many strange scenes and lands.
But George was speaking to me again.
"There are signs in our Order, Brother Bamforth, and I will now
communicate them to you. The first, the right hand passed behind the
neck, thus, signifies 'Are you a Lud?' The party challenged should reply
by placing two forefingers on his chin, thus. We have also a password
which will admit you to our meetings, and to those of others in our
movement. It is 'Work, Win.' You will now take your seat among the
brethren and the business of the meeting will be resumed. 'Any
reports?'"
"Enoch Taylors taken on six more men," said a Marsden man. "They're
making frames as fast as they can. Orders are rolling in. Horsfall's
putting them into Ottiwells as quick as they're made. Th' owd hands are
told they're no use, an' young 'uns is being browt fra' no one knows
where, to work th' shearing frames. Aw'n seen some cloth 'ats been
finished on a frame, an' it welly broke my heart. Aw'n been a cropper,
lad and man, for thirty year, an' aw nivver turned aht owt like it. It
were as smooth as a babby's cheek. An' th' frame can do th' work of four
men awn heerd th' mester tell. It's ruination, stark ruination, an' me
wi' five childer an' yar Emma lying in."
"That's noan hauf o' th' tale--Horsfall's fair wild wi' joy. He says
he'll feight Napoleon wi' a finishin' frame. He cries shame on th'
Nottingham police. He says th' magistrates there owt to be drummed off
th' bench. He says they're a pigeon-livered lot, an' if he'd been there,
he'd a ridden up to th' saddle girths i' th' blood o' th' Luds before
he'd ha' been baulked o' his way."
"Shame on him, shame on him!" broke out fierce voices.
"Reports come from Liversedge that Cartwright, of Rawfolds, has ordered
a set of machines from Taylor. William Hall, have yo' owt to say?"
A man about thirty, dirty and slovenly, with a blotched face and
slouching look, who it turned out lived at Hightown and had been
dismissed from Mr. Jackson's there and had been taken on at Wood's, then
rose. He had a great deal to say. He spoke of Mr. Cartwright: more of a
foreigner nor an Englishmen, he called him. A quiet man with a cutting
tongue. Had ne'er a civil word for a man an' down on him in a jiffy if
he looked at a pot o' beer. Drank nowt himself, which Hall looked on as
a bad sign and unEnglish. Was sacking th' owd hands and stocking
Rawfolds with machines and Parson Roberson was worse nor him. I had a
sight of that same fighting parson not many months after, and Bill Hall
was not far off the mark.
"Has any brother owt more to say anent Horsfall or Cartwright?" asked
Mellor.
"I move they're warned," cried one.
"I'll second it," said another.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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