Part 13 (1/2)
Ji ”An' what do I get out of it?”
Fitch looked up at him ”You'll be with me, boy I'll make you rich I'll start you out with a salary of twenty-five a week”
That was at least five dollars a week more than any man in toas paid Jimmy knew that It was also ten dollars ed even in the best of times ”I don' know,” he said cautiously ”That's jest a job, an' I kind of like the idea of bein' in business fer myself”
”You don' make nowhere near that kind of o to work every day neither,” Jimmy said
”That was all right when you were alone, but now you're married an' settled down An' pretty soon there'll be a faot to be thinkin' of them now”
Jimmy sat down at the table ”I don' know,” he said
Fitch smiled He felt he had hiot to his feet ”She'll agree with irl You can let one, Molly Ann ca back into the kitchen ”Isn't it wonderful?”
He looked at her ''You don't understand, do you?”
''What?” She was bewildered
”That he wants me to be a crook like his”
She was silent for a oin'todo?”
”Same as I been doin',” he said, ”Mindin' my own business an' sellin' my whiskey”
But that was not the way it was to be For two days after Jih the openof the ramshackle wooden house about eleven s now lived and killed Grandfather Craig
Mr Fitch was as indignant as the rest of the townspeople at the senseless murder of the old man and put up a fifty-dollar reward of his own money for the arrest and capture of the killer And despite the fact that the Craigs' claie was even further obfuscated by the old man's death, he raised his offer for the land to five hundred dollars in order to help out the poor family He also promised to intercede in their behalf and see to it that the Craig children got their jobs back in the enerous offer, he thought There was only one thing wrong with it The Craigs turned it down And a few days after the funeral, a shot fired fro land killed theorders to his work gang to resue
All work came to a stop There was no way for the men to tell which one of them would be next, and they would not return to work until arht in to patrol the periuards arrived, one of them was found dead on his post by his relief h the back of the head at close range with a Sot the news of the killing late that afternoon, his lips tightened grieniality disappeared For the first ti threatened His reply was the inevitable reply of power That sas' eldest son, was shot to death as he went to water his mule
And that was how the war that would becoan in Fitchville It would not end for almost two years and not untilthem women and children It would be remembered as the bloodiest inia
and-potato-salad sandwich on the fresh hoainst the building, his eyes half closed in content to feel tight He loosened his tie and opened the collar Many things had changed in the year he had been working as a clerk
Perhaps theable to afford a rooer hurt in the daylight Itto wear a collar and tie every day He unscrewed the cap of the thermos bottle and took a sip of the hot, sweet coffee That Carrie was a gem She orth every penny of the extra half-dollar he slipped her each week
He heard footsteps approaching and turned his head in the direction of the sound His for and stopped in front of him 'I want to talk to you, Daniel,” he said abruptly
”Go ahead and talk, Andy I'm listenin''' He wondered as so important that Andy had come up out of the mine to talk about it Usually Andy took his lunch in the shaft with the rest of the men
”Not here,” Andy said ”Too ot to his feet anyway ”Okay,” he said ”Where?”
”Behind the toolshed,” Andy said, walking away ”I'll wait for you”
Daniel nodded He finished his sandwich and then slowly ainst the back wall, hison a chaw He let fly as Daniel came up The spit sounded like a shot as it hit a rock ten feet away
Daniel looked at hiely He had never seen hi ”Anybody see you co over?”
'I don't think so” Daniel was puzzled ''What difference would it make iFn they did?”
Andy didn't answer his question Instead, he asked one of his own ”Is thesold?”
''I don't know,” Daniel answered honestly
'There's talk that it is,” Andy said ”I thought you ht know”
”I heered the rumors, too, but I don't know any more'n anybody else”
”Those men with Smathers They're from Detroit”
”I don' know,” Daniel said ”nobody tol' oin' to be taken over by an autooin' to do is change over to scrip pay Uke they did over at the Parlee”
”You're talkin' to the wrong man,” Daniel said ”Mr Smathers' the man you should ask theht you ht have heard somethin',” And> said
”Why should I?” Daniel asked ”I don' go Hstenin' at keyholes”
”I'm not sayin' you do,” Andy said quickly
”I don' knohat you're so het up about,” Daniel said ”What difference does itdifference,” Andy said dourly ”They pay you in scrip instead of it everything at their stores an' next thing you know you're in hock up to your ears an' you never git out”
”Still, if'n they sell the mine, they ain't much you kin do about it excep' if'n you don' like the job you kin quit”
'They would like that,” Andy said ”Then they could replace us with cheaper men No, there's another way A better way''
”What's that?” Daniel asked curiously
Andy's face took on a guarded look ”I can't talk about it right now I don't knohose side you're on
Daniel was bewildered ''What sides?”
”Management or ours”
''Ours?”