Firmstone paid no attention to the man. He went from end to end of the room. The men gave way in front, only closing in behind. There was a hushed silence.
"There's no shut-down. Any man who wants work can have it and be taken care of. Any one who wants to quit, come for your time right now!"
As Firmstone again turned toward the office he was conscious for the first time of a thick-set man with kindly eyes, now steely-hard, who followed his every motion. It was the night-shift boss.
"Hold them down. Send the men in, one by one, who want to quit. How about the magazine?"
"All right. Two men and four guns. They're with you till hell freezes, and then they'll skate."
It was midnight before the last man called for his time. Firmstone laid down his pen.
"I'm shy a foreman. Will you take the job?" Firmstone addressed the shift boss.
"All right. You better move around pretty lively for to-night. I'll stay in the office till morning."
The man left the office. He had not been gone long before there was a timid knock at the office door.
The door was opened hesitatingly and two men entered. They stood with lowered eyes, shifting their caps from hand to hand, and awkwardly balancing from foot to foot.
"You'll have to see Roner. He's foreman now."
"Can we take our bunks till morning, sir?"
The men left the office. Outside, their manner changed. Nudging elbows grated each other's ribs. The darkness hid their winks.
Firmstone had made a sad mistake. He was not omniscient. The men knew what he did not. They had been down to the Blue Goose and had returned with a mission.
In her little alcove at the Blue Goose Élise was gaining information every day of the progress of affairs, but in spite of impatience, in spite of doubt, she had seen nothing, heard nothing that seemed to demand immediate action on her part. She had made up her mind that a crisis was approaching. She had also determined with whom she would cast in her lot.
It was late when Hartwell's team pulled up at the Blue Goose. A crowd of excited men surrounded it, but the driver and his companions made no reply to loud questions as they sprang from the wagon and entered the door. Morrison was the first to halt them. The driver broke out with a string of oaths.