Part 15 (1/2)
There was a moment's silence Then Andy spoke up 'TU second that, Mr Lewis It's my fault Daniel is here When I spoke to hiht now I should have taken him at his word then But I trust him I worked side by side with Daniel in the mine, an' I know in his heart he's with us an' will do nothin' to hurt us I say let hio
The men looked at each other for a moment, then murmured a reluctant assent Daniel put down the application blank on a table and sloalked to the door He could feel the weight of their eyes on his back He closed the door behind hiain He went out toward the street For a ht had turned cold He looked up at the sky The h It was tiine o'clock
He hesitated arapidly, his hts were still on in Miss Andrews' house, he would explain to her why he hadn't shown up this evening
the trap They took the ten-percent raise the owners offered 'ein' to scrip instead of ot more'n ten members left in the whole valley, I'd be surprised,”
Her voice was bitter ”I tol' you not to trust that man Lewis”
''It's not his fault There's that ol' sayin' 'Youcan lead a horse to water, but you cain't make him drink,' ”
''Dan'l was smarter'n all of you,” she said ''He stayed out of it”
He didn't answer, but she knew he had been deeply hurt when he heard that Daniel had not followed his lead
”Oh, Ji her head against his chest ”We was so happy, an' you was doin' so good with yer bootleg-gin' an' all Why did you have to go an' git yourse'f caught up in all this?”
He held her tightly His voice was somber ”Comes a time when a man has to stop talkin' an' start doin' These people-the farreith 'eoin' to do? Stan' by an' let Sam Fitch turn 'ean to cry Softly he stroked her head ”Stop frettin',” he said ”It's not good fer a pregnant woman to carry on so”
She looked up into his face ”You'll be careful? I couldn't stand it if'n somethin' happened to you”
”I'll be careful,” he promised ”I don' want nothin' to happen to ht when he arrived at the store on Front Street that served as union headquarters Severalin the street for him He took the keys from his pocket and opened the front door They followed him inside It was damp and dark Quickly they lit a few oil laive thens and boards lining the walls He walked behind the battered table that served as his desk and sat down
”Okay, Roscoe,” he said ''You first What's goin' on out at the newshi+fted the wad of tobacco in his ot about fifty Pinkertons out there an' maybe about a hundred scabs”
Jimmy nodded and turned to another man ”What about the city 'lar army there More'n a hundred Pinkertons an' maybe three hundred scabs They been coht”
Jimmy was silent for a moment They were hopelessly outnumbered He could count on perhaps seventy irls who could be used for picket duty, but on a day like this he was reluctant to put them out there where they could be hurt And hurt they would be The Pinkertons were ar into the ht
”What tiet here?” he asked
”Any minute now,” Roscoe answered ”They'll all be here by six o'clock”
”They ready?”
Roscoe nodded ”They cooin' to jes' walk in”
”We're goin' to have to make up our ot to decide which one ant to keep 'em out of”
The men were silent, ”I vote we make up our minds to let 'em have the new mill Ain't but ten percent of the machinery hooked up They cain't produce beans once they in there”
''I don' lak it,” Roscoe said flatly 'Two people in my family died to keep 'em off our Ian' The idee of 'em jes' walkin' in-”
'”They won't jes' walk in,” Jimmy said ”We put ten sharpshooters in the forest an' the hills aroun' the entrance, an' they'll git hty cautious about walkin' up that road” He paused for a it in there, they kin produce fiiU blast Then we're finished If that ins roUin', it's all over but the shoutin'”
Ji at the mill on the other side of the street Already the pickets,four abreast in front of the closed gates Fro the sidewalk in front of the ns carried by the chanting pickets
”Lincoln freed the slaves How come we're still here?”
They shouted back their own answer: ”nobody tol' the textile mill!”
Then another shout: ”Freedo down the street toward Jimmy just as the seven-o'clock whistle blew At the saan to fall ”Three truckloads of scabs!” he shouted ”Just tuh Street!”
Ji The Pinkertons inside the fence began tosound of an iron chain being pulled, and the gate began to swing open
Jimmy felt the pain knot his stomach, as real as any pain he had ever felt He turned to the men around him
Suddenly it all ca It was hi for It was him they looked to for leadershi+p in the midst of this ht What was he doing here? He was no hero
Then the feeling was gone He held up his hand and started toward the picket lines Silently the ht, you ladies,” he said in a strong voice 'Ti hient this tio home!”
There was a ht here, Jiht too!”
”But ladies,” he shouted, ”there !”
”They'll have to shoot us too, then!” one of thean to lock ar chain in front of the open gates They began chanting again ”Freedom Bread and butter, not chains!”
The trucks rounded the far comer and headed down the street toward the mill They were halfway down the block and the lead truck showed no sign of slowing up Jimmy moved out in front of the picket line and faced them Suddenly there was silence behind hi toward theuard yelled froet killed!”
No one moved
The lead truck jammed on its brakes and rolled to a stop just a few yards short of the picket lines Men began to july andthe pickets, each of the a club or an iron pipe in his hand, their bowlers sitting squarely on their heads At a signal, they began to move forward
Jimmy held up a hand 'I warn you, men There are women here I won't be responsible for your lives if even one of theits hurt!”
The Pinkertons stopped uncertainly ''Hiding behind their skirts won't save you!” one of theht like men!”
''We're here to stay whether you scabs like it or not!” a woman shouted from the picket lines
The other women picked it up ”Scabs! Scabs! Scabs!” they chanted