Ferguson came to the support of Delancy, as did McMahon, who said amiably:
"Give the boss a chance, Smitty."
Schmidt, however, was inclined to be recalcitrant.
"There was no arrangement yet to give the boss a chance," he argued.
"Just give him a chance then because he's a friend of mine," urged the Irishman with a grin of such exceeding friendliness toward the German himself that it was not to be resisted. Schmidt nodded in token that the employer should be allowed to speak, but he retained his position as a presiding officer before the fireplace.
Hamilton forthwith set out to present his side of the case to the men before him.
"As you know," he said briskly, "I'm the owner of the Hamilton factory. I pay the wages. Now, the Hamilton factory has been kept running through good times and through bad times for more than thirty years. Sometimes, too, it has been run at a loss, without any cut in the wage-scale to help the owner in that period of loss. Well, it seems to me under the circumstances that I have a right to run my own business."
"Oh, certainly!" Ferguson agreed, languidly.