"Nay, mother; I have never yet put
myself, and I mean never to put myself, within
reach of her contempt."

"Contempt, indeed!"—(One of
Thornton's expressive snorts.) "Don't go
on speaking of Miss Hale, John, if I've to be
kind to her. When I'm with her, I don't
know if I like or dislike her most; but when
I think of her, and hear you talk of her, I
hate her. I can see she's given herself airs
to you as well as if you'd told me out."

"And if she has," said he, and then he
paused for a moment; then went on: " I'm
not a lad to be cowed by a proud look from a
woman, or to care for her misunderstanding
me, and my position. I can laugh
at it!"

"To be sure! and at her too, with her fine
notions, and haughty tosses!"

"I only wonder why you talk so much
about her, then," said Fanny. " I'm sure,
I'm tired enough of the subject."

"Well!" said her brother, with a shade of
bitterness. " Suppose we find some more
agreeable subject. What do you say to a
strike, by way of something pleasant to talk
about?"

"Have the hands actually turned out?"
asked Mrs. Thornton, with vivid interest.

"Hamper's men are actually out. Mine
are working out their week, through fear of
being prosecuted for breach of contract. I
would have had every one of them up and
punished for it who left his work before his
time was out."

"The law expenses would have been more
than the hands themselves were worth—a set
of ungrateful naughts! " said his mother.

"To be sure. But I would have shown
them how I keep my word, and how I mean
them to keep theirs. They know me by this
time. Hickson's men are oft—pretty certain
he won't spend money in. getting them
punished. We're in for a turn-out, mother."

"I hope there are not many orders in
hand?"

"Of course there are. They know that
well enough. But they don't quite understand
all, though they think they do."

"What do you mean, John?"

Candles had been brought, and Fanny had
taken up her interminable piece of worsted-
work, over which she was yawning; throwing
herself back in her chair from tune to time to
gaze at vacancy, and think of nothing, at
her ease.

"Why," said he, "the Americans are get-
ting their yarns so into the general market,
that our only chance is producing them at
a lower rate. If we can't, we may shut up
shop at once, and hands and masters go alike
on tramp. Yet these fools go back to the
prices paid three years ago—nay, some of
their leaders quote Dobbinson's prices now
though they know as well as we do that, what
with fines pressed out of their wages as no
honourable men would extort them, and other
ways which I for one would scorn to use, the
real rate of wage paid at Dobbinson's is less
than at ours. Upon my word, mother, I wish
the old combination-laws were in force. It
is too bad to find out that fools—ignorant,
wayward men like these—just by uniting
their weak silly heads, are to rule over the
fortunes of those who bring all the wisdom
that knowledge and experience, and often
painful thought and anxiety, can give. The
next thing will be—indeed we're all but come
to it now—that we shall have to go and ask
—stand hat in hand—and humbly ask the
secretary of the Spinners' Union to be so
kind as to furnish us with labour at their own
price. That's what they want—they, who
have not the sense to see that, if we don't get
a fair share of the profits to compensate us
for our wear and tear here in England, we
can move off to some other country; and
that, what with home and foreign competition,
we are none of us likely to make above a fair
share, and may be thankful enough if we can
get that in an average number of years."

'' Can't you get hands from Ireland? I
wouldn't keep these fellows a day. I'd teach
them that I was master, and could employ
what servants I liked."

"Yes! to be sure. I can; and I will, too,
if they go on long. It will be trouble and
expense, and I fear there will be some danger;
but I will do it, rather than give in."

"If there is to be all this extra expense,
I'm sorry we're giving a dinner just now."

"So am I,—not because of the expense, but
because I shall have much to think about,
and many unexpected calls on my time. But
we must have had Mr. Horsfall, and he does
not stay in Milton long. And as for the
others, we owe them dinners, and it's all one
trouble."

He kept on with his restless walk, not
speaking any more, but drawing a deep
breath from time to time, as if endeavouring
to throw off some annoying thought. Fanny
asked her mother numerous small questions,
all having nothing to do with the subject,
which a wiser person would have perceived
was occupying her attention. Consequently,
she received many short answers. She was
not sorry when, at ten o'clock, the servants
filed in to prayers. These her mother always
read,—first reading a chapter. They were
now working steadily through the Old
Testament. When prayers were ended, and his
mother had wished him good-night, with that
long steady look of hera which conveyed no
expression of the tenderness that was in her
heart, but yet had the intensity of a blessing,
Mr. Thornton continued his walk. All his
business plans had received a check, a
sudden pull-up, from this approaching turnout.
The forethought of many anxious hours
was thrown away, utterly wasted by their
insane folly, which would injure themselves
even more than him, though no one could set
any limit to the mischief they were doing.