s,
Norwegians, Swedes and Danes. About fifty per cent. of them were foreign
born. The rest of them were American born. A good many of the German
born had not taken out first citizenship papers, but the Norwegians and
Swedes had done so, so had the Danes. Enough of them had a certain
amount of pride in their work to make the factory an interesting and
profitable place for a boy to serve his first apprenticeship in.
Practically all married men in the factory wanted to settle permanently
in Eagle's Wing and send their children through the town's splendid
schools. A majority of them planned to send their sons through the State
University.

John Moore had a good eye for men. He had built up an apparently solid
and permanent organization. Yet for all his keen eye, the more
successful he became, and the larger his business, the more incapable he
grew of winning his men's liking. He had worked unbelievably hard from
his boyhood up. He had given himself to his work without stint. He had
no sympathy with any of his employees who would do less. His wage, as a
mechanic, had never exceeded two seventy-five a day. He bitterly
resented any man's wanting more.

Moore was the entire brains of his factory. He was his own manager, his
own superintendent, his own purchasing and sales agent--a man of
splendid mind, hidebound by the egotism and prejudices of the self-made
man. At fifty, he was going at his highest speed, every nerve taut,
ready to break at the least disturbance of the load.

Roger admired his father with a blind idolatry that was quite foreign to
his ordinary mental attitude. He was naturally critical of men and
things. To be a forge boy in his father's factory was to Roger to be
touching the skirts of real greatness.

"Father," he said one night at supper, "I had a row with Ole Oleson
to-day."

"Which Ole Oleson?" asked his father. "There are nine of them in the
factory."

"The second forge foreman. His girl Olga is in my grade at school."

His father nodded. "What was the row about? As I warned you, Rog, if I
catch you with the lid off that temper of yours, I'll treat you exactly
as I would any other employee."

"But you didn't catch me, this time!" Roger grinned. He had fine white
teeth and his eyes were still the wonderful sky blue of his childhood.
"Ole said you were as hard as one of the plowshares and that some day
the men would soften you like they take temper out of steel and that
then you'd never be any