what
do you say to my scheme, Dad?"

"Well, boy," said his father, beginning to laugh again, "give me a night
to think it over."

Then Jack departed, not quite sure of himself or of the plan which
appeared to give his father such intense amusement. "At any rate," he
said to himself as he walked out of the office, "if it is a joke it is
a good one. And it has given the governor a better laugh than he has had
for five years."

The Mayor of Blackwater was peculiarly sensitive to public opinion and
acutely susceptible of public approval. In addition, he was possessed
of a somewhat exalted idea of his powers as the administrator in public
affairs, and more particularly as a mediator in times of strife. He had
been singularly happy in his mediation between the conflicting elements
in his Council, and more than once he had been successful in the
composing of disputes in arbitration cases submitted to his judgment.
Moreover, he had an eye to a second term in the mayor's chair, which
gubernatorial and majestical office gave full scope to the ruling
ambition of his life, which was, in his own words, "to guard the
interests and promote the well-being of my people."

The industrial strike appeared to furnish him with an opportunity to
gratify this ambition. He resolved to put an end to this unnecessary and
wasteful struggle, and to that end he summoned to a public meeting his
fellow citizens of all classes, at which he invited each party in the
industrial strife to make a statement of their case, in the hope that a
fair and reasonable settlement might be effected.

The employers were more than dubious of the issue, having but a small
idea of the mayor's power of control and less of his common-sense.
Brother Simmons, however, foreseeing a magnificent field for the display
of his forensic ability, a thing greatly desired by labour leaders
of his kidney, joyfully welcomed the proposal. McNish gave hesitating
assent, but, relying upon his experience in the management of public
assemblies and confident of his ability to shape events to his own
advantage, he finally agreed to accept the invitation.

The public meeting packed the City Hall, with representatives of both
parties in the controversy in about equal numbers and with a great body
of citizens more or less keenly interested in the issue of the meeting
and expectant of a certain amount of "fun." The Mayor's opening speech
was thoroughly characteristic. He was impressed with