ally being told that they are
about to be dismissed. The wrong's not all on one side, by any means. To
my mind, men like McGinnis who are unwilling to negotiate are a menace
to the country."

"You are quite right, Adrien," replied Hugh. "I consider him a most
dangerous man. That sort of pig-headed, bull-headed employer of labour
does more to promote strife than a dozen 'walking delegates.' I am not
terribly strong for the unions, but the point of vantage is always with
the employers. And they have a lot to learn. Oh, you may look at me,
Adrien! I am no bolshevist, but I see a lot of these men in our office."

CHAPTER XV

THE STORM

Slowly the evening was deepening into night, but still the glow from the
setting sun lingered in the western sky. The brave little songster had
gone from the top of the elm tree, but from the shrubbery behind the
church a whippoorwill was beginning to tune his pipe.

"Oh, listen to the darling!" cried Patricia. "I haven't heard one for a
long, long time."

"There used to be a great many in the shrubbery here, and in the old
days the woods nearby were full of them in the evenings," said Mrs.
Templeton.

As they sat listening for the whippoorwill's voice, they became aware of
other sounds floating up to their ears from the town. The hum of passing
motors, the high, shrill laughter of children playing in the streets,
the clang of the locomotive bell from the railroad station, all softened
by distance. But as they listened there came another sound like nothing
they had ever heard in that place before. A strange, confused rumbling,
with cries jutting out through the dull, rolling noise. A little later
came the faint clash of rhythmic, tumultuous cheering. Patricia's quick
ears were the first to catch the sound.

"Hush!" she cried. "What is that noise?"

Again came the rumbling sound, punctuated with quick volleys of
cheering. The men glanced at each other. They knew well that sound, a
sound they had often heard during the stirring days of the war, in the
streets of the great cities across the seas, and in other places, too,
where men were wont to crowd. As they listened in tense silence, there
came the throbbing of a drum.

"My dear," said Mrs. Templeton faintly to her eldest daughter, "I think
I shall go in."

At once Hugh offered her his arm, while Adrien took the other, and
together they led her slowly into the house.

Meanwhile the others tumbled into Rupert's car and mot