as to begin work in
the factory the next morning, did not expect his trunk until tomorrow
or the day after. So Spiele had to fetch a pair of old trousers
and a coat and working-shirt of "the long one," which she did with
ever-laughing eyes. In order to avoid all misunderstandings, Pratteler
at once declared that he hated all emperors and kings, because they
were parasites who sucked dry the German people and were responsible
for its poverty and stupidity. They should be smoked out in order to
make way for the state of the future, which would establish conditions
more worthy of human society. If things had gone right, those
conditions might already exist, for after all labor is in the majority;
but the leaders and representatives put the workingmen's money into
their pockets and cared not for the shrunken stomachs when they were
sitting among the fat ones. Reichstag was nothing but a club of
heavy-weights. All were eager to have the ministers tickle them under
the arms; that meant some service to be rendered, and this again
brought marks of honor and perhaps a decoration. Everything was humbug.
Workingmen should help themselves and throw out all that reactionary
mob, army, clergy and aristocracy; otherwise there could be no change
for the better.

Spiele looked frequently at the long one to watch his expression while
the savage Swiss was emptying before him his social carry-all.
Hoeflinger said so little that the young man suspected him of being at
heart a bourgeois, of having fallen away from the labor cause after he
had earned his house and garden. Hoeflinger noticed that his wife was
secretly laughing, and, as he knew that she was sometimes opposed to
his well-planned tactics, he let her enjoy the diversion. The more
firmly a man is standing on his feet, the more indifferently will he
look at the antics of others. Besides, he knew exactly who had
furnished her the premises upon which she was now basing her amused
opposition to him.

Early in the morning the two workingmen rode together to the iron-works
spreading out at the opening of a ravine about an hour from Hoeflinger's
house. Pratteler wore "the long one's" trousers and coat. He had to
turn back the sleeves in order to use his hands and the trouser-legs
rested in many folds upon his open sandals. Under the blue shirt collar
he had again his red tie, so people might see at once what he stood
for. He pedaled with full force and frequently had to slacken his spee