As for Sharp, he threatened various things, but his own attorney told him to “pocket his wrath and say nothing,� as he could not maintain an action against the Star.
Terry was happy, as the sales of the Star, in Papyrus, had been lifted between two and three hundred, and the increase promised to prove permanent.
CHAPTER V.
“HOW are you and the lad, this morning, Mrs. Wycliff?� asked that good neighbor, Mrs. Clyde.
“Getting along nicely, thank you, and very glad to see you,� replied Mrs. Wycliff. “But how does it happen that you are not working to-day?�
“The strike. Haven’t you heard of the rag-cutters’ strike? Three hundred rag-cutters walked out of the Baldwin Mills an hour ago.�
“I didn’t know that the Baldwins ever had a strike in their mills.�
“They don’t often have one, and when they do, the world at large does not know about it, they have such a strong grip on the newspapers about here. My son, Tom, works on the Springdale Democrat, and he has told me a lot about these things. Springdale is about fifty miles from here, and the Democrat pretends to be an independent newspaper, and yet it never prints any news from Papyrus which can possibly hurt Congressman Baldwin. Some years ago, Tom began work as correspondent here for the Democrat, and there was a big strike here, in the Liberty Mill, which belongs to the Baldwin Paper Company. Tom didn’t know any better then, and he sent them a long article about the strike. Not a word of it was printed, and the editor wrote Tom that they never printed any news of that kind about the Baldwins. Then the other Springdale paper, the Universe, is owned by Congressman Baldwin; so, of course, that does not print a word regarding troubles in the Baldwin Mills.�
“But what was the cause of the strike to-day?� inquired Mrs. Wycliff.
“There were a good many things that had something to do with it,� replied the neighbor, “but fines were the worst.�