all his frivoling with the elder Adams, Nathan could see by
the way the loose, wrinkled skin on the Doctor's face kept twitching
when Grant spoke, that the old man had something on his mind.

"Grant," cried the Doctor, in his excited treble, "do you realize what
an ornate, unnecessary, unmitigated conspicuous, and elaborate jack
you've made of yourself? Do you--young man? Well, you have. Your
revolution--your revolution!" shrilled the old man. "Damn sight of
revolution you'll kick up charging over the country with your water-tank
patriots--your--your box-car statesmen--now, won't you?"

"Here--Doctor,--come--be--"

But the Doctor would not let Grant talk. The chirrup of the shrill old
voice bore in upon the younger man's protest with, "Now, you let me say
my say. The world's moving along--moving pretty fast and generally to
one end, and that end is to put food in the bellies, clothes on the
back, and brains in the head of the working man. The whole trend of
legislation all over the world has gone that way. Hell's afire,
Grant--what more do you want? We've given you the inheritance tax and
the income tax and direct legislation to manipulate it, and, by Ned,
instead of staying with the game and helping us work these things out in
wise administration, you fly the coop, and go squawking over the country
with your revolution and leave me--damn it, Grant," piped the little,
high voice, sputtering with rage, "you leave me--with my linen pants on
a clothes-line four miles from home!"

Then slowly the little lines began to break in his loose skin. A faint
smile, then a grin and then a laugh, spread over the old face, and he
wiped his watering eyes as he shook his head mournfully.

Grant was gathering himself to reply when Nate Perry rasped in with his
high-keyed Yankee voice: "I guess that about covers my views, Grant--if
any one should ask you."

The crusader rose in Grant: "It's you men who have no sense," he cried.
"You think because I declare war on the profit system that I propose to
sail out and overturn it with a few bombs over night. Look here, men;
what I propose to do is to demonstrate right here in the Wahoo Valley,
where there are all sorts of laboring people, skilled, unskilled,
continuous, overpaid and underpaid, foreign and American--utterly
unlike, incoherent, racially and industrially--that they have in them
capacities for organizing; unused abilities, untried talents that will
make them worthy to take a