[CHAPTER V.]
DUCKED.
SARAH could not shake off the thought of something happening to John. All the next day, and the next, she lived in fear, often hard to control. Those evenings he came home safely untouched. He did not tell Sarah how the men on strike glowered at him; how he was pursued on his way by the contemptuous groan of "Blackleg!!"
Many a man would sooner face a knock-down blow than that sound of scorn; but John was not made of yielding stuff. He did not tell Sarah all this, for there was no need to add to her anxiety.
On the third day it became known that the works must close; so John Holdfast, and those others who had refused to join the strike, would be reduced to idleness. Some said this might not be for long, as there was talk of workmen coming from a distance. Mrs. Holdfast hoped that the closing of the works would appease the strikers' anger against her husband; but she did not happen to hear the report about men arriving from elsewhere, or she would hardly have been so hopeful.
Her dread had lessened on the third day; and that very evening John was long coming home. He was far later than usual. Mrs. Holdfast waited and waited, uneasiness deepening into terror. She put on her bonnet and shawl at length, and went out into the dusk to look for John; but she could see nothing of him, and it was impossible to leave the children for more than a few minutes.
She went in next door, and found Martha alone.
Stevens had gone somewhere, Martha said—to a meeting, she thought. "They're always at it with their speechifying," she said. "Maybe your husband's with them."
"He'd have told me if he meant to go," Mrs. Hold fast answered.
"Roger don't trouble to tell me," said Martha.