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WITH the reëntry of Nessie Sutton into his life, the boyhood of Abner Teeftallow, one might say, ended. Thereafter, the texture of his thoughts was no longer the Pan-like dallying over the mere surface of things which constitute childhood. The girl brought a certain unity to his mental life. Take, for example, the smallish man who had grumbled to Abner on the night of the crap game about the injustice of the rich toward the poor. This man proved to be a labour organizer, and a few days later returned to his logical attack. He declared that Railroad Jones was oppressing the men on his construction works by not paying them a living wage.

Abner stared at Mr. Shallburger and drawled naïvely, "If anybody ain't gittin' a square deal, why don't he quit?"

"Quit!" snapped the organizer. "Labourers can't quit work; men of wealth own all the instruments of production; besides, it's the human right of these men to have a living wage."

This struck Abner as nonsense. He said he guessed the men must be getting a living wage—didn't see anybody dying.

Shallburger looked at Abner clearly, pondering whether or not to answer such a lump. Finally he did speak, slowly, as if teaching the alphabet to an infant:

"A living wage doesn't mean merely food and clothing for a man. It means enough to rear a family, to educate them so that they in turn can go on with life"—here a little enthusiasm warmed his voice. "Suppose all workers made just enough for their individual selves; then, so far as they were concerned, creation would come to an end when they