"Some of them were
masked. The others were, so far as I could see among such a crowd
of faces in a not very bright light, all strangers to me."
"And you would not recognize any of them again were you to see
them?"
"I should not," Ned replied. "None of them stood out prominently
among the others."
"You speak, Mr. Sankey," Mr. Thompson said, "as if your sympathies
were rather on the side of these men, who would have burned your
mill, and probably have murdered you, than against them."
"I do not sympathize with the measures the men are taking to obtain
redress for what they regard as a grievance; but I do sympathize
very deeply with the amount of suffering which they are undergoing
from the introduction of machinery and the high prices of provisions;
and I am not surprised that, desperate as they are, and ignorant
as they are, they should be led astray by bad advice. Is there any
other question that you wish to ask me?"
"Nothing at present, I think," Mr. Simmonds said after consulting
his colleague by a look. "We shall, of course, forward a report of
the affair to the proper authorities, and I may say that although
you appear to take it in a very quiet and matter of fact way, you
have evidently behaved with very great courage and coolness, and
in a manner most creditable to yourself. I think, however, that you
ought immediately to have made a report to us of the circumstances,
in order that we might at once have determined what steps should
be taken for the pursuit and apprehension of the rioters.
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