，youknow。Well，then，theMethodistJohnnytookahand。What’shisname？Haynes，isn’tit？“
“Yes，Haynes，“saidHughMaynard。
“Well，BrotherHaynestookupthetale。Heisaneloquentchap，allright。Hetooktheline’Asyouarestrong，bepitiful，’butthepsychologicalmomenthadgoneandthelinestillheldstrong。
Campbellofthewoollenmillsinvitedhimuptoviewhis$25，000。00
stock’alldressedupandnowheretogo。’’TellmehowIcanpayincreasedwageswiththisstockonmyhands。’Andechoanswered’How？’Haynescouldnot。Thenmyoldchieftookahand——theReverendMurdoMatheson。Heisagoodoldscout，aPadre，youknow——regularfire-eater——araspingvoiceandgreymatteroozingfromhispores。Mygovernorsaysheabandonedthefrontalattackandtookthemontheflank。Openedupwithadoseofeconomicsthatmadethemsitup。Andwhenhegotthroughonthisline，hemadeeverymanfeelthatitwasentirelyduetothecourtesyandforbearanceoftheunionthathewasallowedtocarryonbusinessatall。HespikedBrotherMcGinnis’sgunsbyinforminghimthatifhewasharbouringtheideathatheownedafoundryallonhisown，hewaslabouringunderahallucination。Allheownedwasaheapofbrickandmortarandsomeironandsteeljunkarrangedinsomepeculiarway。Infact，therewasnofoundrytheretilltheworkmencameinandstartedthewheelsgoinground。OldMcGinnissatgaspinglikeachickenwiththepip。ThenthePadreturnedonthe’Libertyofthesubject’stopasfollows:’Mr。McGinnisinsistsuponlibertytorunhisfoundryashelikes；insistsuponperfectfreedomofaction。Thereisnosuchthingasperfectfreedomofactioninmoderncivilisation。Forinstance，Mr。McGinnisrushingtocatchatrain，hurlshisHudsonSixgailydownMainStreetthirtymilesanhour，ontheleft-handsideofthestreet。Aspeedcopsidlesup，whispersasweetsomethinginhisear，hailshimignominiouslyintocourtandinviteshimtocontributetothesupportofthedemocracyfiftylittleironmenasanevidenceofhisdevotiontothesacredprincipleofpersonalliberty。Inshort，thereisnosuchthingaspersonallibertyinthisburg，unlessitistoolateforthecoptosee。’ThegovernorsaysMcGinnis’sfaceaffordedaperfectstudyinemotions。Ishouldhavelikedtohaveseenit。ThePadrenevertookhisfootofftheaccelerator。Hetookthemallforanexcursionalongthe’Responsibility’line:personalresponsibility，mutualresponsibility，communityresponsibilityandeveryresponsibilityknowntothemodernmind。Andthenwhenhehadthemeatingoutofhishand，heofferedthemtwoalternatives:anArbitrationCommitteeasformerlyproposed，oraConciliationBoardundertheLemieuxAct。Mygovernorsaysitwasagreatspeech。Hehad’emalljumpingthroughthehoops。“
“WhatDOyoumean，Vic？“lamentedMrs。Templeton。“Ihaveonlytheveryvaguestideaofwhatyouhavebeensayingallthistime。“
“Sosorry，Mrs。Templeton。WhatImeanisthePadredeliveredamosteffectivespeech。“
“Anddidtheysettleanything？“inquiredPatricia。
“Iregrettosay，Patricia，thatyourfriendRupert——“
“Myfriend，indeed！“criedPatricia。
“Whocomfortsyouwithbonbons，“continuedVic，ignoringherwords，“andstaysyouwithjoyrides，interposedatthissecondpsychologicalcrisis。Heverycleverlymovesavoteofthanks，bowsoutthedeputation，thankingthemfortheirtouchingaddresses，andpromisingconsideration。Thereupon，asthedoorclosed，heproceededtosoundthealarmoncemore，collectedthescatteredforces，flungthegageofbattleintheteethoftheenemy，daredthemtodotheirworst，andthereyouare。“
“Andnothingdone？“criedAdrien。“Whatashame。“
“WhatIcannotunderstandis，“saidHugh，“whytheunionsdonotinvoketheLemieuxAct？“
“Aha！“saidVic。“Why？Thesamequestionrosetomylips。“
“TheLemieuxAct？“inquiredMrs。Templeton。
“Yes。Youknow，Mrs。Templeton，eitherpartyindisputecanaskforaBoardofConciliation，notArbitration，youunderstand。ThisBoardhaspowertoinvestigate——bringoutallthefacts——andfailingtoeffectconciliation，makespublicitsdecisioninthecase，leavingbothpartiesatthebarofpublicopinion。“
“ButIcannotunderstandwhytheunionsdonotaskforthisConciliationBoard。“
“Ifear，Hugh，“saidVictorinanawedandsolemnvoice，“thatthereisanEthiopianinthecoalbin。“
“WhatDOEShemean，Patricia？“
“Hemeansthatthereissomethingverydarkandmysterious，Mamma。“
“Sothereis，“saidHugh。“TheunionswilltakeanArbitrationCommittee，whichtheemployersdeclinetogive，buttheywillnotaskforaConciliationBoard。“
“Mygovernorsaysit’sabluff，“saidVic。“TheunionsknowquitewellthatMcGinnisethocgenusomnewillhavenothingtodowithanArbitrationCommittee。HencetheyareallforanArbitrationCommittee。Ontheotherhand，neithertheunionsnorMcGinnisaregreatlyinlovewiththepryingmethodsoftheConciliationBoard，andhencerejecttheaidoftheLemieuxAct。“
“ButwhyshouldtheyallbedominatedbyamanlikeMcGinnis？“
demandedAdrien。“Whydoesn’tsomeemployerdemandaConciliationBoard？Hecangetit，youknow。“
“Theynaturallystandtogether，“saidHugh。
“Buttheywon’tlong。Maitlanddeclaresthathewilltakeeitherboard，andthatifthecommitteecannotagreewhichtochoose，hewillwithdrawandmaketermsonhisown。Hefurthermoregavethemwarningthatifanystrike-breakerswereemployed，ofwhichhehadheardrumours，hewouldhavenothingtodowiththebunch。“
“Strike-breakers？“saidAdrien。“Thatwouldcertainlymeanserioustrouble。“
“Indeed，youarejollywellright，“saidVic。“Wewillallbeinitthen。Civicguard！Specialpolice！’Shun！Fixbayonets！
Prepareforcavalry！Eh？“
“Oh，howterribleitallis，“saidMrs。Templeton。
“Nonsense，Vic，“saidHugh。“Don’tlistentohim，Mrs。Templeton。
Wewillhavenothingofthatsort。“
“Well，itisallverysad，“saidMrs。Templeton。“ButhereisRupert。Hewillgiveusthelatest。“
ButRupertappearedunwillingtotalkaboutthemeetingofthemorning。Hewasquitecertain，however，thatthestrikewasabouttobreak。Hehadinsideinformationthattheresourcesoftheunionswerealmostexhausted。Theemployersweretighteningupallalongtheline，creditswerebeingrefusedatthestores，theunionsweretornwithdissension，theendwasathand。
“Itwouldbeagreatmercyifitwouldendsoon，“saidMrs。
Templeton。“Itisasadpitythatthesepoorpeoplearesomisguided。“
“Itisacruelshame，Mrs。Templeton，“saidRupertindignantly。“I
haveitfromscoresofthemthattheydidn’twanttostrikeatall。
Theyweregettinggoodwages——thewagescalehasgoneupsteadilyduringthewartothepresentextravagantheight。“
“Thecostoflivinghasgoneupmuchmorerapidly，Ibelieve，“saidAdrien。“Themenareworkingtenhoursaday，theconditionsunderwhichtheylabourareinsomecasesdeplorable；thatMcGinnisfoundryisaghastlyplace，terriblyunhealthy；thegirlsinmanyofthefactoriesarepaidwagessoshamefullylowthattheycanhardlymaintainthemselvesindecency，andtheyarecontinuallybeingtoldthattheyareabouttobedismissed。Thewrong’snotallononeside，byanymeans。Tomymind，menlikeMcGinniswhoareunwillingtonegotiateareamenacetothecountry。“
“Youarequiteright，Adrien，“repliedHugh。“Iconsiderhimamostdangerousman。Thatsortofpig-headed，bull-headedemployeroflabourdoesmoretopromotestrifethanadozen’walkingdelegates。’Iamnotterriblystrongfortheunions，butthepointofvantageisalwayswiththeemployers。Andtheyhavealottolearn。Oh，youmaylookatme，Adrien！Iamnobolshevist，butI
seealotofthesemeninouroffice。“
Slowlytheeveningwasdeepeningintonight，butstilltheglowfromthesettingsunlingeredinthewesternsky。Thebravelittlesongsterhadgonefromthetopoftheelmtree，butfromtheshrubberybehindthechurchawhippoorwillwasbeginningtotunehispipe。
“Oh，listentothedarling！“criedPatricia。“Ihaven’theardoneforalong，longtime。“
“Thereusedtobeagreatmanyintheshrubberyhere，andintheolddaysthewoodsnearbywerefullofthemintheevenings，“saidMrs。Templeton。
Astheysatlisteningforthewhippoorwill’svoice，theybecameawareofothersoundsfloatinguptotheirearsfromthetown。
Thehumofpassingmotors，thehigh，shrilllaughterofchildrenplayinginthestreets，theclangofthelocomotivebellfromtherailroadstation，allsoftenedbydistance。Butastheylistenedtherecameanothersoundlikenothingtheyhadeverheardinthatplacebefore。Astrange，confusedrumbling，withcriesjuttingoutthroughthedull，rollingnoise。Alittlelatercamethefaintclashofrhythmic，tumultuouscheering。Patricia’squickearswerethefirsttocatchthesound。
“Hush！“shecried。“Whatisthatnoise？“
Againcametherumblingsound，punctuatedwithquickvolleysofcheering。Themenglancedateachother。Theyknewwellthatsound，asoundtheyhadoftenheardduringthestirringdaysofthewar，inthestreetsofthegreatcitiesacrosstheseas，andinotherplaces，too，wheremenwerewonttocrowd。Astheylistenedintensesilence，therecamethethrobbingofadrum。
“Mydear，“saidMrs。Templetonfaintlytohereldestdaughter，“I
thinkIshallgoin。“
AtonceHughofferedherhisarm，whileAdrientooktheother，andtogethertheyledherslowlyintothehouse。
MeanwhiletheotherstumbledintoRupert’scarandmotoreddowntothegate，andtherewaitedtheapproachofwhatseemedtobeaprocessionofsomesortorother。
AtthegateDr。Templeton，returningfromhispastorvisitations，foundthemstanding。