When he was taken from beneath the wheels, his neck broken and his body
smashed, Black Jock had paid the last penalty, and the eyes which
destroyed him flashed out accompaniment to his departing soul. And the
winking skies, still merry with the stars of night, looked down unmoved,
while the night-birds on the moor answered one another in their flight,
and called a last farewell to the spirit of Black Jock.
CHAPTER XX
THE CONFERENCE
The storm which had been brewing in the industrial firmament grew more
threatening and the clouds grew blacker until it seemed as if nothing
could prevent a commotion on a big scale.
The demand for a fuller life and more security was being made by the
miners all over the country. Organization was proceeding apace, and a
new idea was being glimpsed by the younger men especially, which filled
their hearts and fired their imagination.
"Do you think the time has come now, Bob?" asked Robert Sinclair,
speaking to Smillie one day, as they proceeded by rail to a conference
together, "when the whole Federation can try its power in a demand for
something real?"
"What do you mean by something real, Robert?" asked Smillie, with a keen
look at the young, eager face turned towards him.
Pages:
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317