'Whether or not,' I retorted, 'that's my opinion, and I shall stick to
it till I find a better.'

On this, the opposite party delivered himself of a lengthy harangue, in
which arguments were quoted from Adam Smith, De Tocqueville, and others,
with considerable fluency; all intended, apparently, to convict me of
flagrant error, and prognosticate 'consequences.' I had not at that time
read the works of these writers, and had only very youthful experience
to oppose to such a weight of authority; and being, besides, one of
those unfortunate individuals who cannot think of the right thing to say
until twenty-four hours after the occasion has passed, I remained
silent. My opponents mistook silence for assent, and left me, expressing
a hope that they should see me at their committee-room next day.

The passage, at the entrance of which this scene had taken place, was
separated from a turner's shop adjoining by a thin wooden partition, and
the turner, who was a New Yorker, stopped his lathe to listen to our
parley. When he heard me turn to go up stairs, he shouted: 'Hillo!
Johnny Bull, they were rather too many for you. You must get up a little
sooner in the mornin', if you want to circumvent Yankees! Look out for
squalls, old fellow!'

'Words is only wind,' I replied, quoting one-half of a 'down-east'
adage, as I ran up the stairs; he, however, before I got out of hearing,
added the second half: 'but blows hurts.'

Three or four days passed away; trade was remarkably brisk, and a few of
the bosses gave in--a fact announced with great exultation by the
turn-outs, who now felt confident of victory, and urged their demands