till able to walk. If I was a
man I'd knock you down."

The man grinned but did not move.

"But you ain't," he retorted. "I reckon I ain't goin' to have no fool
girl tell me where to head in at. I reckon I----"

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder and his sentence remained unfinished.
Gregory's eyes were snapping close to Carlin's.

"Beat it," he said, "while the trail's open."

Carlin flashed a glance over his shoulder at the fishermen who stood
looking on in stoical silence. Then he decided to go. Mumbling to
himself, he turned sullenly from the men about him and walked slowly
down the dock.

Dickie Lang faced the silent fishermen.

"Now, boys, what is it? I'll hear what you've got to say. But I won't
have any dealings with a crook."

The men about her shuffled their feet and drew closer. Then a man in a
faded plaid jumper detached himself from the others and began to speak.

"We ain't got nothin' against you, Miss Lang," he began uncertainly.
"But we've all got to look out for ourselves. We got families and folks
dependin' on us. Livin' 's out of sight. So is clothes and everything.
We----"

"What's your proposition, Blagg?"

The fisherman hesitated at the directness of the question. Then he
recited: "Straight time. Eight-hour day for six dollars. Double money
for overtime and Sundays."

Dickie started at the demand. Carlin had done his work well to set such
a limit as that. She wondered how far the seeds of discontent had
spread among the others. As her eye traveled over the silent groups,
Blagg went on:

"You see, miss, as I say we got families and the women-folks----"

"Don't blame the women, Joe," interrupted the girl. "If they got half of
what the saloons leave they'd have no kick coming. I'll bet they're not
back of this. You've been listening to a half-baked fool who couldn't
make a living if dollars grew on trees. All Pete Carlin can do is talk.
You boys know he isn't a fisherman."

She stepped closer and her voice dropped to a conversational tone. "It
just isn't in the business, boys. If I promised to pay those wages I
couldn't do it. I'd be broke with the first run of bad luck and you know
it as well as I do, if you'd stop to think. The man doesn't live who can
pay that around here and get out."

Blagg smiled knowingly at the fishermen.

"You're wrong, miss," he said. "We've already got the offer for a job at
them terms."

"Not here?"

He nodded. "Right here in town. We won't have to