“Because I have a duty to do here. Can’t you understand, dear? All my life, I’ve been living on the labour of coal-miners, and I’ve never taken the trouble to go near them, to see how my money was got!” “But, Hal! These aren’t your people! They are Mr. Harrigan’s people!” “Yes,” he said, “but it’s all the same. They toil, and we live on their toil, and take it as a matter of course.” “But what can one _do_ about it, Hal?” “One can understand it, if nothing else. And you see what I was able to do in this case--to get the mine open.” “Hal,” she exclaimed, “I can’t understand you! You’ve become so cynical, you don’t believe in any one! You’re quite convinced that these officials meant to murder their working people! As if Mr. Harrigan would let his mines be run that way!” “Mr. Harrigan, Jessie? He passes the collection plate at St. George’s! That’s the only place you’ve ever seen him, and that’s all you know about him.” “I know what everybody says, Hal! Papa knows him, and my brothers--yes, your own brother, too! Isn’t it true that Edward would disapprove what you’re doing?” “Yes, dear, I fear so.” “And you set yourself up against them--against everybody you know! Is it reasonable to think the older people are all wrong, and only you are right? Isn’t it at least possible you’re making a mistake? Think about it--honestly, Hal, for my sake!” She was looking at him pleadingly; and he leaned forward and took her hand. “Jessie,” he said, his voice trembling, “I _know_ that these working people are oppressed; I know it, because I have been one of them! And I know that such men as Peter Harrigan, and even my own brother, are to blame! And they’ve got to be faced by some one--they’ve got to be made to see! I’ve come to see it clearly this summer--that’s the job I have to do!” She was gazing at him with her wide-open, beautiful eyes; underneath her protests and her terror, she was thrilling with awe at this amazing madman she loved. “They will _kill_ you!” she cried. “No, dearest--you don’t need to worry about that--I don’t think they’ll kill me.” “But they shot at you!” “No, they shot at Joe Smith, a miner’s buddy. They won’t shoot at the son of a millionaire--not in America, Jessie.” “But some dark night--” “Set your mind at rest,” he said, “I’ve got Percy tied up in this, and everybody knows it. There’s no way they could kill me without the whole story’s coming out--and so I’m as safe as I would be in my bed at home!” SECTION 22. Hal was still possessed by his idea that Jessie must be taught--she must have knowledge forced upon her, whether she would or no. The train would not start for a couple of hours, and he tried to think of some use he could make of that precious interval. He recalled that Rosa Minetti had returned to her cabin to attend to her baby. A sudden vision came to him of Jessie in that little home. Rosa was sweet and good, and assuredly Little Jerry was a “winner.”