Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-08-23

Ing his boastfuI assurance Of victory.
What mockery
From what they said, don't think
they know you,' Fraser continued.
Anyhow, they wanted Peasley TO
point you out. When they come off,
maybe you can slip en-
"But how?" Boyd seized eagerly
upon the suggestion. "The wharf is
empty-see! I'll have to cross it in
plain sight,
Through the rear door of the office
that opened upon the dock proper they
beheld the great floor almost entirely
clear. Save for few tons of freight at
which Big Georges men were working,
1t was as unrestricted as lawn; and,
although 1t was nearly the size Of a
city block, 1t afforded no more means
OF concealment than did the little Of
fee Itself, with its glass doors, It's
counter and It's long desk, at the far
Their end Of which bill clerk was por-
ing over his task. Iron-barred windows
at the front of the room looked out
upon the street; other windows and a
door at the right opened upon tho
driveway and railroad track, while at
the rear the glass-panelled door
through which they had just been
peering, gave egress only to the dock
itself, up which the two officers were
likely to come at any instant. Even as
Emerson. with last desperate glance,
summed up the possible places of con.
cealment, Fraser exclaimed, softly:
There they are now!" and they
saw at the foot of the gang plank two
men talking with Big George. They
saw Bait point the strangers. careless
ly to the Office, whence he had seen
Boyd disappearing a few moments be.
fore, and turn back to his stevedores;
then they saw the plain clothes men
approaching.
Here! Gimme your coat and hat,
qu1ck!" cried Fraser in ia low voice,
his eyes blazing at sudden thought.
He stripped his own garments from
his back with feverish !, haste. "Put
mine on. There! I'll stall for you.
When they grab me, take it ouc'the
run Understand"
That won't do. Everybody knows
me-" Boyd cast an apprehensive glance
at the arched back of the bill-clerk,
but Fraser, quick Of resource in such
situation, forced him swiftly to make
TIE change, saying:
nix. It's your only out Stand here,
see!" He indicated position beside
the rear door, "I'll step out the other
way where they can see me-" he con
| tinued, pointing to the wagon-way al
the right. "Savvy? When they grab
me, you beat it, and don't wait for
nothing"
But you-'
Already they could hear the foot.
steps of the officers.
I'll take a chance. Goodbye"
There was no time even for a hand
shake; Fraser stepped swiftly to the
door, then strolled quietly out into the
view Of the two men, who an instant
later accepted him.
Are you Mr.. Boyd Emerson?'
The adventurer answered brusquely,
eyes, but can't talk to you now
you are under arrest, Mr.. Emer-
son.
Boyd waited to hear no more. The
glass door swung open noiselessly un-
der his hand and he stepped out just
as the bill-clerk looked up from his
work, staring out through the other
entrance.
"Fingerless' Fraser's voice was
louder now, as IL for a signal Arrest
me? What do you mean? Get out of
my way"
you'd better come peaceably."
| Boyd heard sharp exclamation =
Get him, Bill" And then the sound
| of men struggling. He ran, followed
by roar from the strikers, in whose
full view Fraser's encounter with the
ID ~ 10
A backward glance showed him that
| Fraser had drawn his pursuers to the
street He had broken away and
lodged out into the open, where the
other officers responded at call and
seized him as he apparently under.
took to break through the Gordon. This
diversion served an unexpected pur.
pose. Not only did it draw attention
from Emersons retreat, but it also
gave the mob its long-awaited oppor.
tunity. Recognizing in the officers
quarry the supposed figure Of Elmer.
son, the hated cause of all this strife,
the strikers gave vent to great shout
of rage and triumph, and surged for.
ward across the wide street, carrying
| the police before them with irresist.
ible force.
In moment 1t became not ques.
ton Of keeping the entrance to the
wharf, but Of protecting the life Of the
prisoner, and the policemen rallied
with their backs to the wall, their
clubs working havoc with the heads
that came within striking distance.
Scarcely had Boyd reached Big
George, when wing of the besieging
army swept in through the unguarded
entrance and down the dock like an
avalanche, leaving behind them the
battling officers and the hungry pack
clamoring for the prisoner
Drop that freight and get aboard
the best way you CAM" Boyd yelled
at the fishermen, and with bound was
out into the open crying to Captain
Peasley on the bridge:
Here they come! Cast off, for Gods
sake!"
Instantly a wild cry Of rage and de.
fiance rose from the clothed rigging
and upper works of The Bedford Cas-
tie. Down the fishermen swarmed,
ready to overflow the sides Of the
ship, but, with sharp order to George,
Boyd ran up the gang-plank and