streperously conscious of their own rights,
and so proud of their skill as masons, that there was no living with
them. Really, they would have tried the patience of a saint, let alone a
healthy, contentious Irish foreman-mason. "First off," as the railroad
men used to say, they wanted to know whether there were any non-union
men on the job, and if so, would they be discharged instanter?--if not,
no work--a situation which gave Rourke several splendid opportunities
for altercations, which he hastened to improve, although the non-union
men _went_, of course. Then they wanted to know when, where, and how
they were to get their money, whether on demand at any time they chose,
and this led to more trouble, since the railroad paid only once a month.
However, this was adjusted by a special arrangement being made whereby
the building department stood ready to pay them instantly on demand,
only I had to run down to the division office each time and get their
pay for them at any time that they came to ask for it! Then came an
argument (or many of them) as to the number of bricks they were to lay
an hour; the number of men they were to carry on one line, or wall; the
length of time they were supposed to work, or had worked, or would
work--all of which was pure food and drink to Rourke. He was in his
element at last, shouting, gesticulating, demanding that they leave or
go to ----. After all these things had been adjusted, however, they
finally consented to go to work, and then of course the work flew. It
was a grand scene, really inspiring--forty or fifty masons on the line,
perhaps half as many helpers or mixers, the Italians carrying bricks,
and a score of carpenters now arriving under another foreman to set the
beams and lay the joists as the walls rose upward.

Rourke was about all the time now, arguing and gesticulating with this
man or that, fighting with this one or the other, and calling always to
some mason or other to "come down" and get his "time." "Come down! Come
down!" I would hear, and then would see him rushing for the office, a
defiant and even threatening mason at his heels; Rourke demanding that
I make out a time-check at once for the latter and go down to the
"ahffice" and get the money, the while the mason hung about attempting
to seduce other men to a similar point of view. Once in a while, but
only on rare occasions, Rourke would patch up a truce with a man. As a
rule, the mason was only too eager to leave an