“Now, who’s to go?” said Hal, when he could be heard again; and he looked about at the upturned faces. There Were Tim and Wauchope, the most obvious ones; but Hal decided to keep them under his eye. He thought of Jerry Minetti and of Mrs. David--but remembered his agreement with “Big Jack,” to keep their own little group in the back-ground. Then he thought of Mary Burke; she had already done herself all the harm she could do, and she was a person the crowd would trust. He called her, and called Mrs. Ferris, an American woman in the crowd. The two came up the steps, and Hal turned to Cartwright. “Now, let’s have an understanding,” he said. “These people are going in to stay with the sick men, and to talk to them if they want to, and nobody’s going to give them any orders but the doctors and nurses. Is that right?” “All right,” said the superintendent, sullenly. “Good!” said Hal. “And for God’s sake have a little sense and stand by your word; this crowd has had all it can endure, and if you do any more to provoke it, the consequences will be on you. And while you’re about it, see that the saloons are closed and kept closed until this trouble is settled. And keep your people out of the way--don’t let them go about showing their guns and making faces.” Without waiting to hear the superintendent’s reply, Hal turned to the throng, and held up his hand for silence. “Men,” he said, “we have a big job to do--we’re going to organise a union. And we can’t do it here in front of the hospital. We’ve made too much noise already. Let’s go off quietly, and have our meeting on the dump in back of the power-house. Does that suit you?” They answered that it suited them; and Hal, having seen the two women passed safely into the hospital, sprang down from the porch to lead the way. Jerry Minetti came to his side, trembling with delight; and Hal clutched him by the arm and whispered, excitedly, “Sing, Jerry! Sing them some Dago song!” SECTION 7. They got to the place appointed without any fighting. And meantime Hal had worked out in his mind a plan for communicating with this polyglot horde. He knew that half the men could not understand a word of English, and that half the remainder understood very little. Obviously, if he was to make matters clear to them, they must be sorted out according to nationality, and a reliable interpreter found for each group.