"The Association don’t like government camps. Can’t get a deputy in there. The people make their own laws, I hear, and you can’t arrest a man without a warrant. Now if there was a big fight and maybe shooting – a bunch of deputies could go in and clean out the camp…Don’t you ever tell where you heard," Thomas said uneasily. "There’s going to be a fight in the camp Saturday night. And there’s going to be deputies ready to go in."
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 22. Mr. Thomas tips off his three Weedpatch camp workers that the corrupt Farmers’ Association is planning to incite a fight at the Saturday night dance. This is to provide legal grounds for police deputies to enter the camp. Thomas risks his future as a small farmer by his kindness in alerting about the conspiracy. Tom Joad and Timothy and Wilkie Wallace promise not to reveal that he warned them. Thomas shows empathy for and unity with the migrants, an example of Emerson’s "Over-Soul" at work – the spiritual unity of all beings.