Part 43 (1/2)

”None of your infernal business,” the rebel shrilled, ”but if you must know, I'm going down to the Sawdust Pile to kiss the bride and shake a man's hand and wish him well. After I've done that I'll deliver your message. Mark me, he'll never take those bonds.”

”Of course he will, you old fool. They belong to him.”

”But he refused to make a profit at the expense of his own father. He gave them to you and he's not an Indian giver.”

”Andrew, I have never known you to act in such a peculiar manner. Are you crazy? Of course he'll take them. He'll have to take them in order to get out of Port Agnew. I doubt if he has a dollar in the world.”

Mr. Daney beat his chest gorilla fas.h.i.+on. ”He doesn't need a dollar.

Boy and man, I've loved that--ahem! son of yours. Why, he always _did_ have guts. Keep your filthy money. The boy's credit is good with me.

I'm no pauper, even I if do work for you. I work for fun. Understand.

Or do you, Hector McKaye?”

”If you dare to loan my son as much as a thin dime I'll fire you out of hand.”

Mr. Daney jeered. ”How?” he demanded very distinctly, and yet with a queer, unusual blending of the sentence with a single word, as if the very force of his breath had telescoped every syllable, ”would you like to stand off in that corner there and take a long runnin' jump at yourself, proud father?”

”Out of this office! You're fired.”

Mr. Daney dashed the tears from his whiskers and blew his nose. Then he pulled himself together with dignity and bowed so low he lost his center of gravity and teetered a little on his toes before recovering his balance. ”Fired is GOOD,” he declared. ”Where do you get that stuff, eh? My dear old Furiosity, ain't my resignation in the waste-basket? Good-by, good luck and may the good Lord give you the sense G.o.d gives geese. I'm a better man than you are, Gunga Din.”

The door banged open. Then it banged shut and The Laird was alone. The incident was closed. The impossible had come to pa.s.s. For the strain had been too great, and at nine o'clock on a working day morning, steady, reliable, dependable, automatic Andrew Daney having imbibed Dutch courage in lieu of Nature's own brand, was, for the first time in his life, jingled to an extent comparable to that of a boiled owl.

Mr. Daney's a.s.sistant thrust his head in the door, to disturb The Laird's cogitations. ”The knee-bolters went out at the s.h.i.+ngle mill this morning, sir,” he announced. ”They want a six and a half hour day and a fifty per cent. increase in wages, with a whole holiday on Sat.u.r.day. There's a big Russian red down there exhorting them.”

”Send Dirty Dan to me. Quick!”

A telephonic summons to the loading shed brought Daniel P. O'Leary on the run. ”Come with me, Dan,” The Laird commanded, and started for the s.h.i.+ngle mill. On the way down he stopped at the warehouse and selected a new double-bitted ax which he handed to Dirty Dan. Mr. O'Leary received the weapon in silence and trotted along at The Laird's heels like a faithful dog, until, upon arrival at the s.h.i.+ngle mill the astute Hibernian took in the situation at a glance.

”Sure, 'tis no compliment you've paid me, sor, thinkin' I'll be afther needin' an ax to take that fella's measure,” he protested.

”Your job is to keep those other animals off me while _I_ take his measure,” The Laird corrected him.

Without an instant's hesitation Dirty Dan swung his ax and charged the crowd. ”Gower that, ye vagabones,” he screeched. As he pa.s.sed the Russian he seized the latter by the collar, swung him and threw him bodily toward old Hector, who received him greedily and drew him to his heart. The terrible O'Leary then stood over the battling pair, his ax poised, the while he hurled insult and anathema at the knee-bolters. A very large percentage of knee-bolters and s.h.i.+ngle weavers are members of the I.W.W. and knowing this, Mr. O'Leary begged in dulcet tones, to be informed why in this and that n.o.body seemed willing to lift a hand to rescue the Little Comrade. He appeared to be keenly disappointed because n.o.body tried, albeit other axes were quite plentiful thereabouts.

Presently The Laird got up and dusted the splinters and sawdust from his clothing; the Red, battered terribly, lay weltering in his blood.

”I feel better now,” said The Laird. ”This is just what I needed this morning to bring me out of myself. Help yourself, Dan,” and he made a dive at the nearest striker, who fled, followed by his fellow-strikers, all hotly pursued by The Laird and the demon Daniel.

The Laird returned, puffing slightly, to his office and once more sat in at his own desk. As he remarked to Dirty Dan, he felt better now.

All his resentment against Daney had fled but his resolution to pursue his contemplated course with reference to his son and the latter's wife had become firmer than ever. In some ways The Laird was a terrible old man.

XLII

Nan was not at all surprised when, upon responding to a peremptory knock at her front door she discovered Andrew Daney standing without.

The general manager, after his stormy interview with The Laird had spent two hours in the sunny lee of a lumber pile, waiting for the alcoholic fogs to lift from his brain, for he had had sense enough left to realize that all was not well with him; he desired to have his tongue in order when he should meet the bride and groom.

”Good morning, Mr. Daney,” Nan greeted him. ”Do come in.”