“He showed me consideration by sending his gunmen to seize me at night, drag me out of a cabin, and nearly twist the arm off me! Such humour never was!” Cartwright attempted to speak--but looking at Edward, not at Hal. “At that time--” “He showed me consideration by having me locked up in jail and fed on bread and water for two nights and a day! Can you beat that humour?” “At that time I did not know--” “By forging my name to a letter and having it circulated in the camp! Finally--most considerate of all--by telling a newspaper man that I had seduced a girl here!” The superintendent flushed still redder. “_No!_” he declared. “_What?_” cried Hal. “You didn’t tell Billy Keating of the _Gazette_ that I had seduced a girl in North Valley? You didn’t describe the girl to him--a red-haired Irish girl?” “I merely said, Mr. Warner, that I had heard certain rumours--” “_Certain_ rumours, Mr. Cartwright? The certainty was all of your making! You made a definite and explicit statement to Mr. Keating--” “I did not!” declared the other. “I’ll soon prove it!” And Hal started towards the telephone on Cartwright’s desk. “What are you going to do, Hal?” “I am going to get Billy Keating on the wire, and let you hear his statement.” “Oh, rot, Hal!” cried Edward. “I don’t care anything about Keating’s statement. You know that at that time Mr. Cartwright had no means of knowing who you were.” Cartwright was quick to grasp this support. “Of course not, Mr. Warner! Your brother came here, pretending to be a working boy--” “Oh!” cried Hal. “So that’s it! You think it proper to circulate slanders about working boys in your camp?” “You have been here long enough to know what the morals of such boys are.” “I have been here long enough, Mr. Cartwright, to know that if you want to go into the question of morals in North Valley, the place for you to begin is with the bosses and guards you put in authority, and allow to prey upon women.” Edward broke in: “Hal, there’s nothing to be gained by pursuing this conversation. If you have any business here, get it over with, for God’s sake!” Hal made an effort to recover his self-possession. He came back to the demands of the strike--but only to find that he had used up the superintendent’s self-possession. “I have given you my answer,” declared Cartwright, “I absolutely decline any further discussion.” “Well,” said Hal, “since you decline to permit a deputation of your men to deal with you in plain, business-like fashion, I have to inform you as an individual that every other individual in your camp refuses to work for you.” The superintendent did not let himself be impressed by this elaborate sarcasm. “All I have to tell you, sir, is that Number Two mine will resume work in the morning, and that any one who refuses to work will be sent down the canyon before night.”