The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1915-12-23

RUBBED, trouble, Nj Payne"
Pat Grady solemnly spelled his pre-
diction. II kin smell it in the air plain
as l smelt the rotten food in the mess
shack that's causing it all. And I'm
telling you now that there's no saying
where it'll lead any more than l can
tell where it'll end. Trouble and bad
grub-they been twins from the begin
ming of time"
Lee Payne tapped the table thought
fully with his pencil. A young man,
he was not inclined to take the mat
ter so seriously as the old foreman of
Ira Monroe's oil fields; still there was
no lodging the fact that the men were
lately become sullen and apathetic in
their work, and a few of them openly
insolent.
"And you think the food at the bot
tom of the mems actions?"
Their stomachs is at the bottom of
it-stomachs and lack of food" Pat
corrected.
But it can easily be remedied."
hCh W hy o1h I ~ Nlauy Nlu ASb
wait for an answer, but pointed out of
the window silently, toward group Of
Iaborers loafing boldly beside the near
est big tank. In the center of the
group a broad-shouldered, swarthy,
beetle-browed fellow was frantically
gesticulating to emphasize his re-
marks, remarks which the two men
in the office could not hear but which
caused their brows to furrow anx-
iously.
Brown Joe's at it agin," muttered
the foreman, as though to himself,
"and he's got the right of it this time.
tell you, Mr.. Payne, I'd rather have
a rattler sleeping with me than
mouthy workman. Get rid of that fell
low and do it quick. Look at him"
Payne slowly nodded and turned
back to his desk.
He glanced at his watch and felt
a little tremor of anticipatory fear as
he noted the noon hour was upon him.
There had been open mutterings this
morning. If the food had not i'm
proved for dinner, what would those
mutterings become? For half days
to making ones appetite dainty or
birdlike The situation must be i'm
proved and that Immediately. II only
he could gain little time.
AS the whistle summoned the men
from their work he waited for them in
the shack, watching them being seated
at the long table, noting the furrowed
brows, the somber eyes, the signifi-
cance of their steady scrutiny of
Brown Joe, seated next himself. That
there was something afoot he could
not doubt.
The cook entered, heavily laden
with a couple Of steaming platters.
There was something savory looking
about that steam, but the look was
dispelled almost instantly by the ran
cid odor that percolated through it.
As the cook placed a steaming plate
before Brown Joe, the young superin-
tendent strained forward, every mus
Gle fexed to anticipate the trouble he
knew instinctively had reached a
crisis. But even as his fists balled,
even as a hoarse cry of rage broke
from Pat Grady's throat, the swarthy,
evil-eyed fellow looked at the unsav-
ory mess before him, lifted the plate
as though to sniff it's contents, then
hurled it squarely in the cooks face.
As the fellow staggered back, dig
ging wildly at eyes and ears and nose
to wipe the stuff away, Brown Joe
lunged forward. But not so quickly
that he escaped the heavy right-hand
swing of the foreman. Grady, quick
to take advantage of the mans stag
ger back was instantly upon him.
For a second Payne felt himself
glued to the spot, unable to grasp the
full significance of what had hap
pened. AS he threw himself beside
his foreman, swinging with both fists
the men lunged forward en- masse. II
a second the mess hall was sham
bles. Chairs, dishes, tables wert
hurled aside like straws before tht
brutal ferocity of the enraged crew
Wild with the delight of combat, Grad
followed up his advantage, int1ictin
fearful punishment upon Brown Joe
regardless of the fact that he was gel
ting into the open, where the fellow
supporters would make easy work c
him.
Slipping upon the messes Of foot
stumbling over the wreck Of the hal
they threw themselves upon hin
swallowing him up as in whirlpool
Payne tried to fight his way throug
that jam, only finding each effort ser
him farther away. There was mu
derous note in the hoarse gutturals
the men.
The original idea Of mutiny agains
the food had now grown into hatre
for those above them. For just
second Payne hesitated The arm
of Grady still swung like fails, no
and then heavy body crashing to tn
floor under the force Of those pill
driver blows! Then the fists EeI
pinned and waved uselessly in the al
Came another lunge and he knew h
foreman had been taken OFF his fee
His hand kissed the cold butt OF tn
revolver at his waist. He did NJ
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PAID TRIRUTE TO SPEAkE