Carnac returned to his office with angry feelings at his heart. The Belloc man ought to have been arrested for manslaughter, he thought. In any case, he had upheld the honour of John Grier’s firm by his protest, and the newspapers spoke not unfavourably of him in their reports. They said he was a man of courage to say what he did, though it was improper, from a legal standpoint. But human nature was human nature!
The trial took place in five days, and Carnac was fined twenty-five cents, which was in effect a verdict of not guilty; and so the newspapers said. It was decided that the offence was only legally improper, and it was natural that Carnac expressed himself strongly.
Junia was present at the trial. After it was over, she saw Carnac for a moment. “I think your firm can just pay the price and exist!” she said. “It’s a terrible sum, and it shows how great a criminal you are!”
“Not a ‘thirty-cent’ criminal, anyhow,” said Carnac. “It is a moral victory, and tell Fabian so. He’s a bit huffy because I got into the trouble, I suppose.”
“No, he loathed it all. He’s sorry it occurred.”
There was no further talk between them, for a subordinate of Carnac’s came hurriedly to him and said something which Junia did not hear. Carnac raised his hat to her, and hurried away.
“Well, it’s not so easy as painting pictures,” she said. “He gets fussed over these things.”
It was later announced by the manager of the main mill that there was to be a meeting of workers to agitate for a strike for higher pay. A French-Canadian who had worked in the mills of Maine and who was a red-hot socialist was the cause of it. He had only been in the mills for about three months and had spent his spare time inciting well-satisfied workmen to strike. His name was Luc Baste—a shock-haired criminal with a huge chest and a big voice, and a born filibuster. The meeting was held and a deputation was appointed to wait on Carnac at his office. Word was sent to Carnac, and he said he would see them after the work was done for the day. So in the evening about seven o’clock the deputation of six men came, headed by Luc Baste.
“Well, what is it?” Carnac asked calmly.
Luc Baste began, not a statement of facts, but an oration on the rights of workers, their downtrodden condition and their beggarly wages. He said they had not enough to keep body and soul together, and that right well did their employers know it. He said there should be an increase of a half-dollar a day, or there would be a strike.