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376 Hugh. And if it comes to putting him in as foreman, there will be a riot; I know there will be—and he'll be killed!"

"What does Hugh think about it? Does he want to give it up?" Floyd asked.

"Oh, Hugh! You know what Hugh is, Mr. Halket; I've begged him, but he won't give in. He keeps saying there's no danger, and even if there is, he's not going to let it worry him; he says he's not going to be browbeaten out of his job by every man in New Rome. Of course Hugh would n't give up." She declared this proudly in spite of her distress. "But, Mr. Halket, I don't believe you know—if you insist on putting Hugh in as foreman—the morning he goes to his work—they'll beat him to death!"

"The only chance that your husband has now, Letty, lies in our wiping out the union and the gang who are running it," Floyd answered soberly. "What sort of a life do you think that you and he will lead if we surrender in this matter? He's a marked man anyway. You will all of you have to leave New Rome—where you've built your house, where you have begun to see good things ahead of you. If we fight it out—yes, I admit there's danger. I don't believe it can actually come to what you dread—but it may be bad enough. Fighting it out, our side will win in the end,—I promise you that. If we give in—what is there for Hugh but to seek a new home and a new start in life?"

"There's life!" cried Letty passionately.

Floyd was silent. At last he said with a smile,—

"Letty, we won't run that risk. We won't put Hugh in as foreman until the men are ready to have him. But we'll try to hurry that time up in coming."

She did not understand at all what he meant, but she trusted the look in his face and thanked him.

The next morning the employees of the Halket Mills on their way to work were confronted at the bridge by