America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 381
Holly followed Bede out of the cabin.

It was already midnight, and there were no pedestrians on the street.

The gas street lamps were still flickering on and off, and occasionally a few wild dogs would pass through the street, baring their teeth and making strange noises.

The two walked through several blocks and came to a place near the pier.

There are several rows of houses here, and the surrounding area is full of darkness, and no one can be seen.

Holly was a little alarmed.

Obviously a deserted place.

assembly?Were all the attendees ghosts?
He vigilantly observed Bede around and in front of him.

Hawley was not carrying a gun.

The explosives factory will search their bodies when they enter and leave to prevent them from taking out things they shouldn't bring.

As Chen Jianqiu's personal disciple.

He did learn some unarmed moves from that young master.

It should be more than enough to escape or deal with the person in front.

Bader didn't seem to notice Holly's strangeness.

"There." He pointed to one of those buildings that looked like a warehouse.

In the darkness, the warehouse and the surrounding buildings almost merged into one.

"They should all be here, let's hurry up."

Bede said while speeding up his pace.

The two came to the front of the warehouse together.

After Hawley walked in, he began to look at the building in front of him by the moonlight.

This warehouse looks very inconspicuous from the outside, the windows are sealed tightly with wooden strips, and there is no light to see.

Bede walked to a small door next to the warehouse, and knocked lightly on the door six times with his hand.

These six strokes are very rhythmic, like telegraphing.

There was a crack in the door.

A light shot out from the crack in the door.

"Come in." The man at the door saw Bede and Holly, let them in, and quickly closed the door.

Holly, who entered the room, was blinded by a bright light.

His eyes were just getting used to the darkness.

So he subconsciously narrowed his eyes.

When he opened it again, he was stunned by the sight in front of him.

The light that had just hit his face came from a large gas lamp that hung over the roof of the warehouse.

There are several more of the same gas lamps on the beams.

The reflective mirror behind the lamp allows the fire to illuminate the entire warehouse.

It's full of people here.

Whether it is on the ground, or on the shelf platform on the second floor of the warehouse.

They were all staring at him intently.

Judging from their clothes, these people are basically workers from all walks of life.

The stains and tiredness on their faces could not conceal the excitement inside, and the fire was shining in their eyes.

Hawley also saw Mr. Hunter.

He was standing on the edge of the table, his expression was quite nervous, he was muttering words, and he didn't even notice that Holly was greeting him.

Hawley also saw a person.

The man was tall, with a big beard, and stood beside Hunter with his hands folded on his chest.

He is also looking at himself.

Bader took Holly up to him.

"How about starting now?" Bede asked the bearded man.

The bearded man nodded.

Bader asked Holly to wait here, then walked around to the back of the stage and walked up the stage along a wooden ladder.

"Please be quiet, everyone, today's rally is about to begin!" Bede cleared his throat and said to everyone in the warehouse.

There were still people talking in the warehouse, but most of everyone's attention was on the stage.

"Today, at the California Dynamite Plant, a horrific thing happened," Bader said.

The workers below began to talk a lot.

"Break up again?"

"I didn't hear you, I'm right next to them."

"Last year, their house was bombed more than ten times, an average of once a month, and people were killed every time."

"Did you lose money?"

"Losing money? You are thinking about farts, how can you lose money?"

Bede on the stage didn't care about the discussion below and continued talking.

He had to make his voice louder to cover the voices of the people below.

"The father of a child was fired because his child's hand was cut off after looking at it! And the worker who treated the child was also fired!"

"What an incredible thing this is!"

The eyes of some workers have already fallen to Holly and Hunter.

"Now, let them come on stage and tell what happened to them."

Bader waved to Hunter in the audience.

But Hunter was still muttering words, and his legs were as if filled with lead, unable to move half a step.

"Why don't you go first." Hunter looked at Holly eagerly, "I, I can't remember."'
Without saying a word, the blond youth rushed to the bottom of the table.

He didn't take the stairs at the back, but climbed up to the half-person-high platform.

"I'm the young man who got fired for bandaging a child," Hawley said loudly.

His loud and energetic voice attracted the attention of all present.

Hawley briefly described what happened.

He paused, then continued:

"Everyone, in the factory where I work, explosions happen almost every month."

"We work nearly [-] hours a day in a dark factory building, without overtime pay! There is no shift! Even if we were killed by the bombing, there is no compensation!"

The workers in the audience began to discuss again:

"What about overtime pay?"

"I don't know, do you know?"

"I've never heard of it. Isn't that the salary? Is there any extra money?"

Bede was stunned below the stage.

This is a sentence that didn't follow my own manuscript!

He faintly felt that something uncontrollable would appear behind him.

"These are what we should be enjoying! They are not giving us alms!"

"We deserve a better life!"

"I think the big guys should unite and use blood and fire to fight for our interests!"

Hawley waved his fists with passion.

He tried to look a little more aggressive.

Some people in the audience were infected by his emotions, and they all followed suit.

Some of them were anarchists and utopians drawn in by beards.

But most workers are still at a loss.

Bede has a headache.

He originally planned to take the stage to announce his solidarity with the two victims and a possible strike plan after the two victims finished speaking.

But the master skipped the part of the strike and planned to fight with force.

Isn't this bullshit.

"Leader, do you want to let him down?"

Bader looked at the bearded man as if asking for help.

But he never thought that the bearded man was staring at Holly intently, his eyes full of admiration.

"I think what he said makes a lot of sense, we're just too weak."

Bader hastily argued: "But the leader, this is not in line with the idea of ​​the headquarters."

"Bodley, he knows a fart!" The bearded man spat on the ground, and cast a slanted glance at Bede, "The deterioration of the Labor Knights began when he, a bastard, came to power."

"I have the final say here!" The bearded man clenched his fists, his knuckles crackling.

Bader didn't dare to say much, so he shrank aside.

After Holly finished speaking passionately, the scene burst into applause.

But the applause was basically concentrated in one area.

Most of the others are still talking about it.

The blond young man jumped off the stage and came to Bede:

"Am I speaking all right?" He looked at Bede with a smile.

Bede had a mournful face and said nothing.

It stands to reason that Hunter should be on stage next.

However, people found that the bearded man had already stood on the stage:
The scene suddenly fell silent.

It seems that among these people, the prestige of the bearded man is not generally high.

He glanced at the faces under the stage, and then said:

"The blond boy just now, I think he said it very well. The most direct way of armed struggle ever!"

Workers, you look at me, and I look at you.

"But, not now! We still have a lot of things to do."

The bearded man said.

"For example, we need to develop our own strength! We need more like-minded people!"

"For another example, we want to cut off the accomplices of those people and eliminate the traitors among the workers!"

The bearded man changed the subject and clenched his fist.

"Take today's incident as an example. Have you ever thought about why those factory owners dared to fire us without fear and turned a blind eye to our appeal?"

The bearded head turned in the direction of Holly and Hunter.

"Because they have other options."

"They would rather violate the law and hire those Chinese workers! Because these people will agree to all their conditions!"

The bearded man's complexion gradually became gloomy.

"The bill has been implemented for three years, but it has basically had no effect. More and more Chinese are appearing in this country."

"Those in power in the east, turn a blind eye to this kind of thing, because it doesn't care about their business at all, they only care about their business in Asia!"

"Those bosses are more happy to see this, because it means they have cheaper labor to choose from!"

"Since expecting them is useless, then we have to do it ourselves, and we will solve the problem in more extreme ways!"

The bearded man raised his arms and shouted, and the workers below responded one after another, and the scene was full of enthusiasm for a while.

This is what they care about and understand now.

Hawley in the audience scoffed at their logic, but he understood that this is the most effective way to effectively strengthen the trade union group.

Set up a target and attack it together.

In this way, there are many "like-minded" people.

Of course, the premise is that this target is easy to bully.

Otherwise, if you are targeted by the police and private detectives before you grow up, you will be "destroyed in the middle of your business before you start your business".

But in order to disguise his identity, Hawley appeared even more excited than Beard.

"Violence! Deportation!" he shouted at the top of his voice, his blond hair bobbing offstage.

The bearded man got off the stage very satisfied and came in front of Holly.

He stretched out his hand to the young man, with piercing eyes:
"Daniel Cronin, head of the California Knights of Labor."

Holly took the bearded man's hand.

Cronin looked very happy, he patted the young man's hand:
"Young man, you are very nice, are you interested in being my assistant?"

The blond young man nodded.

(End of this chapter)