The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1909-05-12


vide for them dependin' on you-and
then see a pair of soft white hands
carelessly wastin' what would be life
to you and yours?
That's how it looked to us. For |
times had been hard with US. and as
| told you. old Keswick had always |
calculated that the losses must be
evened up on wages somehow.
land this Teller. I'll be bound he's
never invented nothin' more useful
than a new tie to his cravatr says Jim
Bryce He'll fool away no end of
money. and then either the mill will
have to go down or wages will. and
mine has got about to the foot of the
ladder now
"'Oh. there's no doubt We'll go down
unless some of his experiments blows
him up Wish they wouldr answers
Tom, only he put it rather uglier than
that.
"Of course twas only talk. but the
feelin' was under it. and after awhile
from hopin' somethn' would happen
the BOYS went q little further and got
to plannin' how to make it happen.
Il amt goin to tell much about any
plot. took care not to know much
about it for fear Id run across some
thin I'd feel bound to bender. and |
didn't want to bender nothin. that's
the fact. Only there was no murder
nor nothin like that in it; the men
wasn't that kind-leastways. most of
'em wasn't
"'No, we amt a-goin' to hurt mann
my's darlin' ~ bless his pretty little
heart!-not less he gifts in the way
when he'd better be out of it. says
Tom. with grin. But if the play
thing he's SO tickled over jest flies to
flinders some day and the noise scares
him so that he gives up and runs home
it'll be the best thing for him and all
the rest of u.s.
Seemed like nobody doubted he'd be
easy scared. and so the whisperin' and
black looks and secret meetin's went
on.
lone day in summer a box was
brought into the room where we work
ed. shall always remember that
day, just how everything looked. 1t
had been bright warm mornin. but
about noon it clouded up slowly. and
every breath of wind died away. Not
leaf moved on the trees.
Inside the mill everything looked
darker and gloomier than usual in that
queer gray light. Great piles of cast
ms throwed black shadows over the
slippery floor: the long iron shafts was
like hungry arms forever reachin
down and DRAWN back empty. and
from under the Brick archway the
round door of the furnace seemed glar-
in out like a big red eye.
"Nothin seemed to go that day the
way folks had calculated. That mis-
er'ble little box had no sooner been set
down in the room than somebody call
ed Hist. Look out. And there was
Boss Darlin', comm back from his din
ner at an onarthly hour when he's
never been known to come before.
He had rose stuck in his buttonhole
and looked like dancin' master goin'
70 party as heard Bob mutter as
he slipped the box out of sight under
a pile of stuff at the end Of the room.
They couldn't carry out their plan
then, so there wasn't nothin' left for
'em but to hide it.
1.-THE boss looked round kind of
smilin' and pleasant-like. He'd got
that model he was busy with about
into workn' order. and he was wonder
| full pleased over it. And what did he
do that day but have it brought into
our room. because the weather havin'
turned gloomy-like there was better
| light by big window there. So there
he stayed. fussin' over it. just as if he
was on guard.
Then it began to thunder. and there
was a sudden dash of rain so that Jim
Bryce's little girl who had come down
with his lunch basket wouldn't go
home. Jim was a pieceworker and al
ways said he could do twice as much
work in an afternoon if he had
snack bout o'clock.
Jim looked sort of uneasy now and
then when little Jimmy d get off to the
back part of the room anyways nigh
where that box was. But he couldn't
! say nothin'. and maybe there wasn't
any danger, only l was sure he didn't
like her round there and was glad
when she wandered off into the room
beyond-a storeroom, where she was
let stay sometimes while she waited
for her fathers basket.
1.-The storm grew heavier instead of
| lighter till we could hardly see to
work. All at once there was blindin'
fash Of light and crash as If the
whole earth was tearin' to pieces. and
we all started and tumbled in every
direction. The minute we could get
our senses and look round we found
that the whole end Of the room was
bowed off and gully plowed way
down to the foundations like as if
bombshell had tore through.
Beyond that ragged openin' the
| n