CHAPTER XIV
A FOOLISH STRIKE
The next morning Jack Danby, arriving at the factory, found Pete Stubbsalready there, for it was his duty that week to arrive a little inadvance of the rest of the boys, and open up. He was wearing a glumface.
"Gee, Jack, here's a peck of trouble," he said. "I got down here andfound that Mr. Simms, the big boss, and Mr. Carew, the manager, hadbeen here since five o'clock."
"What's wrong, Pete?"
"I dunno, for sure, Jack, but I heard somethin' bein' said about astrike. And there ain't a man here yet!"
"Well, we're not on strike, Pete. I guess we'd better get busy and doour work just as if there wasn't anything wrong. Then _we'll_ be allright, anyhow."
They were busy for a few minutes, as the other office boys and theclerks began to appear.
"Keep quiet about anything you know or suspect, Pete," said Jack,warningly, as the rooms began to fill up. "It's all right to tell me,but you'd better let the others hear anything there is to be known fromMr. Carew. He'll tell us all, probably, when he gets ready."
But the morning was well advanced before the conference in Mr. Carew'sroom was over. There was an unusual silence about the big factory.None of the machinery was running, which was sufficiently out of theordinary to excite a lot of talk and gossip, although Pete gave outnone of the information with which he was almost bursting. Finally,however, Mr. Carew came out.
"This company," he said, when everyone had turned in silence to facehim, "has done business for a good many years and has never had anysort of trouble, until now, with any of the people who have worked forit. Now, unfortunately, some malcontents among the hands here havespread their ideas, and a strike has been called. We have tried toreason with the men, but they have quit work, and this factory will beclosed for at least a week, beginning to-day."
"Gee, Jack, that's just what I was afraid of," said Pete, his facefalling. "That means a week's wages gone!"
Murmurs arose from all over the room. But Carew, a smile on his face,held up his hand for silence, and went on.
"The company has no intention of making you suffer," he said. "Yourwages will go on just the same, and we will simply consider this week'slay-off as a sort of a vacation. That will be all for now. You willget notice when it is time for you to return to work."
There was a wild cheer then. A week's wages meant a great deal to mostof the boys and clerks employed in and about the factory, and therevulsion of feeling when they learned that they were not to lose theirpay was enough to justify even a louder cheer than they gave.
"Danby and Stubbs," said Mr. Carew next, "I wish you'd wait when theothers go, and come into my office. I want to talk to you."
They waited accordingly, and when they went into Mr. Carew's room theyfound Mr. Simms, the president of the company, waiting there with themanager.
"This is very serious business, boys," said Mr. Simms, gravely. "Astrike is one thing, and if the men stopped at a strike they would beentirely within their rights. Unfortunately, some of them, badworkers, who had been threatened with dismissal, and others who werediscontented, for one reason or another, have succeeded in stirring upa lot of hard feeling. And there is no telling what may happen."
"Do you think they'll try to put the place on the bum, sir?" criedPete, the irrepressible, his eyes flashing.
Both the men laughed, though their faces showed that they were tooworried to do much laughing.
"I certainly hope they won't attempt anything of the sort, for theirsake, as well as ours, Pete," said Mr. Simms. "If they were let alone,our old men, even if they were to go on strike, wouldn't make a moveagainst the company's property. But these rascals who are leading themwant to make it impossible for them to back down and come back to work.And I am afraid that there are no lengths at which they would stop inthe effort to injure us."
"Here is the point, boys," said Mr. Carew. "We know, from pastexperience with you, that you are trustworthy, and loyal to us. Now,what we want to do is to get through this strike with as little troubleas possible. We don't want any shooting, as there might be if webrought in armed men to guard the property. What we want is to preventany attempt to destroy the place by getting ample warning of anythingthat is tried."
"And you're going to let us look out for them?" cried Pete. "Gee,that's great, Jack! We can do it, too, can't we?"
"The idea we had," said Carew, "was that you boys, and perhaps some ofyour companions in the Boy Scouts, being used to tracking and trailingin the woods, could keep a better watch than our regular watchmen.They are faithful enough, and would mean well, but what we are afraidof is that a lot of clever scoundrels could get inside and set theplace on fire before they knew it. They wouldn't expect boys to be onthe lookout, and we can arrange to have the place protected amply if wecan have a few minutes warning. In that way the plans of the violentones among the men would be blocked, and at the same time there wouldbe no danger of bloodshed, or of anyone being hurt. I would ratherlose a year's pay than have a man of them all injured."
"And I a year's profits, or a good deal more," said Mr. Simms."Understand me, boys, we want you to do this in a way that will not getyou yourselves into any danger. Simply stay here tonight, after, theplace is closed up. Mr. Carew and I and a few other men will beinside, but we don't want to show ourselves. I am having telephonesput in all over the factory, with instruments out in the courtyards, sothat you can get word to us without delay if you see anythingsuspicious. Now suppose you run home and get your Scout uniforms. Wewill have plenty to eat here, and we will have cots rigged up for you,too, so that you can sleep in the day time."
"This is almost as good as being in the militia, isn't it, Jack?" saidPete, as they hurried out.
"I think it's a lot better, Pete. In the militia, if there's a strike,the men sometimes have to fire into a crowd, and a lot of foolishpeople who don't mean any harm may get hurt or killed. I'd hate tohave to do anything like that. I suppose it's necessary, but I'd feellike a murderer if I'd ever fired into a crowd that way, I know."
"Well, this is going to be a great lark, anyhow, Jack. I'd rather dothis than work, any day!"
"It may be pretty hard work before we're through, Pete. Look overthere!"
They were leaving the factory then, and across the street was a crowdof men, in their working clothes, sullen and unhappy in appearance.Two or three men, dressed more like brokers than workmen, were passingto and fro among them, and leaving a wake of scowls and curses whereverthey passed.
"Strikers!" said Pete. "Gosh, but they don't look like the crowd thatwe see coming to work every morning, do they, Jack? They lookdifferent--like wild men, almost."
"It's too bad," said Jack. "I'm mighty sorry to see them go out,because I know that they're treated as well here as they would beanywhere in the state, and a lot better than at most places. It's menlike Big Ed Willis, who never wants to work at all, who make thetrouble."
"Just listen here, young feller," said a big man, who appeared suddenlyfrom behind them, "keep a quiet tongue in yer head about me. I'm BigEd, I am, and I'll smash your ugly face in for ye, if ye don't lookout! There's a strike on for higher wages and shorter hours here, see,and we don't want no scabs, man or boy, goin' into that factory."
"We're not in the union, Ed Willis," said Jack, unafraid. "We make ourown rules about working or not working, and don't you forget it! Youcan beat me up easily enough, if you want to, but you won't be much ofa man if you try it."
"For two cents I'd smash you in the jaw, so I would!" said Willis,blustering, like the true bully he was.
"Let the kid alone, Ed," cried another man, coming across the street."He ain't in the union. I think we're fools to strike ourselves.Don't go to making no more trouble without you need to."
"I'll let you off this time," said Big Ed, a little abashed. "But seeto it that you keep away from the factory over there."
"You mind your business and we'll mind ours!" sai
d Jack. "That'll keepyou plenty busy enough, Ed Willis!"
"Gee, I thought he was going to hit you that time, Jack," said PeteStubbs. "I'm pretty small, and if I hit him he'd never know it unlesssomeone told him, but I was going to smash him behind the ear with astone if he tried that."
"He's all bluff and talk," said Jack, disgustedly. "If he does anyfighting, it'll be by letting someone else strike the blows while helooks on from a place where he knows he won't be hit. There's lots offighters like that."
They hurried on home then, and changed from the clothes they wore everyday to work in to their Boy Scout uniforms. Each of them took, too,his axe and Scout knife, in case of emergencies, though it was hard toimagine any use they were likely to have for them.
"Look here, Pete," said Jack, when they had changed their clothes andwere ready to start back to the factory, "if we go in the way we cameout they'll see us, and they're likely to watch for us to come outagain. That wouldn't be much use, so I think we'd better try to getback without being seen."
"How can we do that, Jack?"
"I know a good way. We'll go down to the freight yard and find a carthat is going to be shunted onto the private track. There's a car-loadof wagon wheels due to-day, I know, and the chances are that we canfind that and hide in it. The men at the freight yard would neverknow, and when we got inside we could get out and the strikers wouldn'tknow we were inside at all."
"That's a fine idea, Jack. We'll do that. Say, that'll be a greatjoke on Ed Willis and those other toughs he's got on his side, won'tit?"
"I'll bet they'll never guess we're inside at all, Pete!"
Both boys knew their way around the freight yards very well indeed.Both had been sent there a good many times by Mr. Carew to look updelayed shipments, that were needed in the factory, and, as aconsequence, the men at work in the yards, knowing that they worked inthe factory, were not suspicious when Jack began asking about the wagonwheels. They found the car with little difficulty, and, once they haddiscovered that it was to be shunted into the private spur of trackleading into the factory within an hour or two, they did not hesitateto get inside and hide themselves in one dark corner of the car.
There was plenty of room for them, and they crouched behind a case ofwheels, and told one another stories. It was good fun, they thought,and they only wished that it was time for their ride to begin.
"Listen!" whispered Pete, suddenly. "That sounds like someone fumblingfor the catch of the car door, Jack."
It was dark in the car, and suddenly, there was a stream of light asthe door was pushed cautiously open.
"Right, oh, Ed," said a hoarse voice, trying to be quiet. "We canshove the stuff right in here. Then, about midnight, we can get in andlet it off. They'll never open this car up tonight, and they won'tknow the stuff's in here."
"Not unless it goes off as she bumps over the frogs going into thespur," said Big Ed Willis, chuckling. "But if she lets go thenthere'll be a pretty big explosion, just the same. May leave a bit ofthe factory standing, but it'll take them a long time to make repairs.It would blow Number Four shop and this car to smithereens, anyhow."
Horrified, but unable to make a move, the two Scouts saw three heavyboxes being loaded gingerly onto the car and hidden under some sacking.
"There!" said Big Ed. "That's a good job, well done! And it looksmighty neat. No one'd ever guess, just to look at that sacking, thatthere was enough dynamite underneath it to blow half the town up if itwas set properly."
Scarcely had the two men closed the door when the Scouts made asimultaneous leap for it. But, as they moved, they felt the bump ofthe freight engine against the car and a moment later it began to move.It was too late for them to get off, and they could only sit and watchthat pile of sacking, with its deadly secret beneath it, wondering ifevery moment was not to be their last. Every time the car jolted overa frog in the rail they jumped, wondering why the deadly stuff did notexplode, and Jack was not ashamed to admit afterward that he was sickwith fear during the whole terrible ride. But it ended at last, withthe dynamite still safe and undisturbed, and they breathed great sighsof relief as they realized that the first and probably the worst oftheir perils was really over.
Mr. Simms was incredulous when they reached him and told him of whatthey had discovered, but the dynamite was a witness not to bediscredited, and he had to believe when he saw that. With the utmostcare it was removed and placed in water, and then they began to makefresh plans.