At dinner Mr. Underwood maintained an ominous silence, replying in
monosyllables to any question or remark addressed to him. He soon left
the table, and Darrell did not see him again till late in the afternoon,
when he entered the laboratory. A glance at the set lines of his face
told Darrell as plainly as words that his line of action was fully
determined upon, and that it would be as fixed and unalterable as the
laws of the Medes and Persians.
"I am going home now," he announced briefly, in reply to Darrell's
somewhat questioning look; "I'll be back here the last of the week."
"What do you think of the outlook, Mr. Underwood?" Darrell inquired.
"It is about what I expected. I have seen all the men. They are, as I
supposed, under the thumb of the union bosses. A few of them realize
that the whole proposition is unreasonable and absurd, and they don't
want to go out, but they don't dare say so above their breath, and they
don't dare disobey orders, because they are owned, body and soul, by the
union."
"Have any of the leaders tried to make terms?"
"I met one of their 'walking delegates' this morning," said Mr.
Underwood, with scornful emphasis; "I told him to 'walk' himself out of
the camp or I'd boot him out; and he walked!"
Darrell laughed. Mr. Underwood continued: "The boarding-house opens on
Thursday; on next Monday every man not enrolled in that institution will
be ordered out."
"It's to be a strike then, sure thing, is it?" Darrell asked.
"Yes, there'll be a strike," Mr. Underwood answered, grimly, while a
quick gleam shot across his face; "but remember one thing," he added, as
he turned to leave the room, "no man ever yet got the drop or the first
blow on me!"
Matters continued about the same at the camp. On Friday favorable
reports concerning the new boarding-house began to be circulated,
brought the preceding evening by miners from another camp. Some of the
men looked sullen and defiant, others only painfully self-conscious, in
the presence of Darrell and the superintendent, but it was evident that
the crisis was approaching.
Late Friday night a horseman dismounted silently before the door of the
office building and Mr. Underwood walked quietly into Darrell's room.
"How's the new hotel? Overrun with boarders?" he asked, as he seated
himself, paying little attention to Darrell's exclamation of surprise.
"Chapman's men--about fifty in all--are the only ones there at present."
"Chapman!" ejaculated Mr. Underwood; "what is Chapman doing? He agreed
to stand in with the rest of us on this thing!"
"He told Hathaway this morning he was only doing it for experiment. The
boarding-house is located near his claims, you know, and he has
comparatively few men. So he said he didn't mind trying it for a month
or so."