ntention,
purely as manifestations of hate, and as such contrary to the plans of
their leaders. And Mr. Hendricks, nursing a black eye at home after the
recent outburst, sized up the situation shrewdly.

"You can boil a kettle too hard," he said, "and then the lid pops off.
Doyle and that outfit of his have been burning the fire a little high,
that's all. They'll quit now, because they want to get us off guard
later. You and your committee can take a vacation, unless you can set
them to electioneering for me. They've had enough for a while, the
devils. They'll wait now for Akers to get in and make things easy for
them. Mind my words, boy. That's the game."

And the game it seemed to be. Small violations of order still occurred,
but no big ones. To the headquarters in the Denslow Bank came an
increasing volume of information, to be duly docketed and filed. Some of
it was valueless. Now and then there came in something worth following
up. Thus one night Pink and a picked band, following a vague clew, went
in automobiles to the state borderline, and held up and captured two
trucks loaded with whiskey and destined for Friendship and Baxter. He
reported to Willy Cameron late that night.

"Smashed it all up and spilled it in the road," he said. "Hurt like
sin to do it, though. Felt like the fellow who shot the last passenger
pigeon."

But if the situation in the city was that of armed neutrality, in the
Boyd house things were rapidly approaching a climax, and that through
Dan. He was on edge, constantly to be placated and watched. The strike
was on his nerves; he felt his position keenly, resented Willy Cameron
supporting the family, and had developed a curious jealousy of his
mother's affection for him.

Toward Edith his suspicions had now become certainty, and an open break
came on an evening when she said that she felt able to go to work again.
They were at the table, and Ellen was moving to and from the kitchen,
carrying in the meal. Her utmost thrift could not make it other than
scanty, and finally Dan pushed his plate away.

"Going back to work, are you?" he sneered. "And how long do you think
you'll be able to work?"

"You keep quiet," Edith flared at him. "I'm going to work. That's all
you need to know. I can't sit here and let a man who doesn't belong
to us provide every bite we eat, if you can." Willy Cameron got up and
closed the door, for Mrs. Boyd an uncanny ability to hear much that went
on below.

"N