Los Angeles herald., 1906-02-18

doctor VIZ talkin' Of e tn divil when he comes
n" His mind was occupied with many things
that he had intention Of conhding TO her
He knew though of course, she did not, that 1t
was crouching in the draughts Of the shop the
day before, when he was overhearing the secret
of the Conspiracy, that had put these pains in
his bones. And so, though he allowed her to
bind fresh bandage of "pain.kiler" about his
head which throbbed badly, he gave small heed
to her wailings and left her at the door She
called to him as he trudged of, kettle under
arm:
Barney, they do know at tn Wurrucss how
sick we bin. Twas me got tn docthor t. give
me n certificate an l TUX Y o them meself."
Barney shook his fist at her in playful threat.
i She good ould woman after all; but she
did have queer notions, and there was much
went on Of which she never knew. And then he
plunged once into the thick of the Con
spiracy.
At the foot of the road which the company had
built as short cut to the Works, Barney was
overtaken by McCrea and Peterson. He was
him just as he knew they would. Hello, Bar
ney," McCreu began, chow r. y feelin'? That
| was a bad crack v got n tn head"
"Y' re N hard luck" added Peterson. 9Th
boys was askin' after ""
AN hopin' It was me wake they'd uttind
next" Barney said to himself. But aloud he
only returned: CIT hurt fur bit, but I'm 8
good Is new now. Takes deal t. kill me-"
There more meaning in the last sentence
than they detected; but he did not intend they
should detect it. He knew the cunning of these
men. They were trying to put him off his guard
but he would match them with tricks as good as
their own. And SO his face smile as
they walked abreast, and he joked with
them, and talked about piece of work they had
| in hand, and never once referred to the trouble
that had come between them. When they part
ed he looked over his shoulder at their retreat.
ing forms, and a knocking grin lifted his upper
lip. Then he turned, and came face to face with
the foreman hurrying by. The latter stopped.
"Ready for work again, Barney? How's that
head of yours?" he asked. For an instant the
rough sympathy in the foreman's voice warmed
the cranedriver's heart. But then he remem-
bered that he longer among straightfor-
ward men, but among towards who were bound
to make an end of him He doubted if there
was anyone in the shop he could trust. To sat
sfv himself he looked into. the foreman's eyes,
and started as he did so; for from the foremans
eyes there peered pair of tiny devils, and sud-
denly Barney realized that here another enc
my waiting to strike him down. So he said he
was much obliged. that he was feeling first rate,
and walked on. But he put down his kettle
he came upon the chief meter. and the latter
thrust out his hand and gave him good-morn-
ing so heartily that again Barney's suspi-
cions were aroused, and he looked into the mel
ter's eyes, and glad he did SO; for there too
were those devils. This time the fiends pulled
nearly hid themselves. But he had been too
quick for them. and he chuckled to himself as
he shook the meters hand and gave back a
goodmornng. Oh, they were a crafty crowd, he
acknowledged; but he was crafty himself, and,
now that he knew how to mark them down. he
was not to be caught unawares. Therefore he
stole steathy chances into the face of every man
he came across, and once, some pretense,
walked quite out of his way to get a look at a
furnace hand whose back was towards him. And
never did he seek in vain, for in every pair of
eyes that he searched he saw those devils. Again
and again he caught the fends grinning malig-
nanty at him when they thought he not
looking. The Conspiracy was bigger than he had
thought. Everyone in the shop was in it. But
it did not matter. He had found them out, and
he would fool them ALL
Tt was in the halfhour Of ideness which
opened Barneys working day that morning that
he confded his great secret to the crane. 1t was
a long story as he told it, but he wished to leave
out no particular, else how would the giant know
the way to advise him? And so, while he was
inspecting the trolleys, drums and rollers which
made up the moving parts Of the crane, he re-
vealed the full extent of the Conspiracy. Twas
Banks tn divil. that planned t. Guild boy" he
said; "but McCrea an Peterson have hand n
4 tn trap they're aayin' fur us, an It's no older
: YOU an I'll grow afther tn day mkt t. this wan
if we don't make tn Wurruks bit craner be
causin them villains grief. But, b tn same tok-
= en- It's Just that we'll do an tn way t do t
we must settle on soon" And then again he
a got call to work, and picking up and
8 shifting moulds and castings in obedience to or
ders.
+ But he did not fail to make of this oppor-
n tunity to move in and out among the men with
the great chains of the crane, and to steal upon
4 them unawares and startle them. 1t ex-
d citing game, and many times he played it, COM
$ ing nearer and nearer to them at each turn, and
chuckling at the close shaves he made. If it
had not been for the pain that beat in his temple
o he would have enjoyed it yet more.
d When the men struck off work and hurried
o for their dnner-pails Barney did not descend
e from the cage but crawled up and out along the
q foot-board of the crane, and took counsel with
:: his friend What they said to each other one
e overheard, but what they decided upon most
$ satisfactory, for when the whistles recalled the
d men to their labor Barneys eyes were glowing
t with the joy that is born of great purpose.
v His hands trembled he fondled the levers Of
% the crane, and he whispered to his friend, as he
n saw Banks and McCrea and the rest gathering
d at the far end of the shop They've bin out
II a-plottin' ag'in U.S. an maybe they've sthrrck
d on tn way t. end us. But IT'S little they know
b Of what's t come. Only we must be careful an