Phebe quickly answered, "I will go with you at once," and then added, "Ah, Mr. Coates, it is not the first time you have induced me to go on an errand I have shrunk from!" "And this one," exclaimed Jim, his face all aglow, "is going to be as well-ended as the other one was, you see if it isn't!" Half-an-hour's run by the train, and ten minutes' walk brought them to the place of meeting. Many thoughts passed through Phebe's mind during that short journey; how came it she should be led into such difficult positions?--how could she adequately deal with subjects so far removed from those of her everyday experience? Several of the men were on the look-out for her; evidently her visit was expected, for a potato-basket had been turned up for her to stand on, and a chair provided for her to sit on. The men had gathered, about sixty of them, just at the junction of some country roads, and were standing under the shelter of a high barn-wall, for a rather cold wind was blowing. Many a rough hand was stretched out in welcome to her, and though she was a stranger to some, no one seemed in the slightest to resent her coming. "I'll speak first and set the ball a-rolling," she said, in her bright way; "Mr. Coates has told me about the trouble you are in, and it is very good of you to let me share it." "It does one good to hear her voice agin," said one old man in a very audible whisper, which was followed quickly by a loud "Shut up!" Phebe went on in her calm, low, but incisive voice, commenting on what Jim had told her, and then she asked, "Who is your spokesman here?" "Ford!" called out a score of voices, and a thick-set man came forward. "What do you wish Mr. Black to give you for the extra hour?" she asked. "A shilling." "And if he agrees to that, what would become of the Irishmen whom you say are on their way here?" "Let them go back to their taters," some one called out. "Oirishmen are as good as ye are!" The accent was so unmistakable that a general laugh went up. But it did good. "Of course they are," replied Phebe, "and sometimes a bit better, and it is for them I want to plead. If I take any sides at all it will not be for the rich"--a big cheer, and much clapping of hands--"but for the poor and unfortunate. Those men come expecting work; if Mr. Black agrees to your terms you ought to be willing to stretch out a willing hand to those Irishmen. You all know Mr. Black has made an error in his calculations"--cries of dissent--"hear me to the end and I am sure you will agree with me." "We'll make them listen," called out a strong voice, followed by several others. "That we will!" "No, friends," Phebe calmly answered, "I will only have a willing audience." "You have! You have!" they all called out. "I am going to ask Mr. Black to give you fifteenpence for that extra hour, on condition that you are willing to work 'shifts' with these Irishmen. Couldn't you manage that?" "No," said Ford, "the days are not long enough."