Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-04-16

DIT. lmTte, ne began 8OtcWntU.
it must be acknowledged. He remem-
bered, as did every one else along the
right of way of the canal, the lawless-
ness and disorder that sometimes ac-
companied pay night drunk. Only
last month Lake and Stafford had paid
the penalty of shotgun methods In ham
ding their men when whisky had CIV
en- the employees courage. But Imrie
felt no fear or uncertainty as to the
final outcome, for years Of authority
had given him confidence in his own
capacity for making his commands
obeyed now as well as on the work.
They were coming straight to the Of
flee without doubt. AS they turned
the corner of n cluster of dump cars
and sighted the Office their uproar died
down to low murmur, and he heard
ominous hoarse whispering. His ear
caught, coming from half dozen
tongues Of varying nationalities, the
sound of '"There he Isl" and ''That's
hint" which did not tend to reassure
him. The rustic of macintosh in his
rear disturbed him, and he felt his
hand clasped by the fingers of two
trembling, rain wet little hands. at is
SO lonesome in there" softly said
voice at his shoulder. He laughed
again.
Emerging from the shadow into the
dull light from open door and curtain
less windows was crowd Of half q
hundred men, almost all showing evil
dences Of too vigorous attack on the
black bottle. Instead Of beginning q
debauch Of destruction they halted in
front Of the Office and looked respect
fully at Imrie. No one spoke for min
ute, and they seemed to be waiting ex-
pectantly for something, shufling nerv-
ously from one foot to the other. Final
ly Stewart Brough elbowed his way to
| the front and, taking off his hat, bow
ed with awkwardly exaggerated defer
ence to the two wondering people
standing before him. He took from his
breast pocket a folded paper, much
erumpled and bearing the marks Of
dirty thumbs, and handed 1t. to Imrie.
"Mr. Imrie," he began solemnly.
"we're o. men Of no great amount Of
learning and edjewcation. but for a.
that we have got the souls and feelings
Of men. So we, employees of Donap
Mcdonald and Companee. do
Louder" said voice in the crowd.
"Do-do-er-in meeting assembled,
do hereby present we wi u few res'Iu-
tions which set forth in few words
the esteem in which We are held by the
said employees of Donar Mcdonald
and Companee." The assistant super
intendent, nonplused ut the unexpect-
ed turn of affairs, fumblingly opened
the paper and made q pretense of read
ing the scrawl that began with, IRE
solved" with q huge and Enthusiastically
designed r." and ended with 1.-THE
Committee" 1t was bordered by a rul-
ing of red ink, the line thicker in
places, where clumsy fingers had failed
to control the flow of ink under the
ruler. yell mind, ARm no clark, -
continued Stewart, land trowel fits
bechune the jints Of me hand better
than pen, SO yell excuse the writing.
But the idea is there. We wish to say,
Mr.. 1mrie, that we consider We man
and gentleman, though, Of course, ye
have yer shortcomings as the best of us
have, and we're a. extremely sorry
ye're going to leave the job. We have
no suspeecion Of why ye're going, but
IL there is any leetle thing we can do
to make ye change yer mind-and We
know vera weel the variety Of our Gu
pabilitles-we'll do it and welcome. II
ye're set on going, weel, we can only
say guild luck and success in a. yer un-
dertakings, and may we get anither
'sistant super like ye. Am All right?''
He turned fercely on the men and
hurled the last sentence ut them. A
mighty answering roar could leave no
doubt In the young mans mind Of the
unanimity of the sentiment. stewart
Shook his head emphasizlngly and then
hemmed md hawed and squirmed
while. trying to remember the balance
of his rehearsed speech. Finally he
said abruptly, '.Wi' these few remarks
Ah'll close"
Imrie. completely taken aback, stood
namely holding the paper in his hands,
with pardonable sensation of elation
filling him, while Barbara looked on in
wonder. He took a step forward and
said: Men, this is very pleasant and
gratifying, the more SO because 1t
comes unexpectedly. I'm glad I, have
merited this good opinion Of those who
have worked with me and thank you
sincerely for this" He held up, the