The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1912-06-20

the bench beside the uptown tracks,
and allowed two trains to pass with
out making a move to board either
one. A third train rolled up; tho
youngsters waited till the gate was
shutting. and then dove through with
a %headlong plunge, earning the execra-
lions of the guard.
Seems to me-" laughed Brockett as
they gazed at the glittering panorama
OF New York, spread below them, that
anyone who might have been trailing
us this time had to come owe a locked
gate or lose out. That was the quick
est move we've made yet"
The Cuban shook his head. II hope
We are shaking ourselves free" he
commented, but, somehow, I'm wor-
ried. | have a depressed, gloomy SEN
sation-as If l knew something was
sure to happen-something that I
can't describe or ever imagine. I
hope Pm wrong-a few more hours
and we shall see"
They d~isembarked at Forty Second
and paced rapidly east in that strange
morougnrare-ne leading annex to
Broadway. A foreigner wandering
westward from the station halted
them to ask the name of some street
whereof neither lad had ever heard;
a storm of automobiles seemed to
burst upon them at Fifth avenue, and,
to the supreme disgust of Solano, a
little, chocolate-colored man, with a
twisted naIctapha pnI haoAy lloaIr
eyes, hailed him in ELUSIVE Spanish,
delaying their progress for q minute
or so.
Venezuelan" Solano explained, as
they hurried IN. Confirmed revolu-
ZIONIST. Used to make headquarters
in Havana when the revolving trade
was slack, and called several times on
my father. Wish he hadn't recognized
me-he called out my name almost as
loudly as your friend McGinnity called
yours"
In the great station of the subway
the boys adopted the same tactics
they had practiced at the IL" road
permitting several trains 70 go by.
and then boiling aboard the next one
just In time to escape jamming in the
gate. They were whizzed downtown
rapidly enough, and crossed eastward
in Canal-a t~horoughfare that Is full
Of life and bizarre transactions
through the day, but dark and we'll
nigh empty in the night.
Fine, lonesome region this, RAJ
mOn," muttered Brockett, keeping q
vigilant eye TO right and left as they
paced along.
Il forget which Of the great New
York gangs is in charge of this par
ticular section" said the Cuban
whether the Five Points or the East
mans"
According to the magazines"
Brockett responded, this must be the
very heart of the territory where the
Apaches Of New York hold forth. In
case Of a hold-up, don't stop to argue
shoot, and keep right on running"
The Eastmans and the Five Points,
however, did not seem to have even
outlying sentinels in Canal street, and
no one ever paid any special atten-
ton to the adventures as they
crossed over into the Bowery. That
famous old street, fountain-head Of
song and story, and in no actual man.
ner any different from any other
street which is the main avenue of the
poor and lowly, was ~traversed at a
steady gait. The boys mingled with
the swarming crowd of Hebrews and
Italians, walked southwark, and, when
the garish lights of Chinatown burst
upon them, turned into Doyers street
"a short, oddly angled alley that
forms one boundary of the Celestial
colony.
Cinnamon in their native costumes,
Cinnamon in natty black clothes OF
civilization, drawn-faced dope fiends,
heavily treading policemen, rubber
neck wagons bearing pop-eyed tour
ists-all the usual throng that go to
make up the evening life Of China
town-passed back and forth. Slum-
ming parties swarmed up the stairs OF
the chop suey restaurants, eager to
taste Chinese dishes, the like of which
were never seen or heard OF in the
Yellow Kingdom, and the spell OF an
excitement that is nine-tenths artiti-
cial and created seemed to overhang
the little crooked street. Brockett
and Solano pushed through the swarm,
tostling good-naturedly or avoiding
collisions wherever possible. They
had traversed perhaps half the length
of Doyers street when there was a
cry, a shrill chorus of Oriental jargon
and half a dozen struggling Cinnamon,
their faces convulsed with frenzy,
their hands brandishing hatchets and
knives, came weaving out of a little
store.
A thrown Ratchet OF most cratic
aim changed on the pavement at So
lano's feet; a knife scarce missed
Brockett's shoulder. The knot of