l and John. "He ain't any too
strong yet. He came up here for his health."

He was obeyed in this respect, for there was no gain-saying the wishes
of a foreman, but this open plea for consideration was the one thing if
any which could have weakened Eugene's popularity. The men did not like
the foreman. He would have been stronger at any time in the affections
of the men if the foreman had been less markedly considerate or against
him entirely.

******

The days which followed were restful enough though hard, for Eugene
found that the constant whirl of work which went on here, and of which
he had naturally to do his share, was beneficial to him. For the first
time in several years he slept soundly. He would don his suit of blue
overalls and jumper in the morning a few minutes before the whistle blew
at seven and from then on until noon, and from one o'clock until six he
would carry shavings, pile lumber for one or several of the men in the
yard, load or unload cars, help Big John stoke his boilers, or carry
chips and shavings from the second floor. He wore an old hat which he
had found in a closet at Mrs. Hibberdell's, a faded, crumpled memory of
a soft tan-colored sombrero which he punched jauntily to a peak and wore
over one ear. He had big new yellow gloves which he kept on his hands
all day, which were creased and frayed, but plenty good enough for this
shop and yard. He learned to handle lumber nicely, to pile with skill,
to "take" for Malachi Dempsey from the plane, to drive the jig-saw, and
other curious bits. He was tireless in his energy because he was weary
of thinking and hoped by sheer activity to beat down and overcome his
notion of artistic inability--to forget that he believed that he
couldn't paint and so be able to paint again. He had surprised himself
in these sketches he had made, for his first feeling under the old
regime would have been that he could not make them. Here, because the
men were so eager and he was so much applauded, he found it rather easy
and, strange to say, he thought they were good.

At the home of Mrs. Hibberdell at night he would lay off all his working
clothes before dinner, take a cold bath and don a new brown suit, which
because of the assurance of this position he had bought for eighteen
dollars, ready made. He found it hard to get off to buy anything, for
his pay ceased (fifteen cents an hour) the moment he left the shop. He
had put his pictures in storage in New York and