"Nonsense! They'll be not in the least serfs, but will simply be men transferred by a higher intelligence to a plane of life which otherwise they could not reach--a plane where they can be of use not only to themselves but to others." "You're always talking, my son," went on Rawn, harshly, "about helping your fellow-man, loving him like a brother--human equality, and all that sort of rot. What have any of _you_ ever really done for each other, I'd like to know, except to meet up there in garrets, with lanterns hanging around, and discuss plans for taking away from stronger men the property they have accumulated? Now, I'm not going to take it out in _talk_--I'm going to _do_ something for these people. I'm going to make Texas the place for my colony, because I don't want to deprive my native state of the credit of producing a man who had two big ideas--cheap power, and common sense in labor. There's two _big_ ideas." "I wouldn't dare tell the men anything of that," was Halsey's comment. "It's hard enough as it is." "No, certainly not. We'll just go on and take our chances with these men; and they take their chances with us. You have my instructions to discharge any man who kicks on the wage cut, if he doesn't fire himself. The town's full of men with families, who aren't earning enough to eat. You can get all the help you want. Tell them we're open shop, and if they don't like it they can do their worst. Let them bring on their dynamite, if they want to try that--they can have all the fight they want; and I'll stay with it until I see them crawl." "There's something I don't understand about it, Mr. Rawn. The men are very sullen. The foremen tell me that they never had so much trouble. Of course, they don't understand it themselves, but it's just as though our secret was getting out, and as if the men were afraid of cutting their own throats when they build these machines. Not that they understand what it's all about--it's air tight yet, that's sure." "You begin to see some of the practical results of your infernal socialistic ideas, don't you, then? You'll come to my notion of life after a while." "Mr. Rawn, what's the end of that? What's the logical conclusion?" "Well, I'll _tell_ you! One end and logical conclusion is going to be that I'll get some one to handle that factory if you can't; and he'll handle it the way I tell him!" "You want my resignation now?" "I'd very likely take it if it weren't for Grace. Besides, we've started on this thing together; and moreover again, I want you, when I go to New York, to see the directors and explain to them that their impatience is all wrong." "Is there much dissatisfaction down there?" "Yes. We've both got to run down East to-morrow night. Go on out now, and reserve four compartments on the limited." "Four?" "Yes--we'll want a place to eat and work on the road. I've got to take a stenographer along, of course. Next year I'll have a car of my own." VI