“Well,” said Bannon, “do you like the look of things?  I hope you didn’t find anything out of the way?”

“Do you dare ask me that?” Grady began.  His voice was weak at first, but as his giddiness passed away it arose again to its own inimitable oratorical level.  “Do you dare pretend that you are treating these men right?  Who gave you the right to decide that this man shall live and this man shall die, and that this poor fellow who asks no more than to be allowed to earn his honest living with his honest sweat shall be stricken down with two broken ribs?”

“I don’t know,” said Bannon.  “You’re speaking of the hoist accident, I suppose.  Well, go and ask that man if he has any complaint to make.  If he has, come and let me know about it.”

“They call this a free country, and yet you oppressors can compel men to risk their lives—­”

“Have you any changes to suggest in the way that hoist is rigged?” Bannon cut in quietly.  “You’ve been inspecting it.  What did you think was unsafe about it?”

Grady was getting ready for his next outburst, but Bannon prevented him.  “There ain’t many jobs, if you leave out tacking down carpets, where a man don’t risk his life more or less.  MacBride don’t compel men to risk their lives; he pays ’em for doing it, and you can bet he’s done it himself.  We don’t like it, but it’s necessary.  Now, if you saw men out there taking risks that you think are unnecessary, why, say so, and we’ll talk it over.”

“There’s another thing you’ve got to answer for, Mr. Bannon.  These are free men that are devoting their honest labor to you.  You may think you’re a slave driver, but you aren’t.  You may flourish your revolver in the faces of slaves, but free American citizens will resent it—­”

“Mr. Grady, the man I drew a gun on was a carpenter.  His own union is looking after him.  He had thrown a hammer down into a bin where some of your laborers were at work, so I acted in their defence.”

Grady stood up.  “I come here to give you warning today, Mr. Bannon.  There is a watchful eye on you.  The next time I come it will not be to warn, but to act.  That’s all I’ve got to say to you now.”

Bannon, too, was on his feet.  “Mr. Grady, we try to be fair to our men.  It’s your business to see that we are fair, so we ought to get on all right together.  After this, if the men lodge any complaint with you, come to me; don’t go out on the job and make speeches.  If you’re looking for fair play, you’ll get it.  If you’re looking for trouble, you’ll get it.  Good-morning.”

The new regime in operation at the elevator was more of a hardship to Peterson than to any one else, because it compelled him to be much alone.  Not only was he quite cut off from the society of Max and Hilda, but it happened that the two or three under-foremen whom he liked best were on the day shift.  The night’s work with none of those pleasant little momentary interruptions that used to occur in the daytime was mere unrelieved drudgery, but the afternoons, when he had given up trying to sleep any longer, were tedious enough to make him long for six o’clock.