The Black Opal Katharine Susannah Prichard (best free novels txt) đ
- Author: Katharine Susannah Prichard
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âDisadvantages!â the same voice called.
ââ âComforts and conveniences of civilisation are goinâ to mean to the women and children of this Godforsaken hole,â MâGinnis cried furiously. âIf I had a wife and kids, dâye think Iâd have any time for this highfalutinâ flap-doodle of yours about bread and fat? Not much. The best in the country wouldnât be too good for themâ âand itâs not good enough for the women and children of Fallen Star. Thatâs what Iâve got to sayâ âand thatâs what any decent man would say if he could see straight. Iâm an ordinary, plain, practical man myselfâ ââ ⊠and I ask you chaps whoâve been lettinâ your legs be pulled pretty freelyâ âand starvinâ to be masters of your own dumpsâ âto look at this business like ordinary, plain, practical men, whoâve got their heads screwed on the right way, and not throw away the chance of a lifetime to make Fallen Star the sort of township it ought to be. If thereâs some men here want to starve to be masters of their own dumps, let âem, I say: itâs a free country. But thereâs no need for the rest of us to starve with âem.â
He sat down, and again it seemed that the pendulum had swung in favour of Armitage and his scheme.
âWhatâs Michael got to say about it?â a man from the Three Mile asked. And several voices called: âYes; whatâs Michael got to say?â
For a moment there was silenceâ âa silence of apprehension. George Woods and the men who knew, or had been disturbed by the stories they had heard of a secret treaty between Michael and John Armitage, recognised in that moment the power of Michaelâs influence; that what Michael was going to say would sway the men of the Ridge as it had always done, either for or against the standing order of life on the Ridge on which they had staked so much. His mates could not doubt Michael, and yet there was fear in the waiting silence.
Those who had heard Michael was not the man they thought he was, waited anxiously for his movement, the sound of his voice. Charley Heathfield waited, crouched in a corner near the platform, where everyone could see him, Rouminof beside him. They were standing there together as if there was not room for them in the body of the hall, and their eyes were fixed on the place where Michael satâ âCharleyâs eager and cruel as a catâs on its victim, Rouminofâs alight with the fires of his consuming excitement.
Then Michael got up from his seat, took off his hat; and his glance, those deep-set eyes of his, travelled the hall, skimming the heads and faces of the men in it, with their faint, whimsical smile.
âAll Iâve got to say,â he said, âGeorge Woods has said. Thereâs nothing in Mr. Armitageâs scheme for Fallen Star.â ââ ⊠It looks all right, but it isnât; itâs all wrong. The thing this place has stood for is ownership of the mines by the men who work them. Mr. Armitageâll give us anything but thatâ âhe offers us every inducement but thatâ ââ ⊠and you know how the thing worked out on the Cliffs. If the mines are worth so much to him, theyâre worth as much, or more, to us.
âBoiled down, all the scheme amounts to is an offer to buy up the minesâ âat a âfair valuationââ âput us on wages and an eight-hour day. All the rest, about making a flourishing and, up-to-date town of Fallen Star, might or mightnât come true. Pâraps it would. I canât say. All I say is, itâs being used to gild the pill weâre asked to swallowâ âbuyinâ up of the mines. Thereâs nothing sure about all this talk of electricity and water laid on; itâs just gilding. And supposing the new conditions did put more money aboutâ âdid bring the comforts and conveniences of civilisation to Fallen Starâ âlike MâGinnis saysâ âwhat good would they be to the people, women and children, too, if the men sold themselves like a team of bullocks to work the mines? It wouldnât matter to them any more whether they brought up knobbies or mullock; theyâd have their wagesâ âlike bullocks have their hay. Itâs because our workâs had interest; itâs because weâve been our own bosses, lifeâs been as good as it has on Fallen Star all these years. If a man hasnât got interest in his work heâs got to get it somewhere. How did we get it on the Cliffs when the mines were bought up? Drinking and gamblingâ ââ ⊠and how did that work out for the women and children? But it was stone silly of MâGinnis to talk of women and children here. We know that old hitting-below-the-belt gag of sweating employers too well to be taken in by it. By and by, if you took on the Armitage scheme, and there was a strike in the mines, heâd be saying that to you: âRemember the women and children.âââ
Colour flamed in Michaelâs face, and he continued with more heat than there had yet been in his voice.
âThe timeâs coming when the man who talks âwomen and childrenâ to defeat their own interests will be treated like the skunkâ âthe low-down, thieving swine he is. Do we say anythingâs too good for our women and children? Not much. But we want to give them real thingsâ âthe real things of life and happinessâ ânot only flashy clothes and fixings. If we give our women and children the mines as weâve held them, and the record of a clean fight for them, weâll be giving them something very much bigger than anything Mr. Armitage can offer us in exchange for them. The things weâve stood for are better than anything
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