The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1914-04-09
"Why, didn't you send message out
there by Higgins?"

about. The men are yelling themselves
hoarse and the boys are dancing with
JOY" The Judge was beaming like a
full moon with gray tufts of hair above
it's ears. You'd think Bedlam had
broken loose They're yelling for you,
Broadway. Come out and let them see
you"
Broadway was in state of panic, Of
blue funk, of sheer, unspeakable al
fright. He ducked and looked about
as if endeavoring to find that avenue
through which escape would be easiest.
mo; not now, please" he begged
pltifully.
They might have let it go at that
had not the cheering within the works
broken out afresh.
Listen to that the judge adjured
him, and urged him with a happy hand
upon his elbow.
His wife went to his assistance ooh,
do go out and say something, Broad
way!"
Yes the judge insisted, come and
make a speech"
Il can't say anything" said the mis-.
cradle and frightened Broadway. Il
never made a speech in my life!"
Josie, smiling gently, turned from
them. When again she faced them She
held in her hand the paper she had
thrust so recently into that sacred.
secret place. Read this to them,'
she suggested
He took it, but he did not see whence
it had been extracted, although Mrs.
Spotswood did. The eyes of matrons
of her age are alphabetically attuned
to signs of this sort, seeing them when
others miss them. She smiled at
Josie, Josie caught her eye and blushed
furiously.
"Oh, come on" The judge now took
frmer hold on him. 1T will make
them all feel good"
His faithful wife. went to his aid.
She took the other arm of the acutely
miserable youth, and between them
they propelled him from the room,
through the short length of wide
hallway stacked on either side with
boxes full of chewing gum already
packed for shipment, through breath
lessly hot engineroom, and into the
main room upon the factory's ground
floor.
Their appearance was the signal for
an uproar of applause. The loudest
cheering of the previous outburst was
surpassed so notably that, by compari-
1,-I; In fho
enthusiasm of the moment men, wom
en- and the younger workers of the
force lost all sense of reserve.
Broadway ceased to be that terrible
| thing, a new and untried boss, who
must be looked at carefully, addressed
with caution and regarded with re-
spect made up principally of fear. He
was young: he had been fair to them;
he was their economic savior.
They went mad and, at first permit
ting him no opportunity to make the
speech which he so feared, seized him
as if he had been the winning player
at football game and bore him round
the great room of the factory upon
their shoulders.
There was affection in the strong
arms of the men who lifted him; there
| were tears in many women's eyes
which watched. Not only was this
youth the boss; he was the young
boss. They knew he had been plucky
in his loyalty to them, rumors of the
splendid offer which the trust had
made had been circulated freely. He
was accredited with that intention
most admired by real Americans, and
these workmen in this old New Eng
land mill in this old New England vii
lage, were principally native sons.
He was not content to be an idier;
he insisted upon buckling down to a
mans Job. And had he not decided to
take up the burden of gum. manufac-
ture largely through his feeling Of
responsibility to them and to the
town? Financially the offer of the
trust must certainly have been more
tempting than the prospect of CONNER
cial battle which, even should it win.
would Inevitably involve long, expen-
sive and intensely wearing strain!
| Would they ride him round and
round upon their shoulders? Would
they cheer him till the blood rushed
to their heads? Would the woman
want to kiss him and the youngsters
look at him as if he were species Of
superior being? Verify, they would
And verify they did.
! In the meantime, in the Office, Clara
was left quite alone. She may have
been aware that interesting things
were happening in the factory, things
which she would very gladly have wit
messed, but beyond doubt she felt that
something far more interesting-to-
wit, the arrival of Bob Wallace-was
| likely to occur at any moment in the
Office. She preferred the smiles Of
Wallace to the cheers of working-peo-
| pie, and she waited for them.
Wallace was not long delayed. She
greeted him with cordial liking. you
! didn't expect to find'me here, did you?"
well, hardly. This is an unexpect-
od n1oa snroD