“Will they proceed to violence to-night?” asked Mr. Bernard before he closed the window.
“No fear if you are decided and civil-spoken; but I won’t answer for so much for to-morrow.”[to-morrow.”]
So saying, Jones ran off and climbed the hedge again, that he might drop in at the rear of the party, the glare of whose torches began to appear at the turn of the road.
“Upstairs, all of you, and let nobody appear at the windows but my lads and myself,” said Mr. Bernard. “And do not be afraid. You heard that there is no fear of violence to-night.”
There was a tremendous knocking and ringing at the door before all the family were up stairs.
“What do you want with me?” asked Mr. Bernard, throwing up a sash of the second story.
“We want, in the first place, your promise to take to pieces the new machinery, which keeps so many people out of work, and never to use it again without the consent of all parties concerned.”
“A reasonable request, truly! I believe there is more to be said, to bring us into the same mind on that point, than can be got through in a short summer’s night.”
“Answer us Yes or No,” cried the speaker.
“Tell him the conditions,” said the man next to him. “Let him know what he has to expect either way.”