"
Farnham glanced at Alice. Her eyes were fixed upon the ground; her
fingers were tightly clasped. She was wishing with all her energy that
he would stay, waiting to catch his first word of assent, but unable to
utter a syllable.
"Alice," said Mrs. Belding rather sharply, "I think Arthur does not
regard my invitation as quite sufficient. Will you give it your
approval?"
Alice raised her face at these words and looked up at Farnham. It was a
beautiful face at all times, and now it was rosy with confusion, and
the eyes were timid but kind. She said with lips that trembled a
little: "I should be very glad to have Captain Farnham stay to dinner."
She had waited too long, and the words were a little too formal, and
Arthur excused himself on the plea of having to look out for his
cohort, and went home to a lonely dinner.
XVI.
OFFITT DIGS A PIT.
A week had passed by; the great strike was already almost forgotten. A
few poor workmen had lost their places. A few agitators had been
dismissed for excellent reasons, having no relation with the strike.
The mayor had recovered from his panic, and was beginning to work for a
renomination, on the strength of his masterly dealing with the labor
difficulties, in which, as he handsomely said in a circular composed by
himself and signed by his friends, he "nobly accomplished the duty
allotted him of preserving the rights of property while respecting the
rights of the people, of keeping the peace according to his oath, and
keeping faith with the masses, to which he belonged, in their struggle
against monopoly.
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