They all wanted to shake hands with her before she left; several wished her "luck," but one old man said solemnly: "Eh, missis, you're a clever 'un, but you'll never get anything out of Hugh Black."
Before Jim started to accompany Mrs. Waring to the station he whispered to Ford: "There now! didn't I tell you she'd manage the men all right? I knew she'd handle them all neat enough! Trust the Little Missis for that."
"Yes," assented Ford, "she's just splendid, but she won't succeed."
The visit to Hugh Black was by no means so easy an affair as the one to the men had been. When he learnt what her errand was he could hardly believe it. "Whatever will those men get you to do next? I expect the next thing will be, you will represent them in Parliament. I shouldn't wonder, though, but that you'd do it better than the fellow who is there now. But to the point: what have those fellows talked you over to ask me?"
"I want you to understand, Mr. Black, they have not told me at all what to say; what I am going to say to you is my own suggestion, to which they agreed."
"If that is so it will make a considerable difference."
Her first endeavour was to get him to sympathise with the men in their hard toil. She scored a good point when she expressed her surprise that clever men like he was did not invent more machinery to save such heavy toil. "I feel sure you could do it if you tried." From that she passed on to the fact that the men had some time ago found out he was seeking to live his life on a higher plane than at one time. "'A bit religious' is the way they put it."
"Well, what if they do?"
"I want them to see that that bit is real," was her straight answer; "that God has something to do with your business arrangements."
He made no answer, and then she told him the two suggestions she had made to the men, and asked him which he preferred.