Hal turned to the Post-master. “Yours?” he asked. “Mine’s under the counter,” grinned Bob. “And yours, Judge?” “Mine’s in the desk,” said the Judge. Hal drew a breath. “Gee!” said he. “It’s like a steel trap!” He managed to keep the laugh on his face, but within he was conscious of other feelings than those of amusement. He was losing that “first fine careless rapture” with which he had set out to run with the hare and the hounds in North Valley! SECTION 8. Two days after this beginning of Hal’s political career, it was arranged that the workers who were to make a demand for a check-weighman should meet in the home of Mrs. David. When Mike Sikoria came up from the pit that day, Hal took him aside and told him of the gathering. A look of delight came upon the old Slovak’s face as he listened; he grabbed his buddy by the shoulders, crying, “You mean it?” “Sure meant it,” said Hal. “You want to be on the committee to go and see the boss?” “_Pluha biedna_!” cried Mike--which is something dreadful in his own language. “By Judas, I pack up my old box again!” Hal felt a guilty pang. Should he let this old man into the thing? “You think you’ll have to move out of camp?” he asked. “Move out of state this time! Move back to old country, maybe!” And Hal realised that he could not stop him now, even if he wanted to. The old fellow was so much excited that he hardly ate any supper, and his buddy was afraid to leave him alone, for fear he might blurt out the news. It had been agreed that those who attended the meeting should come one by one, and by different routes. Hal was one of the first to arrive, and he saw that the shades of the house had been drawn, and the lamps turned low. He entered by the back door, where “Big Jack” David stood on guard. “Big Jack,” who had been a member of the South Wales Federation at home, made sure of Hal’s identity, and then passed him in without a word. Inside was Mike--the first on hand. Mrs. David, a little black-eyed woman with a never-ceasing tongue, was bustling about, putting things in order; she was so nervous that she could not sit still. This couple had come from their birth-place only a year or so ago, and had brought all their wedding presents to their new home--pictures and bric-a-brac and linen. It was the prettiest home Hal had so far been in, and Mrs. David was risking it deliberately, because of her indignation that her husband had had to foreswear his union in order to get work in America. The young Italian, Rovetta, came, then old John Edstrom. There being not chairs enough in the house, Mrs. David had set some boxes against the wall, covering them with cloth; and Hal noticed that each person took one of these boxes, leaving the chairs for the later comers. Each one as he came in would nod to the others, and then silence would fall again.