ere apt to eye one another with scant sympathy, the
fisher population of the one and the mining population of the other
having little in common beyond the liquor which they uniformly sought at
The Three Tuns by the shore. Green never permitted any bickering, and
they were all alike in their respect for him, but a species of armed
neutrality which was very far removed from comradeship existed between
them. Fights at The Three Tuns were by no means of unusual occurrence and
the miners of High Shale were invariably spoken of with wholesale
contempt by the men along the shore.

But, thanks to Green's untiring efforts, they met on common ground at his
concerts, and any member of the audience who dared to commit any breach
of the peace on any of these occasions was summarily dealt with by Green
himself. He knew how to keep his men in hand. There was not one of them
who ever ventured to question his supremacy. He ruled them, not one of
them could have said how. Ashcott, the manager of the mine, who battled
in vain against the rising spirit of disorder and rebellion among them,
was wont to describe his influence over them as black magic. Whatever its
source it was certainly unique. None but Dick Green could spring from the
platform, seize a delinquent by his collar or the scruff of his neck, and
run him, practically unresisting, out of the assembly. His lightning
decisions were never questioned. His language, which could be forcible
upon occasion, never met with any retort. The men seemed to recognize
instinctively that it was useless to stand up to him. He could have
compelled them blindfold and with his hands behind him.

It was this quality in him, this dynamic force, restrained yet always
somehow in action, that had affected Juliet so strangely in the beginning
of their acquaintance. Like these rough miners and fisher-folk she could
not have said wherein the attraction lay, but she recognized in him that
inner fire called genius, and it drew her unaccountably, irresistibly.
Whatever the sphere to which he had been born, he was a man created to
lead, to overcome obstacles, to wrest victory from failure,--a man who
possessed the rare combination of a highly sensitive temperament and a
practically invincible courage--a man who could handle the great forces
of life with the fearless certainty of the born conqueror.

Yes, he attracted her, undoubtedly he attracted her. He stirred her to an
interest which she had believed hersel