"I believe you know Peter Rathbawne," he said.
"I do. I am engaged to his elder daughter."
"Ah! That is what I thought."
The Governor looked contemplatively at the ceiling, closing his right eye, and nibbling behind his pursed lips.
"Peter Rathbawne," he said, "is the second most obstinate man in Kenton City, if not in Alleghenia. I'm afraid he thinks he is the most obstinate. If so, he does me an injustice. His mills are the largest in the state. I am told that when they are running full strength they employ over four thousand hands."
"Something like that number, I believe," put in Barclay, as the Governor seemed to expect a reply.
"Ah! It is a pity for such an industry as that to be tied up on account of one man's obstinacy."
"I had not heard"—began Barclay; but Governor Abbott continued steadily, disregarding the interruption.
"Yesterday morning Mr. Rathbawne discharged fifteen employees on the ground of incompetency. It is hard to see exactly what Mr. Rathbawne means by 'incompetency.' These men were not newcomers. Some of them had been in the mills for as much as eighteen months. It seems as if he might have discovered the alleged incompetency long ago. It is more or less arbitrary, one might say, this discharging men by wholesale, as it were."
"I suppose," commented Barclay, "that a man may do as he will with his own."