"But I heard it for
a fact, and that a guid wheen o' men doon the country hae gaen back to
their work through it. An' yet, mind ye, Smillie seemed to me to be a
straight-forret man an' yin that was sincere. Still, ye can never tell;
an' twa-three hunner pound's a big temptation to a man."

"Ay," said Tam dryly, "we hae been diddled sae often wi' bigmoothed men
on the make, that it mak's a body ay suspicious when yin hears thae
stories. I heard Wiston, the coal-maister, had gien him five hunner
pounds on the quiet."

"I heard that too," replied Matthew, "but, like you, I'm loth to think
it o' Smillie. I'd believe it quicker aboot yon ither chiel, Charlie
Rogerson. He comes oot to speak to us ay dressed in a black dress-suit,
wi' white cuffs doon to his finger nebs, his gold ring, his lum hat, an'
a' his fal-de-lals."

"Weel, I dinna believe a word o' this story aboot Bob," said Robert
quietly, who had "hunkered" down beside the two men who sat so earnestly
discussing matters while the others went on with their games and
dancing.

"Do ye no', Rob?" said Tam.

"No, I do not," was the firm reply, "for nae matter what happens in a
fight, it's ay the opeenion o' some folk that the men ha'e been sell't."

Robert, though young, took a keen interest in the fight. While other
lads of his age looked upon it as a fine holiday, the heavy
responsibilities he had to face gave him a different outlook, and so the
men seemed to recognize that he was different from the other boys, and
more sober in his view-point.

"This story is set aboot for the purpose o' breakin' oup the men," he
continued. "We hear o' Smillie haein hale rows o' cottages bought, an' a
lot ither rubbish, but I wouldna believe it. It's a' to get the men to
gang back to their work; an' if they do that, it'll no' only break the
strike, but it'll break up the union, an' that's what's wanted mair than
anything else. I've heard Smillie an' my faither talkin' aboot a' thae
things lang syne, an' Smillie says that's what the stories are set aboot
for. We should ha'e sense enough no' to heed them, for I dinna think
Smillie has sell't us at a'."

There was a fine, firm ring in the boy's voice as he spoke which moved
the two older men, and made them feel a little ashamed that they had
been so ready to doubt.

"Ah, weel, Rob," said Tam, "maybe you are richt, but a lot o' men ha'e
gaen back to their work already, an' it'll break up the strike if it
spreads. But we'll ha'