er to the speaker, threw bold glances at
him, and spoke in his deep chest-tone, "A little more manners, if you
please. You don't seem to know how to behave."

Some of the men laughed. The driver answered, still good-humoredly,
"Look out for yourself, manufacturer! If you don't shut up, you may get
more than you bargain for."

"I don't have to," said Huerlin with emphatic dignity, once more egged
on by a nudge from the sailmaker; "I belong here just as much as you
do, and have got as good a right to talk as the next man. So now you
know!"

The driver, who had just paid for a round of drinks at his table and so
felt entitled to take the leading position, got up and came over, tired
of the altercation. "Go back to the poorhouse, where you belong!" he
said to Huerlin; then he took him, shrinking in alarm, by the collar,
dragged him over to the door, and helped him through it with a kick.
The others laughed, and were of the opinion that it served the
disturber right. The little incident was closed, and they resumed their
important discussion with oaths and shouts.

The sailmaker was happy. He persuaded Finkenbein to order one more
little drink, and, recognizing the value of this new associate, he bent
all his endeavors to establish friendly relations with him, to which
Finkenbein yielded with a quiet smile. He had once undertaken to beg
where Huerlin was already at work on the same line, and had been
forcibly warned off by him. In spite of this, he bore no grudge against
him, and declined to join in the abuse which the sailmaker now poured
out upon the absent man. He was better adapted than these who had sunk
from happier circumstances to take the world as it came and to tolerate
people's little peculiarities.

"That's enough, sailmaker," he said protestingly. "Huerlin's a fool, of
course, but by long odds not the worst in the world. I'm glad we've got
him to play the fool with up there."

Heller accepted the correction and hastened to adapt himself to this
conciliatory tone. It was now time to leave, so they moved along and
got home just in time for supper. The table, with five people sitting
at it, had now an imposing appearance. At the head sat the weaver; then
on one side came the red-cheeked Holdria next to the thin, decayed and
miserable-looking Huerlin. Opposite them sat the cunning sailmaker with
his scanty hair, and the merry, bright-eyed Finkenbein. The latter
entertained the manager successfully and kept hi