The “no overtime” agitation continued among the telegraphists, and so intense did the feeling become that a large proportion were for striking against the enforcement of the obnoxious overtime at a certain date. The feeling had gained headway so far that a large number had actually signed a paper set in circulation promising to obey the call to arms when the moment arrived. But before the dramatic moment arrived the Controller suddenly sent for a few of the more prominent ringleaders to discuss the situation. After some parrying and courteous preliminaries the official suddenly confronted them with the question as to whether they would promise then and there to use their influence with their followers to restrain them from adopting the course decided on. There was some demur, and the question was objected to as unfair in the circumstances. The official gave them half-an-hour to decide and left them, turning the key in the door as he went out. They were virtually held prisoners in the official’s private room. After some consideration the leaders of the agitation thought discretion the better part of valour, and decided to give the required promise in writing, and this was done. They were then released and went back to their duties. One of the men, however, was rash enough to telegraph the news to Newcastle, with the intimation that the promise given was not seriously intended. The message, as might have been anticipated, was immediately “tapped” and conveyed to headquarters, with the result that the operator was on the spot suspended from duty. He was accordingly dismissed, and though it was not a case in which the victim could be made either a hero or a martyr, the telegraphists, with the generous impulse of comradeship, rallied round him and raised a subscription, which in a short time realised the sum of £500. The incident gave a set-back to the “no overtime” agitation for the time, but the feeling against the Postmaster-General was by no means modified by its remembrance. With the hostile criticism of the press and a section of the House, and engaged in driving a pair of spirited steeds, the telegraphists and the postmen, that threatened every moment to break away and overturn the chariot, Mr. Raikes’s position was no enviable one. In the circumstances too ready compliance with the demands on either hand would probably have been interpreted as weakness, if not by the men themselves, by Parliament, and still more probably by the Lords of the Treasury. Mr. Raikes was an able man, but pride generally overrules conscience and sometimes wisdom. He was but human; and most men in a position of power would prefer to be accused of tyranny rather than weakness. So the tension continued and increased till, reaching the breaking-point in the case of the postmen, as has been shown, it almost seemed as if the telegraphists must follow their desperate example. CHAPTER XVIII