Wolfville Days


by Alfred Henry Lewis




CHAPTER I.

The Great Wolfville Strike.

"No, sir, even onder spur an' quirt, my mem'ry can only canter back
to one uprisin' of labor in Wolfville; that was printers."

At this the Old Cattleman looked unduly sagacious, refreshed himself
with a puff or two at his pipe, and all with the air of one who
might, did he see fit, consider the grave questions of capital and
labor with an ability equal to their solution. His remark was growth
of the strike story of some mill workmen, told glaringly in the
newspaper he held in his hands.

"Wolfville is not at that time," he continued, "what you-all East
would call a swirlin' vortex of trade; still she has her marts.
Thar's the copper mines, the Bird Cafe Op'ry House, the Red Light,
the O. K. Restauraw, the Dance Hall, the New York Store an' sim'lar
hives of commerce. Which ondoubted the barkeeps is the hardest
worked folks in camp, an' yet none of 'em ever goes on the warpath
for shorter hours or longer pay, so far as I has notice. Barkeeps
that a-way is a light-hearted band an' cheerful onder their burdens.