CHAPTER XVI.
BELDEN BRICE SAYS SOMETHING.
That Mr. Buckman was terribly in earnest conld be seen by the firm look about his mouth. His face was fairly white and he trembled with suppressed rage.
A less courageous youth than Franklin would have been frightened into absolute silence. But the young electrician's backbone was of stouter material, and, besides, he had an extra courage born of desperation.
"Mr. Buckman," he began, "you are treating me very unfairly. You should at the very least tell me why I am discharged."
"Tell you?" cried the superintendent, his eyes hashing. "What is the use? You know only too well. Get out, I say, and the quicker the better."
"I won't get out until you tell me why I am discharged. I have tried to do my work properly and I don't propose to be treated like a dog."
"Stop! stop! I won't be talked back to by one of the hands! I told you to get out, and unless you do so I'll ask one of the men to pitch you out."
