"Confound him! I'll make it the dearest experiment ever he tried," said
Mr. Underwood, wrathfully; "he was in our office the other day trying to
negotiate a loan for twenty-five thousand dollars that he said he had
got to have within ten days or go to the wall. I'll see that he doesn't
get it anywhere about here unless he stands by his word with us."
After further conversation Mr. Underwood went out, saying he had a
little business about the camp to attend to. He returned in the course
of an hour, and Darrell heard him holding a long consultation with
Hathaway before he retired for the night.
The following morning the mill men of the camp, on going to their work,
were astonished to find the mill closed and silent, while fastened on
the great doors was a large placard which read as follows: NOTICE.
The entire mining and milling plant of Camp Bird is closed down for
an indefinite period. All employees are requested to call at the
superintendent's office and receive their wages up to and including
Saturday, the 10th inst.
D. K. UNDERWOOD.
The miners found the hoist-house and the various shaft-houses closed and
deserted, with notices similar to the above posted on their doors.
Darrell, upon going to breakfast, learned that Mr. Underwood and the
superintendent had breakfasted at an early hour. A little later, on his
way to the mill, he observed groups of men here and there, some
standing, some moving in the direction of the office, but gave the
matter no particular thought until he reached the mill and was himself
confronted by the placard. As he read the notice and recalled the groups
of idlers, certain remarks made by Mr. Underwood came to his mind, and
he seemed struck by the humorous side of the situation.
"The old gentleman seems to have got the 'drop' on them, all right!" he
said to himself, as, with an amused smile, he walked past the mill and
out in the direction of the hoist. The ore-bins were closed and locked,
the tram-cars stood empty on their tracks, the hoisting engine was
still, the hoist-house and shaft-houses deserted. After the ceaseless
noise and activity to which he had become accustomed at the camp the
silence seemed oppressive, and he turned and retraced his steps to the
office.
A crowd of men was gathered outside the office building. In single file
they passed into the office to the superintendent's window, received
their money silently, in almost every instance without comment or
question, and passed out again. Once outside, however, there they
remained, their number constantly augmented by new arrivals, for the men
on the night shift had been aroused by their comrades and were now
streaming down from the bunk-houses. A few laughed and joked, some
looked sullen, some troubled and anxious, but all remained packed about
the building, quiet, undemonstrative, and mute as dumb brutes as to
their reason for staying there. They were all prepared to march boldly
out of the mill and mines on the following Monday, on a strike, in
obedience to orders; even to resort to violence in defence of their
so-called "rights" if so ordered, but Mr. Underwood's sudden move had
disarmed them; there had been no opportunity for a conference with their
leaders, with the result that they acted more in accordance with their
own individual instincts, and the loss of work for which they would have
cared little in the event of a strike was now uppermost in their minds.