W. Pett Ridge

“ The law of compensation asserts itself: those who were merry last night and stayed out until half-past twelve to sing their way joyously home are, in the morning, thoughtful or surly, whilst those who eluded the attractions of the club or public-house rally them with much enjoyment on their obvious depression. ”

“ The van foreman was not really so clever as he judged himself to be (but his case was neither unprecedented nor without imitators) , and his maxim—which was that in dealing with men you had to keep hammering away at them—was one that in practice had at times defective results.
“Yes,” said the van foreman gloomily, as though replying to a question, “of course, you two are not the first to arrive. Barnes and Payne—Payne and Barnes. There ain't a pin to choose between you. What's your excuse?”
“Wh-oh!” said Erb to his horse, assuming that it had shied. “Wo—ho! my beauty. ”

“ Erb followed, and the other men contributed to the irregular circle of names. The elderly carman hesitated, but one of his colleagues remarked that one might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, and the elderly carman appeared to derive great encouragement from this, signing his name carefully and legibly, and looking at it when done with something like affection.
“I sha'n't ask you to get away with your loads many more times,” shouted the van foreman from the other end of the arch. “Yes, it's you I'm talkin' to. You're all champion mikers, every one of you. ”

“ A man can grub along very well on it so long as he is not ambitious.”
“And why shouldn't a man be ambitious?” demanded Erb. “Some people raise themselves up from small beginnings”—the Chief took up his paper-cutter—“and all honour to them for it.” The Chief laid down the paper-cutter. “It must be a great satisfaction to look back when they are getting their three or four 'undred a year and think of the time when they were getting only a quid a week. It must make 'em proud of themselves, and their wife and their women folk must be proud of 'em too.” ”

“ Other drivers from other companies were in the coffee-house, and Erb, taking a seat in one of the pews, listened with tolerant interest to their confused arguments. All the variously uniformed men had a grievance, and all were quite certain that something ought to be done. The least vague of all the preferred solutions came from a North Western man, who said that “We must be up and doing.”
“The great thing is,” went on the North Western man, encouraged by the absence of contradiction, “to keep on pegging away.” ”

“ The Chief, a big, polite, good-tempered man, sat at the table signing letters.
“Shan't keep you half a second,” he remarked, looking up.
“Very good, sir.”
“Beautiful weather,” said the Chief absently, as he read, “for the time of the year.”
“We can't complain, sir,” said Erb meaningly, “of the weather.” The clock up high on the wall of the office ticked on, and Erb endeavoured to marshal his arguments in his mind afresh. ”

“ To William Henry, as a safe lad, was entrusted the duty of taking the long envelope to the Chief's office, and his quick ears having gained something of the nature of the communication, he ran, and meeting the Chief at the door of the private office, gave it up with the message, “Answer wanted sharp, sir!” a gratuitous remark, ill-calculated to secure for it an amiable reception.
The labour member who had given to Erb a golden compliment on the previous evening had many proud titles ”

“ This will necessitate a couple of extra carmen.”
“Good!” approved Erb, making a fresh note. “We now approach the question of wages.”
“The men who have been in the service for five years will receive an additional two shillings a week.”
“That's a fair offer.”
“The men who have been with us for more than a year will, with one exception, receive an increase of one-and-six.”
Erb wrote the figures on the back of the envelope. Already he was composing in his mind the elaborate sentences by which he would make the satisfactory announcement to his colleagues. ”

“ If it don't have no effect, what I've been thinking of is a deputation to the General Manager.”
“She's not a going to manage me,” returned Payne, catching something of the last sentence. “If I'm treated with proper respect I'm a lamb, but if anyone attempts to lord it over me, I'm simply a roaring lion.”
William Henry, ordered back to the tail of his van, made note number two. Trouble brewing, and, in the case of wholesale discharges, a fair chance of honest lads gaining promotion. ”

“ He took up the sheet of blue foolscap, with a change of manner. “The men ask for the removal of the van foreman. That suggestion will not be acted upon. If we were all to be allowed to choose our own masters we should be playing a nice topsy-turvy game. You understand?”
“I've taken a note of it,” remarked Erb darkly. He wrote something with a short pencil on the back of an envelope. ”

“ William Henry, in Erb's van, made a note. Never have an uncle Richard.
“It must be unanimous,” remarked Erb, speaking in fragments, and endeavouring to entice Payne's mind to imperial subjects as the policeman's hand allowed them to go on, “or else it might as well not be done at all. It's a case of all of us sticking together like glue. ”

“ We're out of sight part of the day, and out of mind all the day. Take my own case. I've got children growing up, and I find,” here the Great Western man rapped the handle end of his knife on the table, “I find they all want boots.” ”