noon
But he was already listening with one ear to what was going on in the big room , whence the sharp , clear tones of a speaker could be heard through the suffocating tobacco fumes . Over the heads of the attentive crowd hung a few gas-lamps , the globes of which looked like large oranges . Robertson gave his Mott Street hero the promised two dollar bill and then made his way to the rear room . Standing in the doorway , he could clearly distinguish the words of the speaker , who was apparently protesting in the name of some workmen against a large manufacturer who had at noon dismissed three thousand of them . The orator , who was standing on a table in the rear of the room , looked like a swaying shadow through the smoke , but his loud appeal completely filled the room , and the soul-stirring pictures he drew of the misery of the workmen , who had been turned out on the streets at the word of the millionaire manufacturer , caused his hearers ' cheeks to burn with excitement . '' -- and therefore , '' concluded the speaker , `` we will not submit to the absolutely selfish action of Mr. Hanbury . As leader of our Union I ask you all to return to work at the factory to-morrow at the usual hour , and we will then assert our right to employment by simply continuing our work and ignoring our dismissal .