hugh o'hara was in middle life. he was of scotch descent, and, in his younger days, had received a fair education. even now he spent much time over his books. he talked well, and was not without a certain grace of manner founded, no doubt, on his knowledge of human nature, which gave him great influence with others. it was this, as much as his skill, that made him the leading foreman at a time when a score of others had the right by seniority of service to the place.
but hugh had dipped into the springs of learning just enough to have his ideas of right and wrong turned awry and to form a distaste for his lot that made his leadership dangerous. besides, he had met with sorrows that deepened the shadows that lay across his pathway. in that little cabin he had seen a young wife close her eyes in death, and his only child, a sweet girl of five years, not long afterward was laid beside her mother. many said that hugh buried his heart with jennie and had not been the same man since. he was reserved, except to one or two intimate friends. shaggy, beetle-browed and unshaven, his looks were anything but pleasing to those who did not fully know him.
tom hansell was much the same kind of man, except that he lacked the book education of his companion and leader. he had strong impulses, and was ready to go to an extreme length in whatever direction he started, but he always needed a guiding spirit, and that he found in hugh o'hara.
the latter, after burying his child, moved into the village, saying that he never wanted to look again upon the cabin that had brought so much sorrow to him. most people believed he could not be led to go near it, and yet on this blustery night he and tom hansell were seated in the structure without any companions except the well known hound nero, and were smoking their pipes and plotting mischief.
hugh and tom were in their working clothes—coarse trousers, shirts, and heavy shoes, without vest or coat. their flabby caps lay on the floor behind them, and their tousled hair hung over their foreheads almost to their eyes. tom had no side whiskers, but a heavy mustache and chin whiskers, while the face of hugh was covered with a spiky black beard that stood out from his face as if each hair was charged with electricity.
nero, the hound, raised his nose from between his paws and looked up at the visitor. then, as if satisfied, he lowered his head and resumed his nap.
bradley, as i have said, was angry with himself for walking into such a trap. it was not fear, but a deep dislike of the man who was the head and front of the trouble at the mills. he was the spokesman and leader of the strikers, and he was the real cause of the stoppage of the works. harvey looked upon him as insolent and brutal, and he was sure that no circumstances could arise that would permit him to do a stroke of work in the rollo mills again.
"good evening," said harvey stiffly, "i did not expect to find you here."
hansell nodded in reply to the salutation, but hugh simply motioned with the hand that held the pipe toward a low stool standing near the middle of the apartment.
"help yourself to a seat, mr. bradley; the presence of tom and myself here is no odder than is your own."
"i suppose not," replied harvey with a half-laugh, as he seated himself; "i started out for a walk to-day and went too far—that is, so far that i lost my way. i had about made up my mind that i would have to sleep in the woods, when i caught the light from your window and made for it."
the glance that passed between hugh and tom—sly as it was—did not elude the eye of harvey bradley. he saw that his explanation was not believed, but he did not care; there was no love between him and them, and, had it not looked as if he held them in fear, he would have turned and walked away after stepping across the threshold. as it was, he meant to withdraw as soon as he could do it without seeming to be afraid.
"is this the first time you have taken a walk up this way?" asked hugh.
"the fact that i lost my way ought to answer that question; how far is it, please, to bardstown?"
"an even mile by the path you came."
"but i didn't come by any path, except for a short distance in front of this place."
"then how did you get here?"
"is there no way of traveling through the woods except by the road that leads to your door?"
the conversation was between harvey and hugh alone. tom was abashed in the presence of two such persons, and nothing could have led him to open his mouth unless appealed to by one or the other. neither made any allusion to the strike. after the superintendent's rebuff, hugh scorned to do so, while harvey would have stultified himself had he invited any discussion. the repugnance between the two men was too strong for them calmly to debate any question. besides hugh and tom were suspicious; they did not believe that the presence of the superintendent was accidental; there was a sinister meaning in it which boded ill for hugh and his friends, and the former, therefore, was in a vicious mood.
with the conditions named, a wrangle may be set down as one of the certainties. but harvey bradley had defied the fury of half a hundred men, and he meant to teach this marplot his proper place. there was a threatening gleam in his eye, but he puffed a few seconds at his pipe, and then, glaring through the rank smoke that curled upward from his face said:
"there are a good many ways by which hugh o'hara's cabin can be found, but those who come on honest errands stick to the path."
"which explains why the path is so little worn," was the reply of harvey.
"aye, and your feet have done mighty little to help the wearing of the same."
"if those who live in the cabin were honest themselves, they would not tremble every time the latch-string is pulled, nor would they be scared if they saw a visitor stop to snuff the air in this neighborhood."
this was an ill-timed remark, and harvey regretted the words the moment they passed his lips. he saw hugh and tom glance at each other; but the words, having been spoken, could not be recalled, nor did the superintendent make any attempt to modify them. before the others could answer, he added:
"i have heard it said that hugh o'hara held this place in such strong disfavor that nothing could lead him to spend a night here, yet he smokes his pipe and plots mischief as if the cabin is the one place in the world with which he is content."
these words were not soothing in their effect, nor did the speaker mean that they should be. hugh was insolent, and the superintendent resented it.
the only proof of the rising anger in the breast of o'hara was the vigorous puffing of his pipe. tom, as i have said, was too awed to say anything at all.
"i am of age and free born," growled hugh, looking into the glowing embers and speaking as if to himself; "where i go and what i do concerns no one but myself."
"not so long as you go to the proper place and do only what is right," said harvey, who, sitting back a few feet from the fire, looked calmly at the fellow whose rough profile was outlined against the fiery background behind him.
"men interpret right according to their own ideas, and they seldom agree, but most people will pronounce that person the worst sort of knave who robs poor men of what they earn and looks upon them as he looks upon the beasts of the field—worth only the amount of money they bring to him."
