Helen Ward's face flushed as she said in a low, deliberate voice,
"Father agrees with Mr. McIver--you know how bitter he is against the
unions?"

"Yes, I know."

"But John says that Mr. McIver, with his talk of force and of starving
helpless women and children, is as bad as this man Jake Vodell who has
come to Millsburgh to organize a strike. It is really brother's
attitude toward the workmen and their unions and his disagreement with
Mr. McIver's views that make father as--as he is."

The Interpreter's voice was gentle as he asked, "Your father is not
worse, is he, Helen? I have heard nothing."

"Oh, no," she returned, quickly. "That is--"

She hesitated, then continued, with careful exactness, "For a time he
even seemed much better. When I went away he was really almost like his
old self. But this labor situation and John's not seeing things exactly
as he does worries him. The doctors all agree, you know, that father
must give up everything in the nature of business and have absolute
mental rest; but he insists that in the face of this expected trouble
with the workmen he dares not trust the management of the Mill wholly
to John, because of what he calls brother's wild and impracticable
ideas. Everybody knows how father has given his life to building up the
Mill. And now, he--he--It is terrible the way he is about things. Poor
mother is almost beside herself." The young woman's eyes filled and her
lips trembled.