“Mr. Vose,” I asked, briskly, “how many hitches have you in your livery-stable?”
“Eight,” he said, “if I include two road-carts.”
“The road-carts are all right, too. I want to use all of ’em, if you can furnish drivers.”
“It’s easy enough to find men in these slack times.”
“And probably farmers and day’s-work men in the back districts of the town would like a job.”
“You can bet on it!”
“Start eight men going, then, as soon as you can get the horses hitched in. Have the messengers pass the word that I can use two hundred husky men. Each man to report here in the tavern yard to-morrow morning at six-thirty with a sharp ax on his shoulder.”
“And what else—tell ’em what else?”
“Nothing.”
“But about wages—and what they’re to do?”