I.  
It was late at night when Jimmie left the Socialist local, and took the trolley out into the country. He had to walk nearly two miles from where he got off, and a thunder-storm had come up; he got out and started to trudge through the darkness and the floods of rain. Several times he slipped off the road into the ditch, and once he fell prone, and got up and washed the mud from his eyes and nose with the stream of fresh water pouring about his head. While he was thus occupied he heard the sound of a horn, and saw a glare of light rushing up. He jumped into the ditch again, and a big automobile went by at a fast pace, spattering showers of mud all over him. He plodded on, swearing to himself. Some of them munition-millionaires, no doubt—tearing over the country at night honking their horns like they owned the roads, and covering poor walking people with their splashings!
And so on, until Jimmie came round a turn of the road and saw the white glare of light again, this time standing still. It seemed to be pointing up into the trees; and when he got nearer he made out the reason—it had run off the road into the ditch, and then up the other slope, and there rolled over on to its side.
“Hello!” said a voice, as Jimmie came slopping up.
“Hello!” he answered.
“How far is it to the nearest house?”
“Maybe half a mile.”
“Who lives there?”
“I do.”
“Have you got a horse and buggy?”
“There's one at the big house, just a piece beyond.”
“Do you suppose we could get enough men to turn this car over?”
“I dunno; there ain't many about here.”
“Damn!” muttered the man to himself. Then, after a moment, “Well, there's no use staying here.” This to his companion, whom Jimmie made out to be a woman. She was standing still, with the cold rain pouring over her. The man put his arm about her, and said to Jimmie, “Lead the way, please.” So Jimmie set out, slopping through the mud as before.
Nothing more was said until they reached the “tenant-house” where the Jimmies lived. But meantime the little Socialist's mind was busy; it seemed to him that the man's voice was familiar, and he was trying to recall where and how he had heard it before. They came to the house, which was dark, and the couple stood on the porch while Jimmie went in and groped for a match and lighted the single smoky oil-lamp on which the household depended. Carrying it in his hand, he went to the door and invited the couple in. They came; and so Jimmie got a glimpse of the face of the man, and almost dropped the lamp right there where he stood. It was Lacey Granitch!
II.
 
The young lord of Leesville was too much occupied with his own affairs to notice the look on the face of the yokel before him; or perhaps he was so used to being recognized, and to being stared at by yokels. He looked about the room and saw a stove. “Can you get us a fire, so this lady can get dry?”
“Y—yes,” said Jimmie. “I—I suppose so.” But he made no move; he stood rooted to the spot.
“Lacey,” put in the woman, “don't stop for that. Get the car started, or get another.” And Jimmie looked at her; she was rather small, and very beautiful—quite the most beautiful human creature that Jimmie had ever looked at. One could see that she was expensively dressed, even though everything she had on was soaked with rain.
“Nonsense!” exclaimed Lacey. “You can't travel till you get dry—you'd be ill.” And he turned upon Jimmie. “Get a fire, won't you?” he exclaimed. “A big fire. I'll make it worth while to you for whatever you do. Only don't stand there gaping all night,” he added impatiently.
Jimmie leaped to obey; partly because he had been in the habit of leaping to obey all his life—but also partly because he was sorry for the beautiful wet lady, and because, if he stood and stared any longer, Lacey Granitch might recognize him. The moment when Jimmie had been singled out in the herd of strikers and cursed by the young master of the Empire Machine Shops was one of the most vivid memories of Jimmie's rebellious life, and it did not occur to him that the incident might not have equally impressed the other participant.
In a few minutes the stove was hot; and urged by her escort, the lady took off her driving-coat and hat, and hung them over a chair. Everything underneath was wet, and the man urged her to take off her skirt and blouse. “What does he matter?” he argued, referring to Jimmie; but the lady would not do it. She stood by the stove, shivering slightly, and pleading with her escort to make haste, to find some way to get the car running again. They might be followed—
“Oh, nonsense, Helen!” cried Lacey. “You are tormenting yourself with nightmares. Be sensible and get dry.” He piled the wood into the stove, and ordered Jimmie to get another armful; and Jimmie obeyed with his hands and feet—but meantime his rebellious little brain was taking in every detail of the situation, putting this and that together.
The talking had waked up Lizzie, so Jimmie rushed into the next room and whispered, “Lacey Granitch is here!” If he had told her that the Angel Gabriel was there, or Jehovah with all his thunders and his retinue of seraphim, poor Lizzie could not have been more stunned. Jimmie ordered her to get up, and get on her dress and shoes, and get a cup of coffee for the lady; the dazed woman obeyed—though she would rather have crawled under the bed than face the celestial personages who had taken possession of her home.
III.
 
Lacey ordered Jimmie to accompany him, to find some help to get the car into travelling condition. They went out together, and on the porch, before they braved the rain again, young Granitch stopped and spoke: “See here, my man; I want you to help me get a gang together, and I want you to keep quiet, please—say nothing about who was in the car. If any other people come along and ask questions, keep your mouth shut, and I'll make it worth while to you—well worth while. Do you understand?”
Every instinct in Jimmie Higgins was ready to answer, “Yes, sir.” That was what he had always answered to such commands—he, and his father, and his father's fathers before him. But something else within him resisted this instinct—the new revolutionary psychology which he had so painfully acquired, and which made continual war upon his old-time docilities. It seemed that this was the moment, if ever in his life, to show the stuff he was made of. He clenched his hands, and everything in him turned to iron. “WHO IS THAT LADY?” he demanded.
Lacey Granitch was so taken aback that he started visibly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean—is she your wife? Or is she some other man's wife?”
“Why you damned—” And the young lord of Leesville stopped, speechless. Jimmie fell back a couple of steps, as a matter of precaution, but he did not weaken in his rigid resolve.
“I know you, Mr. Granitch,” he said; “and I know what you're doing. You might as well know you ain't foolin' nobody.”
“What the hell is it to you?” cried the other; but then he stopped again, and Jimmie heard him breathing hard. Evidently he made an effort to keep his self-control; when he spoke again, his voice was quieter. “Listen, my good fellow,” he said. “You have a chance to make a good deal of money to-night—”
“I don't want your money!” broke in Jimmie. “I wouldn't touch your filthy money, that you get by murdering men!”
“My God!” said Lacey Granitch; and then, weakly: “What have you got against me?”
“What have I got? I was workin' in the Empire, an' I went on strike for my rights, an' you cursed me like I was a dog, an' you sent the police an' had me arrested, an' they smashed Wild Bill's nose, an' sent me up for ten days when I hadn't done nothin'—”
“Oh! So that's it, is it?”
“Yes, that's it; but I wouldn't mind that so much—if it wasn't for them shells you're makin' to kill men over in Europe. And you spendin' the money drinkin' champagne with chorus-girls, an' runnin' off with other men's wives!”
“You—” and Lacey uttered a foul oath, and leaped at Jimmie; but Jimmie had expected that, he was looking out for himself. There was no railing to the little porch on which he stood, and he leaped off to the ground and away. Because he knew the lay of the land, he could run faster in the darkness than his pursuer.
He sped down the path and out into the road—and there was the headlight of an automobile, almost upon him. The vehicle came to an instant stop, and a startled voice cried, “Hey, there!”
“Hey, there!” answered Jimmie, and stopped in the light; for he did not believe that his enemy would dare pursue him there.
The voice from the car spoke again. “There's an automobile off the road a ways back here. Do you know anything about who the people are that were driving it?”
&............