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AgainSimmonstookthefloor。“AsIwassayin’，Mr。Mayor——“
Criesof“Order！Order！Sitdown！“
“——Mr。Mayor，IbelieveI’avethefloor？“
“Yes，youhave。Goon。Butyoumustnotinsult。“
“(H)Insult？DidI(h)insultanybody？Idon’tknowwhatMr。McGinnismadefrom’isshells。Ionlysaidthatif——you(h)understand——if’emademorethaneoughtto，’eisarobber。Andsincethepriceofourfreedomwaspaidinblood，if’emademorethanwasfair，’e’sabloodrobber。“
Againthecriesarose。“Throwhimout！“Oncemorethemayorrose。
“Youmustnotmakeinsinuations，sir，“hecriedangrily。“Youmustnotmakeinsinuationsagainstrespectablecitizens。“
“(H)Insinooations，“criedSimmons。“No，sir，Inevermakeno(h)insinooations。IfIknewthat(h)anyman’ere’admade(h)unfairprofitsIwouldn’tmakeno(h)insinooations。Iwouldcharge’imright’erewithbloodrobbery。Andletmesay，“shoutedSimmons，takingastepintotheaisle，“thatthetimemaycomewhentheworkingmenofthiscountrywillmakethesecharges，andwill(h)askthepeoplewhokeptthe’’omefiresburning’——“
Yellsofderisivelaughter。
“——whatprofitscametothemfromthesesame’omefires。Thepeoplewill(h)askforan(h)explanationofthesebankaccounts，ofthesenewfactories，ofthesebigstores，ofthese(h)autermobiles。
Thepeoplethatwenttothewarandwere(h)unfortoonateenoughtoreturncamebacktopoverty，whilemanyofthese’ere’omefireburnerscame(h)outwithfortunes。“AtthispointbrotherSimmonscastafierceandbalefuleyeuponagroupoftheemployerswhosatsilentandwrathfulbeforehim。“Andnow，whatIsay，“continuedBrotherSimmons——
Atthispointaquietvoicewasheard。
“Mr。Mayor，Irisetoapointoforder。“
ImmediatelySimmonstookhisseat。
“Mr。Farrington，“saidthemayor，recognisingoneofthelargestbuildingcontractorsinthetown。
“Mr。Mayor，Ishouldliketoaskwhatarewediscussingthisafternoon？ArewediscussingthewarrecordsofthecitizensofBlackwater？Ifso，thatisnotwhatIcamefor。Itmaybeinterestingtofindoutwhateachmandidinthewar。Ifindthatthosewhodidmostsayleast。Idon’tknowwhatMr。Simmonsdidinthewar。Isupposehewasthere。“
WithonespringSimmonswasonhisfeetandintheaisle。Herippedoffcoatandvest，pulledhisshirtoverhisheadandrevealedabackcoveredwiththenetworkofghastlyscars。“Thegentleman(h)asks，“hepanted，“whatIdoneinthewar。Idon’tknow。IcannotsaywhatIdoneinthewar，butthatiswhatthewardonetome。“Theeffectwaspositivelyoverwhelming。
Adeadlysilencegrippedtheaudienceforasinglemoment。Thenuponeveryhandrosefierceyells，oathsandstrangecries。AbovetheuproarcameFarrington’sboomingvoice。Leavinghisseat，whichwasnearthebackofthehall，hecameforward，cryingout:
“Mr。Mayor！Mr。Mayor！Idemandattention！“AshereachedSimmons’sside，hepausedand，facingabout，helookeduponthearrayoffacespaleandtensewithpassion。“Iwanttoapologisetothisgentleman，“hesaidinavoicebreakingwithemotion。“I
shouldnothavesaidwhatIdid。ThemanwhobearsthesescarsisamanIamproudtoknow。“HeturnedswiftlytowardSimmonswithoutstretchedhand。“Iamproudtoknowyou，sir。Icouldnotgotothewar。Iwaspastage。Isentmytwoboys。Theyareovertherestill。“Asthetwomenshookhands，foronceinhislifeSimmonswasspeechless。Hisfacewassuffusedwithuncontrollablefeeling。Oneverysidewereseenmen，strongmen，withtearsstreamingdowntheirfaces。Anoblerspiritseemedtofalluponthemall。Inthesilencethatfollowed，Mr。Maitlandrose。
“Mr。Mayor，“hesaidquietly，“wehaveallsufferedtogetherinthiswar。I，forone，wanttodothefairthingbyourmen。Letusmeetthemandtalkthingsoverbeforeanyfair-mindedcommittee。
Surelywewhohavesufferedtogetherinwarcanworktogetherinpeace。“Itwasanobleappeal，andmetwithanobleresponse。Onallsidesandfromallpartiesastormofcheersbrokeforth。
ThentheReverendMurdoMathesonrosetohisfeet。“Mr。Mayor，“hesaid，“IconfessIwasnothopefuloftheresultofthismeeting。
ButIamsureweallrecognisethepresenceandinfluenceofamightierSpiritthanours。FromtheoutsetIhavebeenconvincedthattheproblemsintheindustrialsituationherearenotbeyondsolution，andshouldyieldtofairandr
