Upton Sinclair

“ When Mary Burke entered, Hal divined from her aspect and manner that she had sunk back into her old mood of pessimism. He felt a momentary resentment. He was so thrilled with this adventure; he wanted everybody else to be thrilled--especially Mary! Like every one who has not suffered much, he was repelled by a condition of perpetual suffering in another. Of course Mary had good reasons for her black moods--but she herself considered it necessary to apologise for what she called her "complainin'"! She knew that he wanted her to help encourage the others ”

“ As I understand it, you people want a check-weighman. Now, they tell me the pay for a check-weighman should be three dollars a day, but we've got only seven miners among us, and that's not enough. I will offer to take the job for twenty-five cents a day from each man, which will make a dollar-seventy-five, less than what I'm getting now as a buddy. If we get thirty men to come in, then I'll take ten cents a day from each, and make the full three dollars. ”

“ Does that seem fair?"
"Sure!" said Mike; and the others added their assent by word or nod.
"All right. Now, there's nobody that works in this mine but knows the men don't get their weight. It would cost the company several hundred dollars a day to give us our weight, and nobody should be so foolish as to imagine they'll do it without a struggle. We've got to make up our minds to stand together."
"Sure, stand together!" cried Mike.
"No get check-weighman!" exclaimed Jerry, pessimistically.
"Not unless we try, Jerry," said Hal. ”