Page:Traveler from Altruria, Howells, 1894.djvu/194

188 "Well that is what we have contrived in our life at home. I should have to say, in the first place, that"—

"Excuse me, just one moment, Mr. Homos!" said Mrs. Makely. This perverse woman was as anxious to hear about Altruria as any of us, but she was a woman who would rather hear the sound of her own voice than any other, even if she were dying, as she would call it, to hear the other. The Altrurian stopped politely, and Mrs. Makely went on: "I have been thinking of what Mr. Camp was saying about the black-listed men, and their all turning into tramps"—

"But I didn't say that, Mrs. Makely," the young fellow protested, in astonishment.

"Well, it stands to reason that if the tramps have all been black-listed men"—

"But I didn't say that, either!"

"No matter! What I am trying to get at is this: if a workman has made himself a nuisance to the employers, haven't they a right to punish him in any way they can?"

"I believe there's no law yet, against black-listing," said Camp.

"Very well, then, I don't see what they've got to