Marrying Miss Martha by Anna Jacobs

hadn’t been housed outside town in that old barn of yours, we might have noticed that something was happening. We were taking too much care to keep out of sight and should have kept a watch on the western road all night instead of sending out watchers at dawn. The men didn’t see any drays arriving this morning because they were already in town.”
    Noll’s face went deep red with anger and he thumped the desk several times with a clenched fist, muttering, “Damn him!” in a low voice.
    “And with Porter to help set the machines up, they’ll soon be spinning extra thread,” Gerry put in. “You should have kept that fellow here, Noll. He’s really good with machines, which Ridley will never be.” He heaved a sigh. “Eh, we’ll not stop Seaton now.”
    Jack cleared his throat and said in his peculiar, husky voice, “He can’t have them installed yet, surely? And now he’s got them inside the mill, he’ll mebbe not be keeping watch as well as he should be.”
    “You mean . . . ” a grin slowly creased Noll’s face, deepening the wrinkles.
    Jack grinned back. “I could tell my men to gather a crowd and then attack the mill head on. The lads can egg folk to knock down the gates and try to damage the new machines.”
    “They’re to be ready to pull out if anyone calls out the militia,” Noll put in sharply. “I don’t want the magistrate tracing this back to me.” He chewed his forefinger for a moment, then added, “It’s a bit risky.”
    “Not with your operatives rioting. Trust me. I’m good at getting crowds het up.”
    Noll stared at him, then nodded slowly. “I can give you some fuel to get ’em started.” He turned to his overlooker. “Gerry, lad, spread the word that I’m going to cut wages again. I’m not, but that’ll shake the operatives up good and proper.”
    “It’ll send ’em into a mad frenzy an’ they’ll down tools, then we’ll not make our quota of yarn this week.”
    “Can’t be helped.”
    Stifling a sigh, Gerry hurried out to do his master’s bidding, still not convinced it was the right thing to do. He knew who always got the blame when they fell below the set quota. Why could Noll not be satisfied with what he’d got? Gerry would be satisfied with a quarter of what his employer had, by hell he would!
    Jack nodded farewell and slipped outside in that way he had of doing things before you’d realised it.
    When he was alone, Noll began to pace to and fro. He’d tried to hide his anger but he was furious and if Croaky Jack thought he was getting paid the full amount for this job, he could think again. They might still be able to do some damage to Seaton but it wouldn’t ruin the fellow.
    Well, he wasn’t finished yet. No man had ever got the better of him without him finding a way to get his own back.
    * * * *
    Ben arrived back at the mill to find the gates standing open and men bustling to and fro round Ross Turner, who was uncrating the new machines. “Close the gates!” he ordered. “Anyone could walk in.”
    “They’re not likely to cause us any trouble now, are they?” Jem Saverby asked. As head of the mill stables at Wright’s, he’d supervised the loan of his master’s drays so that Ben Seaton could bring the machinery into town in one fell swoop. He’d wanted to be there in person to watch over his horses and the well-kept drays for which he was famous.
    “You can’t be too careful. Where’s Porter?”
    “Your engineer sent him out to get another crowbar from the ironmonger’s. Them crates are so well put together we’ve broke a couple of hammer shafts trying to lever out the nails without damaging the wood.”
    “Never mind that now. Let’s get all the gates shut and locked.” Ben went across to help him with the heavy wooden gates, which were nearly twice as high as a man, but they’d only managed to get one closed when a group of men with blackened faces rushed round the corner and tried to shove their way into the mill yard,