"What do you want? Burns tells me there is dissatisfaction. Speak out, so that we may know what the trouble is."
There was an awkward pause. Then one man spoke up:
"We think the company ought to give us the day off."
"What for?" asked Mr. Hardy mildly.
Under any other circumstances he would have told the men they might leave for good if they didn't like the pay and the company. He had done just that thing twice before; but things were different now. He looked at the men in a new light. He was a new man himself. Besides, it was imperative that the work in the shops go on. The company could ill afford to lose the work just at this particular time. All these considerations did not blind Robert to his obligations as an officer of the company. He was only anxious that no injustice should be done, so he said, "What for?" mildly and quietly, and waited for an answer.
The spokesman was not quite ready with an answer. The directness of the question and the mildness of it also surprised him. Another man spoke up:
"Our friends was in the accident. We want to go see them."
"Very well. How many men had relatives or friends in the accident who are injured or killed? Let them step forward."
There was a moment of inaction. Then three men stepped out. Mr. Hardy said: "You may go if you want to. Why didn't you ask for leave off if you wanted it? What reason have you to suppose the company would refuse such a request? Now, what is the trouble with the rest? The company is not in a position to grant a holiday at this particular time, and you know it. Come, be fair, men! I can't shut down the shops all day to let you go and see a railroad wreck. Be reasonable! What do you want?"
"We want more pay and freedom from Sunday work," said a big fellow, the Norwegian who ran the biggest planer in the shop. He had more than once proved troublesome to Burns, but he was a remarkably intelligent and skilful workman, and the foreman had endured much irritation on that account.