"Naturally!" he repeated after her. "Yes, I guess that must be where
I went wrong. I was natural. It is not right to be natural. You
should first find how you are expected to act--how it is planned for
you to act. Yourself--why, yourself doesn't count."

"What do you mean, Mr. Foote?"

"This morning," he said, bitterly, "cards with my name signed to them
have been placed, or will be placed, in every room of the works,
notifying the men that if they join a labor union they will be
discharged."

"Why--why--"

"I have made a statement that I am against labor unions."

She looked at him uncomprehendingly, but somehow compelled to
sympathize with him. He had passed through a bitter crisis of some
sort, she perceived.

"I am not interested in all those men--that army of men," he went on.
"I don't want to understand them. I don't want to come into contact
with them. I just want to sit here in my office and not be bothered
by such things. ... We have managers and superintendents and
officials to take care of labor matters. I don't want to talk to
Dulac about what he means, or why our men feel resentment toward us.
Please tell him I have no interest whatever in such things."

"Mr. Foote," she said, gently, "something has happened to you, hasn't