nxiety. Here was a fight in which no one
would suffer except the head that got in her way, and she determined to
hit that with all her might the moment it rose into view. This was no
brewery contract, she argued with Pop, where five hundred men might be
thrown out of employment, with all the attendant suffering to women and
children. The village was a power nobody could boycott. Moreover, the
law protected her in her rights under the award. She would therefore
quietly wait until the day for signing the papers arrived, furnish her
bond, and begin a work she could superintend herself. In the meantime
she would continue her preparations. One thing she was resolved
upon--she would have nothing to do with the Union. Carl could lay his
hand on a dozen of his countrymen who would be glad to get employment
with her. If they were all like him she need have no fear in any
emergency.

She bought two horses--great strong ones,--at the trolley sale, and
ordered two new carts from a manufacturer in Newark, to be sent to her
on the first of the coming month.

Her friends took her good fortune less calmly. Their genuine
satisfaction expressed itself in a variety of ways. Crane sent her this
characteristic telegram:--

"Bully for you!"

Babcock came all the way down to her home to offer her his
congratulations, and to tender her what assistance she needed in tools
or money.

The Union, in their deliberations, insisted that it was the "raised bid"
which had ruined the business with McGaw and for them. It was therefore
McGaw's duty to spare no effort to prevent her signing the contract.
They had stuck by him in times gone by; he must now stick by them. One
point was positively insisted upon: Union men must be employed on the
work, whoever got it.

McGaw, however, was desperate. He denounced Tom in a vocabulary peculiar
to himself and full of innuendoes and oaths, but without offering any
suggestion as to how his threats against her might be carried out.

With his usual slyness, Quigg said very little openly. He had not yet
despaired of winning Jennie's favor, and until that hope was abandoned
he could hardly make up his mind which side of the fence he was on.
Crimmins was even more indifferent in regard to the outcome--his pay as
walking delegate went on, whichever side won; he could wait.

In this emergency McGaw again sought Crimmins's assistance. He urged the
importance of his getting the contract, and he promised to make Cri