v4 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
were not settled by Tuesday night. It seemed 
that I had not moved a day too soon. On Mon- 
day thirty-seven carpenters applied at my office. 
Most of them had union tickets and were not 
considered. Thirteen, however, were not of the 
union, and they were investigated. I hired seven 
on these conditions: wages to begin the next 
day, Tuesday, and to continue through the week, 
work or no work. If the strike was ordered, I 
would take the men to the country and give 
them steady work until my jobs were finished. 
They agreed to these conditions, and were re- 
quested to report at my office on Wednesday 
morning to receive two days’ pay, and perhaps 
to be set to work. 
I did not go to the farm until Tuesday after- 
noon. There was no change in the strike, and 
no reason to expect one. The noon papers said 
that the Carpenters’ Union would declare a sym- 
pathetic strike to be on from Wednesday noon. 
On reaching Four Oaks I called Nelson aside and 
told him how the land lay and what I had done. 
«“T want you to call the men together,” said I, 
“and let me talk to them. I must know just 
how we stand and how they feel.” 
Nelson called the men, and I read the reports 
from two papers on the impending strike order. 
“Now, men,” said I, “we must look this 
matter in the face in a businesslike fashion. 
You have done good work here; your boss is 
satisfied, and so am I. It would suit us down 
