“Jerry, I want to talk to you,” said Kurt.  “Let’s get away from the house.”

The hired man was a big, lumbering fellow, gnarled like an old oak-tree.  He had a good-natured face and honest eyes.

“I reckon you want to hear about them I.W.W. fellers?” he asked, as they walked away.

“Yes,” replied Kurt.

“There’s been a regular procession of them fellers, the last week or so, walkin’ through the country,” replied Jerry.  “To-day’s the first time any of them got to me.  But I’ve heerd talk.  Sunday when I was in Palmer the air was full of rumors.”

“Rumors of what?” queried Kurt.

“All kinds,” answered Jerry, nonchalantly scratching his stubby beard.  “There’s an army of I.W.W.’s comin’ in from eastward.  Idaho an’ Montana are gittin’ a dose now.  Short hours; double wages; join the union; sabotage, whatever thet is; capital an’ labor fight; threats if you don’t fall in line; an’ Lord knows what all.”

“What did those two fellows want of you?”

“Wanted us to join the I.W.W.,” replied the laborer.

“Did they want a job?”

“Not as I heerd.  Why, one of them had a wad of bills thet would choke a cow.  He did most of the talkin’.  The little feller with the beady eyes an’ the pock-marks, he didn’t say much.  He’s Austrian an’ not long in this country.  The big stiff—­Glidden, he called himself—­must be some shucks in thet I.W.W.  He looked an’ talked oily at first—­very persuadin’; but when I says I wasn’t goin’ to join no union he got sassy an’ bossy.  They made me sore, so I told him to go to hell.  Then he said the I.W.W. would run the whole Northwest this summer—­wheat-fields, lumberin’, fruit-harvestin’, railroadin’—­the whole kaboodle, an’ thet any workman who wouldn’t join would git his, all right.”

“Well, Jerry, what do you think about this organization?” queried Kurt, anxiously.

“Not much.  It ain’t a square deal.  I ain’t got no belief in them.  What I heerd of their threatenin’ methods is like the way this Glidden talks.  If I owned a farm I’d drive such fellers off with a whip.  There’s goin’ to be bad doin’s if they come driftin’ strong into the Bend.”

“Jerry, are you satisfied with your job?”

“Sure.  I won’t join the I.W.W.  An’ I’ll talk ag’in’ it.  I reckon a few of us will hev to do all the harvestin’.  An’, considerin’ thet, I’ll take a dollar a day more on my wages.”

“If father does not agree to that, I will,” said Kurt.  “Now how about the other men?”

“Wal, they all air leanin’ toward promises of little work an’ lots of pay,” answered Jerry, with a laugh.  “Morgan’s on the fence about joinin’.  But Andrew agreed.  He’s Dutch an’ pig-headed.  Jansen’s only too glad to make trouble fer his boss.  They’re goin’ to lay off the rest of to-day an’ talk with Glidden.  They all agreed to meet down by the culvert.  An’ thet’s what they was arguin’ with me fer—­wanted me to come.”