But Frank"s hesitation and nervousness vanished under the other"s intolerable manner. Leyburn"s att.i.tude was not one he was prepared to submit to. He felt it would not have been displayed, but for his failure with the railroaders. If that was the sort of man Leyburn was--well----
"I can"t do the work you want me to, round about Deep Willows," he said, with deliberate coldness.
"Why?" Again came the monosyllabic inquiry. But this time it was in genuine surprise, and possessed no resentment.
Frank found it easier to explain in consequence.
"You see, Mon--Mrs. Hendrie is--is my foster mother," he said simply.
"I owe her nothing but good. I can never tell you of the sacrifices she has made for me, and of her devotion. I shouldn"t like to hurt her."
Leyburn stared. There was no resentment in him now--only amazement.
"Then--then--Hendrie is----"
"Hendrie is the man who sent me to the penitentiary for five years."
Frank turned away as he made the admission. Leyburn emitted a low whistle.
"You see," Frank went on. "I had told you my story without telling you any names. I should not tell you now, only that it becomes necessary to explain my reasons for refusing to accept the work."
But Leyburn was not listening. He suddenly pointed at a chair.
"Sit, boy," he cried, his manner suddenly a.s.suming a pleasant geniality. "Sit right down--and let"s talk this thing out."
Frank was glad enough to accept the invitation. He owed this man a good deal in spite of his slight change of feelings towards him. Nor was he one to shrink from paying his debts.
"It"s the queerest thing ever," Leyburn went on thoughtfully, as Frank drew up a chair. Then, in answer to the other"s look of inquiry: "Why, that I should chose you to go and deal with our--organization--in Hendrie"s neighborhood. Seems almost like Fate pitching him into your hands for what he"s--done to you. He"s hurt you, and now--now, why, your turn"s coming along."
"But curiously enough, I have no desire for any retaliation," said Frank simply. "One time I might have been pleased to--hurt him. But now--well--somehow I seem to understand what drove him to it, and--I don"t blame him so much. Besides----"
"Besides?" Leyburn"s eyes were watchful.
"That sort of thing doesn"t fit in with my ideas of Brotherhood," Frank concluded simply.
Leyburn nodded. His expression had become absurdly gentle.
"Maybe you"re right, boy," he said. "You see, I"m an old campaigner.
Guess I"m a bit hardened."
"That"s natural, too." Frank was glad at the change in the man. He was glad, too, that he could agree with him.
"But there"s no real hurt coming to Hendrie, if--he"s reasonable,"
Leyburn went on thoughtfully. "You see, boy, maybe it looks that way, but this process of ours is only a sharpish way of teaching these monopolists that they"ve got to remember there are other folks in the world who need to live. That there is such a thing as brotherhood. I"d say Hendrie"s a pretty good man, but he"s headstrong--as you know. He won"t be told a thing. All we need from him is his example, showing all those smaller folk he understands the needs of humanity, and is prepared to do his slice for it. What are we going to do? Why, when the time comes, the time most vital to him, we"re going to show him he"s dependent on us, and needs to treat us right. That"s all. If he treats us right, then there"s no harm done. This war--you hate the word--can be run on peaceful lines if both parties are not yearning to sc.r.a.p. All we"ve got to do is to be ready to sc.r.a.p. You won"t be hurting Mrs.
Hendrie. You won"t be hurting a soul. But you"ll just stand by to defend labor if they"re out to hurt us. Get me?"
Frank nodded.
"Yes. It is right enough what you say," he replied. "I know all that.
But it"s this strike, and all the damage it does, makes me feel sick about it."
Leyburn laughed.
"If I know Hendrie, there"ll be no strike. All we"ve got to do is to be ready for one. Say, lad, you"re a bit sensitive. I tell you we"re just going to bluff Hendrie into doing what he doesn"t want to do. That"s giving a living wage to folk who work for him. He"ll give it when the bluff"s put up."
"You think so?" Frank"s eagerness sounded pleasantly in Leyburn"s ears.
"Sure. They all do--in the end. Wheat men are easier than railroad companies. Their crops are perishable. There"ll be no real strike. So Mrs. Hendrie"s your--foster mother. Say, it beats h.e.l.l."
"Yes." Frank looked up. "She"s a sort of aunt, too," he said unguardedly, flushing as he remembered that he could claim no real relationship with any one. "Her sister was my--mother. I don"t know who my father was--exactly. I know he was called Leo, but----"
"Leo!" Leyburn started. It was with difficulty he could keep himself from shouting the name. "Leo--you said? Then you are----" It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Frank he was Hendrie"s son. But a sudden inspiration checked the impulse.
"I am--what?" demanded Frank, caught by the others excitement.
But Leyburn was equal to the occasion.
"Not necessarily, though," he said, with an a.s.sumption of thoughtfulness. "I was going to say Italian. Maybe Leo was just his first name."
Frank shook his head.
"I don"t know. I don"t think I"m Italian, though," he said unsuspiciously. "You see, Mrs. Hendrie is American, as, of course, was my mother. She had been an actress. Audrey Thorne, I think she called herself, but her real name was Elsie Hanson. Still, these details can"t interest you," he finished up a little drearily.
Leyburn stared out of the window for some moments. He was thinking hard. He was piecing all he had just learned together, and striving to see how he might turn it all to account in the purpose he had in his mind. If he had been amazed before on learning the name of the man who had injured Frank--amazed, and fiendishly delighted, it was nothing to his feelings now. Hendrie, Frank"s father! Audie"s son! Audie! Yes, more than ever Frank must be enlisted in this work. It would delight his, Leyburn"s, revengeful nature if Hendrie could be made to suffer through his own son. It was a good thought, and very pleasant to him.
He turned a smiling, kindly face upon his victim.
"It"s all devilish hard luck on you, boy--to be born, in a manner of speaking, without father or mother. The world certainly owes you a big debt. A debt so big you"d wonder how it could ever pay it. But the world has its own little ways of doing things. It"s sometimes got a queer knack."
Frank shook his head. His smile was tinged with sadness.
"I don"t seem to feel that way either," he said slowly. "I don"t seem to feel any one owes me anything. Maybe I did a while back, but I don"t now."
"Not even Hendrie?"
Frank shook his head seriously.
"Least of all--Hendrie. I rather fancy he"s been paid all he can bear for what he did to me."
Leyburn sighed with pretended sympathy.
"You"re a good boy," he said kindly. "Too good for the hard knocks life likes handing around. Maybe you"ll get--compensation. However," he went on, sitting up, and a.s.suming a business-like alertness, "we"ve got to put this business through. We"ve got to make these people give a fair wage to their workers, a wage that will leave them a margin of comfort and happiness in a dreary sort of life. n.i.g.g.e.r labor is cutting them out, and it can"t be tolerated. We"re not out to injure these employers. By G.o.d, we"re not! We"re out with as good a purpose by them as any church parson. That"s what I can"t get folks to see. Our methods may be rough, but the end justifies it. They are our only ways of doing it. I tell you, boy, in this fight we are having, of man against himself--and that"s what it amounts to--we have got to put all sentiment aside. Our duty lies clear before us. And when the war is over, Hendrie, and all men like him, will be the first to see the righteousness of our cause--and thank us. We take out a tooth, boy, because it aches, and it is painful to do it, but it leaves us with everlasting peace. You don"t feel you can do this work I want you to do? Well, I won"t press it. But"--he turned a sidelong glance upon the other"s ingenuous face, now so expressive of the struggle going on within his simple mind--"but I think the teaching for Hendrie would have come well from you. Yes, it surely would." He smiled. "Good for evil, eh? And it is for his good. It is almost a duty--feeling as you do. He is a good man, but--pa.s.sionate. And his pa.s.sions run away with him. Seems to me it would be good to point the right road to him. Then, too, you understand his kind. S"pose I threw a hard-shouting, leather-lunged hobo at him--we wouldn"t get so good a result. Not by a lot. It would be doubling the risk of trouble. Well, where would you like to work--instead?"
Frank rose from his seat and began to pace the room. Leyburn silently watched him. The smile behind his eyes was well hidden. He knew his man. He felt it to be hard work persuading him, but it was worth while.
At last Frank abruptly came to a stand before him.
"I"ll do the work," he cried, with a gulp. "I tell you, Leyburn, I"d rather do anything else, but I--I believe, as you say, it"s my duty to do this. Yes, I"ll go, and I"ll do my very best. But I warn you, if trouble threatens Mrs. Hendrie, directly or indirectly, I"ll do my best to help her, if all labor in the world has to suffer for it."