§ 58
So they gathered, until about thirty were present, and then the
meeting speedily got down to business. It was evident, said Grady, that
the authorities had deliberately framed-up the dynamite conspiracy, in
order to have an excuse for wiping out the I. W. W. organization; they
had closed the hall, and confiscated everything, typewriters and office
furniture and books — including a book on Sabotage which they had turned
over to the editor of the "Evening Times"! There was a hiss of anger at
this. Also, they had taken to interfering with the mail of the
organization; the I. W. W. were having to get out their literature by
express. They were fighting for their existence, and they must find some
way of getting the truth to people. If anybody had any suggestions to
make, now was the time.
There came one suggestion after another; and meantime Peter sat
as if his chair were full of pins. Why didn't they come — the younger
members of the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants' and Manufacturers'
Association — and do what they were going to do without any further
delay? Did they expect Peter to sit there all night, trembling with
alarm — and he not having any dinner besides?
Suddenly Peter gave a jump. Outside came a yell, and Donald
Gordon, who was making a speech, stopped suddenly, and the members of
the company stared at one another, and some sprang to their feet. There
were more yells, rising to screams, and some of the company made for the
front doors, and some for the back doors, and yet others for the windows
and the staircase. Peter wasted no time, but dived into the clothes
closet in the hallway back of the living-room, and got into the farthest
corner of this closet, and pulled some of the clothes on top of him;
and then, to make him safer yet, came several other people
piling on top of him.
From his place of refuge he listened to the confusion that
reigned. The place was a bedlam of women's shrieks, and the curses of
fighting men, and the crash of overturning furniture, and of clubs and
monkey-wrenches on human heads. The younger members of the Chamber of
Commerce and the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association had come in
sufficient force to make sure of their purpose. There were enough to
crowd the room full, and to pack all the doorways, and two or three to
guard each window, and a flying squadron to keep watch for anybody who
jumped from the roof or tried to hide in the trees of the garden.
Peter cowered, and listened to the furious uproar, and presently
he heard the cries of those on top of him, and realized that they were
being pulled off and clubbed; he felt hands reach down and grab him, and
he cringed and cried in terror; but nothing happened to him, and
presently he glanced up and he saw a man wearing a black mask, but
easily to be recognized as McGivney. Never in all his life had Peter
been gladder to see a human face than he was to see that masked face of
a rat! McGivney had a club in his hand, and was dealing ferocious blows
to the clothes heaped around Peter. Behind McGivney were Hammett and
Cummings, covering the proceedings, and now and then carefully putting
in a blow of their own.
Most of the fighting inside the house and outside came
quickly to an end, because everybody who fought was laid
out or overpowered. Then several of the agents of Guffey,
who had been studying these Reds for a year or two and
knew them all, went about picking out the ones who were especially
wanted, and searching them for arms, and then handcuffing them. One of
these men approached Peter, who instantly fell unconscious, and closed
his eyes; then Hammett caught him under the armpits and Cummings by the
feet, and McGivney walked alongside as a bodyguard, remarking now and
then, "We want this fellow, we'll take care of him."
They carried Peter outside, and in the darkness he opened his
eyes just enough to see that the street was lined with automobiles, and
that the Reds were being loaded aboard. Peter's friends carried him to
one car and drove him away, and then Peter returned to consciousness,
and the four of them sat up and laughed to split their sides, and
slapped one another on the back, and mentioned the satisfactory things
they had seen. Had Hammett noticed that slice Grady had got over the
eyes, and the way the blood had run all over him? Well, he wanted to be
a Red — they had helped him be one — inside and out! Had McGivney noticed
how "Buck" Ellis, one of their men, had put the nose of the hobo poet
out of joint? And young Ogden, son of the president of the Chamber of
Commerce, had certainly managed to show how he felt about these cattle,
the female ones as well as the males; when that Yankovich slut had
slapped his face, he had caught her by the breasts and nearly twisted
them off, and she had screamed and fainted!
Yes, they had cleaned them out. But that wasn't all
of it, they were going to finish the job tonight, by God!
They were going to give these pacifists a taste of the war,
they were going to put an end to the Red Terror in American
City! Peter might go along if he liked and see the good work; they were
going into the country, and it would be dark, and if he kept a mask on
he would be quite safe. And Peter said yes; his blood was up, he was
full of the spirit of the hunt, he wanted to be in at the death,
regardless of everything.
