The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-08-17
CHAPTER XIII.
Narrowing Walls.


Griswold Joined the conference with
Raymer and the shop bosses in the
onices Of the plant the following morn.
Ing. Having slept upon the quarrel.
Raymer was on the conciliatory hand,
and four Of the five department fore.
men were with him. The prompt clos.
Ing of the shops had had its effect,
and a deputation of the older work.
men came to plead for arbitration and
a peaceful settlement of the trouble.
But Griswold fought it and finally car
ried his point. mo compromise" was
the answer sent back to the locked.
out workmen, and with 1t went the
ultimatum, which Griswold himself
snapped out at the leader of the con.
ciliators: Tell your committee that
1t is unconditional surrender, and it
must be made before five o'clock this
afternoon. Otherwise. not a man of
you can come back on any terms"
Then Griswold proceeded to make the
breach impossible by calling upon the
sheriff for a guard Of deputies. Ray
mer shook his head gloomily.
That settles it beyond any hope of
. patch-up," he said sorrowfully. III
we hadn't declared war before, we've
done it now. I'm prophesying that no.
body will weaken when it comes to the
payroll test this afternoon"
Because we have taken steps to
protect our property" rasped the
lighting partner.
Because we have taken the step
which serves notice upon them that we
consider them criminals. at least in
intention. You'd resent it yourself,
Griswold. II anybody should pull the
law on you before you had done any.
thing to deserve it, I'm much mistaken
II you wouldn't"
"Oh, hell" was the biting Interrupt
ton; and Raymer could not know upon
what inward fires he had unwittingly
flung handful of infiammables.
Broffin was as sure now that Girls
void was his man as he was Of his own
present inability to prove 1t. He'll
make miss-go. sooner or later" the
pertinacious one was saying to himself
as he strolled past the Raymer plant
with keen eye for the barred gates,
the lounging guards in the yard, and
the sober-faced workmen coming and
going at the pay office. III he can
carry steady head through what's
comm to him here. he's a better man
than I've been stacking him up to be-"
Later, a big, red-faced man with his
hat on the back of his head and q
paste diamond in his shirt bosom, came
to join the shifting group on the OF.
fce sidewalk. Broffin marked him.
The mans name was Clancy: he was
q Chicago ward worker, sham labor
leader, demagogue; bad man with
pull" What chance had brought
the Chicago ward bully into a village
labor fight he was not long in finding.
Clancy had come because he had been
hired TO come. The remainder was
easy. The town gossips had supplied
all the major facts of the Raymer-
Grierson checkmate, and Broffin saw
q great light. 1t was not labor and
capital that were at odds: it was COM
petition and monopoly. And monopoly.
invoking the aid Of the Clancys, stood
to win in a canter.
Brofin dropped the stick he had
been whiting and got up to move
away. Though some imaginative per-
sons would have 1t otherwise, q de-
tective may still be man OF like pas
sions-and generous prepossessions-
With p4.r nSa aFoE>ths time Brefhn.s