About noon
He could not help liking the fair-bearded carpenter , although he had been caught in such bad company , and so charged him merely with riotous conduct in the public streets , for which the penalty was a light fine and a few days ' detention . Sleeny seemed conscious of his clemency , but gave him no look or expression of gratitude . He was too bitter at heart to feel gratitude , and too awkward to feign it . About noon , a piece of news arrived which produced a distinct impression of discouragement among the strikers . It was announced in the public square that the railway blockade was broken in Clairfield , a city to the east of Buffland about a hundred miles . The hands had accepted the terms of the employers and had gone to work again . An orator tried to break the force of this announcement by depreciating the pluck of the Clairfield men .