Again he raised his hands for silence, and went on again. “Listen, men. They’ll turn me out, and you’re not going to resist them. You’re going to work and keep your jobs, and get ready for the big strike. And you’ll tell the other men what I say. I can’t talk to them all, but you tell them about the union. Remember, there are people outside planning and fighting for you. We’re going to stand by the union, all of us, till we’ve brought these coal-camps back into America!” There was a cheer that shook the walls of the room. Yes, that was what they wanted--to live in America! A crowd of men had gathered in the doorway, attracted by the uproar; Hal noticed confusion and pushing, and saw the head and burly shoulders of his enemy, Pete Hanun, come into sight. “Here come the gunmen, boys!” he cried; and there was a roar of anger from the crowd. Men turned, clenching their fists, glaring at the guard. But Hal rushed on, quickly: “Boys, hear what I say! Keep your heads! I can’t stay in North Valley, and you know it! But I’ve done the thing I came to do, I’ve brought you the message from the union. And you’ll tell the other men--tell them to stand by the union!” Hal went on, repeating his message over and over. Looking from one to another of these toil-worn faces, he remembered the pledge he had made them, and he made it anew: “I’m going to stand by you! I’m going on with the fight, boys!” There came more disturbance at the door, and suddenly Jeff Cotton appeared, with a couple of additional guards, shoving their way into the room, breathless and red in the face from running. “Ah, there’s the marshal!” cried Hal. “You needn’t push, Cotton, there’s not going to be any trouble. We are union men here, we know how to control ourselves. Now, boys, we’re not giving up, we’re not beaten, we’re only waiting for the men in the other camps! We have a union, and we mean to keep it! Three cheers for the union!” The cheers rang out with a will: cheers for the union, cheers for Joe Smith, cheers for the widow and her weeds! “You belong to the union! You stand by it, no matter what happens! If they fire you, you take it on to the next place! You teach it to the new men, you never let it die in your hearts! In union there is strength, in union there is hope! Never forget it, men--_Union_!” The voice of the camp-marshal rang out. “If you’re coming, young woman, come now!” Hal dropped a shy curtsey. “Oh, Mr. Cotton! This is so sudden!” The crowd howled; and Hal descended from his platform. With coquettish gesturing he replaced the widow’s veils about his face, and tripped mincingly across the dining-room. When he reached the camp-marshal, he daintily took that worthy’s arm, and with the “breaker of teeth” on the other side, and Bud Adams bringing up the rear, he toddled out of the dining-room and down the street.