e said.

"That's it," he replied. "It's criminal to let such buildings stand.
But Ames owns 'em. That's enough."

They went on in silence for some minutes. Meanwhile, the priest was
studying his fair companion, and wondering who she might be. At length
he inquired if she had ever been in Avon before.

"No," replied the girl. "I wish I had!"

"Haven't seen Pillette's house then? He's resident manager of the Ames
mills. We can go a little out of our way and have a look at it."

A few minutes later they stood at the iron gate of the manager's
residence, a massive, brown stone dwelling, set in among ancient trees
in an estate of several acres, and surrounded by shrubs and bushes.

"Fine place, eh?" remarked the priest.

"Beautiful," replied Carmen. "Does he know all about those tenements
down there?"

"Ah, that he does; and cares less. And he knows all about the terrible
hot air in his mills, and the flying lint that clogs the lungs of the
babies working there. He sees them leave the place, dripping with
perspiration, and go out into the zero temperature half naked. And
when they go off with pneumonia, well he knows why; and cares less. He
knows that the poor, tired workers in that great prison lose their
senses in the awful noise and roar, and sometimes get bewildered and
fall afoul of belts and cogs, and lose their limbs or lives. He knows;
and doesn't care. So does Mr. Ames. And he wouldn't put safety devices
over his machines, because he doesn't care. I've written to him a
dozen times about it. But--

"And then Pillette," he continued; "I've asked him to furnish his
hands with decent drinking water. They work ten and twelve hours in
that inferno, and when they want to drink, why, all they have is a
barrel of warm water, so covered with lint that it has to be pushed
aside in order to get at the water. Why, Pillette don't even give 'em
change rooms! He won't give 'em decent toilet rooms! Says Mr. Ames
can't afford it. Seems to me that when a man can give a ball and send
out invitations on cards of solid gold, he can afford to give a
thought to the thousands who have toiled and suffered in order to
enable him to give such a ball, don't you?"

Carmen did. She had attended that reception. The memory came back now
in hot, searing thoughts.

"Oh, he catches 'em coming and going!" the priest went on. "You see,
he manipulates Congress so that a high tariff law is passed,
protecting him from imported goods. Then he