For a while they talked of the latest developments at the mines, but Mr.
Underwood seemed preoccupied, gazing out of the window and frowning
heavily. At last, after a long silence, he said, slowly,-"I expect we're going to have trouble at the camp this season."
"How is that?" Darrell asked quickly, in a tone of surprise.
"Oh, it's some of this union business," the other answered, with a
gesture of impatience, "and about the most foolish proposition I ever
heard of, at that. But," he added, decidedly, "they know my position;
they know they'll get no quarter from me. I've steered clear of them so
far; they've let me alone and I've let them alone, but when it comes to
a parcel of union bosses undertaking to run my business or make terms to
me, I'll fight 'em to a finish, and they know it."
Darrell, watching the face of the speaker, saw the lines about his mouth
harden and his lips settle into a grim smile that boded no good to his
opponents.
"What do they want--higher wages or shorter hours?" he inquired.
"Neither," said Mr. Underwood, shortly, as he re-lighted his pipe. After
a few puffs he continued: "As I said before, it's the most foolish proposition I ever heard of.
You see, there's five or six camps, all told, in the neighborhood of our
camp up there. One or two of the lot, like the Buckeye group, for
instance, are run by men that haven't much capital, and I suppose are
working as economically as they can. Anyhow, there's been some kicking
over there among the miners about the grub, and the upshot of the whole
thing is that the union has taken the matter in hand and is going to
open a union boarding-house and take in the men from all the camps at
six bits a day for each man, instead of the regular rate of a dollar a
day charged by the mining companies."
"The scale of wages to remain the same, I suppose," said Darrell; "so
that means a gain to each man of twenty-five cents a day?"
"Exactly," said Mr. Underwood. "It means a gain of two bits a day to
each man; it means loss and inconvenience to the companies, and it means
a big pile of money in the pockets of the bosses who are running the
thing."
"There are not many of the owners up there that can stand that sort of
thing," said Darrell, reflectively.
"Of course they can't stand it, and they won't stand it if they've got
any backbone! Take Dwight and Huntley; they've been to heavy expense in
enlarging their mill and have just put up a new boarding-house, and
they're in debt; they can't afford to have all that work and expenditure
for nothing. Now, with us the loss wouldn't be so great as with the
others, for we don't make so much out of our boarding-house. My motto
has always been 'Live and let live,' and I give my men a good
table,--just what I'd want for myself if I were in their places. It
isn't the financial part that troubles me. What I object to is this: I
won't have my men tramping three-quarters of a mile for meals that won't
be as good as they can get right on their own grounds; more than that,
I've got a good, likely set of men, and I won't have them demoralized by
herding them in with the tough gangs from those other camps; and above
all and once for all,"--here Mr. Underwood's tones became excited as he
exclaimed, with an oath,--"I've always been capable of running my own
business, and I'll run it yet, and no damned union boss will ever run it
for me!"