"I should not be surprised. I do not know, of course, how far this thing has gone, but the organizers have been working for a long time, as you and I both know. I am inclined to believe that the Duke has gotten a strong hold on the men. You observed how our fellows acted after they returned from their outing on Sunday?"
"Yes; I noticed it. They all acted as if they had lost their week's wages. So that's what was going on, eh?"
"Yes; they must have had a meeting out at the lake. I wish I knew whether they have organized or not. I am inclined to believe that they have not, though. But, if not, they are getting perilously close to doing so."
"Should we not tell Mr. Penton?"
"I had thought of that, but we talked this matter over once before and decided not to do so. He probably knows more about what is going on than we do. However, if we see it is going on to a finish, perhaps it would be our duty to give him a hint of what we know. I dislike to carry tales of any kind. Again, I doubt if this is any of our business. We know what we shall do; we'll fight the proposed union at every opportunity if the men are going to strike. I believe it would be the worst thing that could happen to the men, short of a mine disaster, and the company, to which we owe full allegiance, would suffer greatly."
"What are the men going to do when they become organized?" asked Bob.
"Judging from what the two men said, I should judge they would demand higher wages and shorter hours."
Bob uttered a grunt of disapproval.
"Next thing we know they'll be wanting the bosses to lay them off and pay them double wages while they are off. I never saw anything like the cheek of some people."
"The laboring man is entitled to some consideration," mused Steve. "But there is a limit. We will lie low and attend to our own business until something else develops."