But Colonel Dodd was angry and insistent and did not join in the
merriment.

"I say you are a labor-agitator. Any man who won't go to work himself
has no right to be stirring up other workers against their own
interests. You may as well own up to me, my man. These men standing
around here know what you are--you have been talking with them. Outside
of stirring trouble, you don't work, do you?"

"Oh yes, my lord!"

There was smiling mockery in the tone, almost insolence. He seemed to
be willing to display to the rich man the same lack of respect he had
displayed to the poor men who stood near and listened to this colloquy.

"Oh, you do?" Colonel Dodd raised his voice. "Listen sharp, my men! Do
you want to be led around by the noses by a man who doesn't work? This
gentleman is going to tell us what his job is!" He sneered when he said
it.

"I am an assiduous toiler in my profession, your excellency. I am
surprised that as an employer you do not recognize a real worker when
you see one."

This tone of raillery and this stilted manner of speech promptly caught
the fancy of the throng. The men crowded more closely and the orator on
the trough was silent.

"What do you work at?"