‘And who is the man you have engaged?’
‘Caleb Kersey.’
Wrentham laughed softly as he emitted a long serpentine coil of smoke.
‘On my word, you do things in a funny way. I am supposed to be your counsellor as well as friend; and you complete your arrangements before you tell me anything about them. I don’t see that my services are of any use to you.’
‘We have not had time to find that out yet. What advice could you have given me in reference to Kersey?’
‘Oh, I have nothing to say against the man, except that, as soon as you had your establishment ready to begin operations, he would have every soul in your employment out on strike for higher wages or for new terms of agreement, which will cause you heavy loss whether you knuckle down or refuse. I know the kind of man: he will be meek enough until he gets you into a corner—or thinks he has—and then he turns round and tells you that he is master of the situation, whatever you may be. That’s his sort.’
‘I think you are mistaken, Wrentham. I am sure that you are mistaken so far as Kersey is concerned. He managed that business of the harvest for my father when nobody else could, and he managed it admirably. He wants nothing more than fair-play between master and man, and he believes that my scheme is likely to bring about that condition.’
‘All right,’ said Wrentham, smiling, and helping himself to another glass of wine; ‘here’s good luck to him—and to you. We are all naturally inclined to be pleased with the people who agree with us. We’ll say that I am mistaken, and, on my honour, I hope it may be so.’
Philip flushed a little: he could not help feeling that Wrentham was treating him as if he were a child at play, and did not or could not see that he was a man making a bold experiment and very much in earnest.
‘It is not merely because Kersey agrees with me that I have engaged him,’ he said warmly. ‘I know something about the man, and I have learned a good deal from him. He has the power to convey my meaning to others better than I could do it myself. They might doubt me at first; they will trust him; and he is one of those men who are willing to work.’