Trusty come along an’ looked in an’ went on.
Then another fella yelled.
Well, sir, then we all got yellin’. And we all got on the same tone, an’ I tell ya, it jus’ seemed like that tank bulged an’ give and swelled up.
By God! Then somepin happened!
They come a-runnin’, and they give us some other stuff to eat—give it to us.
Ya see?”
“No,” said Tom.
Casy put his chin down on his hands.
“Maybe I can’t tell you,” he said. “Maybe you got to find out.
Where’s your cap?”
“I come out without it.”
“How’s your sister?”
“Hell, she’s big as a cow.
I bet she got twins.
Gonna need wheels under her stomach. Got to holdin’ it with her han’s, now.
You ain’ tol’ me what’s goin’ on.”
The wizened man said,
“We struck.
This here’s a strike.”
“Well, fi’ cents a box ain’t much, but a fella can eat.”
“Fi’ cents?” the wizened man cried. “Fi’ cents!
They payin’ you fi’ cents?”
“Sure.
We made a buck an’ a half.”
A heavy silence fell in the tent.
Casy stared out the entrance, into the dark night.
“Lookie, Tom,” he said at last. “We come to work there.
They says it’s gonna be fi’ cents.
There was a hell of a lot of us.
We got there an’ they says they’re payin’ two an’ a half cents.
A fella can’t even eat on that, an’ if he got kids—So we says we won’t take it.
So they druv us off.
An’ all the cops in the worl’ come down on us.
Now they’re payin’ you five.
When they bust this here strike—ya think they’ll pay five?”
“I dunno,” Tom said. “Payin’ five now.”
“Lookie,” said Casy. “We tried to camp together, an’ they druv us like pigs. Scattered us.
Beat the hell outa fellas.
Druv us like pigs.
They run you in like pigs, too.
We can’t las’ much longer.
Some people ain’t et for two days.
You goin’ back tonight?”
“Aim to,” said Tom.
“Well—tell the folks in there how it is, Tom.
Tell ’em they’re starvin’ us an’ stabbin’ theirself in the back. ’Cause sure as cowflops she’ll drop to two an’ a half jus’ as soon as they clear us out.”
“I’ll tell ’em,” said Tom.
“I don’ know how.
Never seen so many guys with guns.
Don’ know if they’ll even let a fella talk.