"Johnson is a very good man, I dare say," said the baronet.
"Like most of the others," continued the squire, "he's very well as long as he's looked after. I think I know as much about it as Johnson. Of course, I don't expect a farmer's profit; but I do expect my rent, and I get it."
"I don't think I manage it quite that way," said the baronet in a melancholy tone.
"I'm afraid not," said the barrister.
"John is as hard upon the men as any one of the tenants," said John's wife, Mrs. Fletcher of Longbarns.
"I'm not hard at all," said John, "and you understand nothing about it. I'm paying three shillings a week more to every man, and eighteen pence a week more to every woman, than I did three years ago."
"That's because of the Unions," said the barrister.
"I don't care a straw for the Unions. If the Unions interfered with my comfort I'd let the land and leave the place."
"Oh, John!" ejaculated John's mother.
"I would not consent to be made a slave even for the sake of the country. But the wages had to be raised,—and having raised them I expect to get proper value for my money. If anything has to be given away, let it be given away,—so that the people should know what it is that they receive."