The Connecticut labor press., 1920-01-17

date investment on territory with
such reputation as st. Boniface had
unjustly acquired.
Hilary knew he had to thank Morris
for that. He returned to st. Boni-
face next day with only one thing ac-
complished. He had seen the land map
and ascertained that the upper reaches
of Rocky river had been surveyed and
that the creek was wholly on his own
land. He found, too, with some sur
| prise, that a large island out in the
Gulf was part of the Rosny domain.
1t had not appeared on Morris rough
map.
LATE. who met him at the wharf,
looked worried.
I'm glad you've come" he said, as
they drove to the mill together.
Things were pretty bad on Saturday
night"
They're striking?"
mo, Mr.. Askew. That's the bright
est point in the situation. Macpherson,
the foreman, tells me that it's called
OH. Brousseau's dropped that maneu-
yer, for some reason Of his own"
whats the trouble, them"
II guess Brousseau's off on another
tack, Mr.. Askew. All the hands was
| over to Ste. Marie on Saturday night
by special invitation from Simeon Du-
| val, who owns the biggest dance hall
| there. There was free drinks for every
body, and the whole place was In an
uproar till Sunday morning. Not a
stroke of work has been done here till
yesterday, which means a four-day
| week. The men are only just SOLDERING
| up now.
However, that amt the worst. by a
long sight It's sort OF open secret
that they're going to open up st. Boni-
| face wide, and Simeon's-"
"You mean Simeon has dared to
start one of his bells here while was
away?" cried Hilary angrily
''Not yet" said Lafe. There amt
no more liquor being sold here than
usual-yet. But they're going to open
up IL they can. Simeon's brother Louis
has rented that house by the old sta
bles that Jean Baptiste used to occupy
last year before 1t began to go to
pieces, and he's going to have dance
hall there and sell brandy"
Hilary raped out an oath. "Not If
have anything to say" he answered.
"Nor me-" said LATE. "The trouble
is, where do we start int We can't
fight the whole town single-handed. I
| was wondering whether we couldn't
| wire the revenue people"
Nor said Hilary sharply. well
| fight our own battles, Lafe."
LATE subsidized In hurt sort Of way.
The evidences of generalization were
| obvious in st. Bonfface. The men were
slow and surly, the women sullen,
slatternly and hopeless-looking. 1t was
clear that they had little hope Hilary
could counter this new project. Hill
airy was aware of feeling in the air,
as IL he was being tested. He saw
| furtive glances as he went by, he rec
ognized reluctance in the sullen touch
| OF the cap and the unsmiling faces,
| while not hostile, watched him with
something like resentment, as IL his
attitude toward the Duval proposal
| was discounted beforehand
Hilary had kept in his mind a plan
Of cutting along the bank Of the river,
| without waiting for the snow. It SEEM
ed to him feasible plan to fell right
beside the water, and float the logs
down. this requiring no teams to haul.
| a process impossible until the snow
was deep. On the Saturday he went
out afoot to survey the timber In the
upper reaches. In order to get clear
er view, Hilary took the public road
| that ran along the eastern bank, with
| In the Ste. Marie limits, and ascended
to an elevation opposite the low-lying
| tract on the west side.
He had nearly reached the branch
| road which ran In toward Ste. Marie,
along which LATE and he had driven on
| that first morning. when he perceived
| M~1eleine Rosny and Brousseau ahead
Of him, at the top Of the rise. They
seemed to be talking earnestly, and
Hilary held back. unwilling to surprise
| them. Presently he saw Brousseau
spur his horse and gallop away In the
direction Of Ste. Marie, while Made
leine came slowly toward him.
She saw him and turned her horse
| aside to let him pass. She had been
crying, and there were traces of tears
still on her cheeks. She would have
waited for him to go by, her face
averted, but Hilary placed his hand
| upon the horses bride.
"Mademoiselle Rosny-" he began
'Let me go on" she said in low
| tone.
ST want to speak to you. And If
you are In trouble I want to help
you"
She smiled YEARLY. IT am not in
trouble, and If were should hardly
ask your aid, Monsieur Askew," she
answered. Then. with sudden We
hemence, .''Why did you come here"
she cried. "Why could you not have
left st. Boniface alone, instead Of stir
ring up hatred? Is it not enough that
| my father should have been compelled
to sell your uncle our trees, without
your coming here to exult over our
shame?"
81 have not exulted, Mademoiselle
Rosny; am sorry"
''Take back your pity. We don't
want 1t. What has Monsieur Brous-
seau done to you-or Mr.. Morris?"
Morris, since you inquire. has swim
died me out Of several thousand dol
lars worth of lumber, Mademoiselle
Rosny. AS for Monsieur Brousseau,
the trouble is Of his own seeking
ssvo,, wont 1pop Mopcso,,r pvorn