at they were wasted in growth
by his spirit of unrest. He was uniformly kind to them and faithful
with their food, but there was lacking that sense of cordial sympathy
which should exist between hog and man if both would appear at their
best. Even when Anderson came to their pens reeking with the rich savor
of the food they loved, their ears would prick up (as much as a Chester
White's ears can), and with a "woof!" they would shoot out the door,
only to return in a moment with the greatest confidence. I never heard
that "woof" and saw the stampede without looking around for the "steep
place" and the "sea," feeling sure that the incident lacked only these
accessories to make it a catastrophe.

Anderson was good and faithful, and he would work his arms and legs off
for the pigs; but the spirit of unrest entered every herd which he kept,
though neither he nor I saw it clearly enough to go and "tell it in the
city." With other swineherds my hogs averaged from fifteen to eighteen
pounds better than with faithful Anderson, and I am, therefore,
competent to speak of the gross weight of the spirit of contentment.

CHAPTER XLI

STRIKE AT GORDON'S MINE

Frank Gordon owned a coal mine about six miles west of the village of
Exeter, and four miles from Four Oaks. A village called Gordonville had
sprung up at the mouth of the mine. It was the home of the three hundred
miners and their families,--mostly Huns, but with a sprinkling of
Cornishmen.

The houses were built by the owner of the mine, and were leased to the
miners at a small yearly rental. They were modest in structure, but they
could be made inviting and neat if the occupants were thrifty. No one
was allowed to sell liquor on the property owned by the Gordons, but
outside of this limit was a fringe of low saloons which did a thriving
business off the improvident miners.

There had never been a strike at Gordonville, and such a thing seemed
improbable, for Gordon was a kind master, who paid his men promptly and
looked after their interests more than is usual for a capitalist.

It was, therefore, a distinct surprise when the foreman of the mine
telephoned to Gordon one July morning that the men had struck work.
Gordon did not understand the reason of it, but he expressed himself as
being heartily glad, for financial reasons, that the men had gone out.
He had more than enough coal on the surface and in cars to supply the
demand for the next three months, and it