Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-08-28

ing into the yard in momentarily increas-
ing numbers. BY good chance the firing
served to dismay them somewhat; they
shrank from exposing themselves to a
danger which did not in the first place,
concern them and for time lotered about
the broken gate either undecided as to
what had best be done, or else waiting for
a reinforcement OF the constabulary
That came In time too. and at a moment
too early to be entirely agreeable to us Of
the attacking and invading party. We had
no more than disposed OF the watchmen
before l recognized the police whistles in
tho stance.
As the one who knew the lay Of the land,
my capacity was that of guide. l led by
dead reckoning, most of the time entirely
at a loss as to our whereabouts, but blum
dering on somehow in an approximately
accurate course for the rivers edge. In
this may have been aided. in a slight de-
gree. by fairly good and instructive bump
OF location. At any rate. I made pretty
fair cast for the spot whence Greer and I
had surveyed the Ciymene-found, without
a delay positively damnlnE, the ship in
whose lee we had stood the previous morn
ing. From there the outlines of the Cly-
meme, which might be mistaken for no
other craft by reason of her peculiar build
were vaguely dscernible, and we were
further assisted in locating her by the rid
ing lights,
But. as to the boats?
Too late realized that had forgotten
to make Greer point out the exact spot
whence we were to embark I'll confess
that | began to entertain pretty poor
opinion OF my own executive abilities, and,
indeed. / had not the spirit nor the face
to resent Sevrance's scathing criticism when
I hastily explained to him the true state
of affairs II seemed for the moment as
though we had cast the fat into the fire
without taking ordinary common-sense pre-
a
had come thus far only to be balked by
my stupidity
Fortunately. I remembered that Greer had
vaguely Indicated the position of the boats
as some distance upstream" I quoted this
to Sevrance. Callahan, who had Joined our
hasy council of war. overheard. and slipped
of into the darkness.
From the outer, landward section of the
shpyard now came n terrific clamor. We
gathered from the din that n considerable
force of constabulary had arrived upon the
scene, and that an intelligently organized
hue and cry was being raised.
Our men clustered about us, grumbling.
I found time TO note that some few had
been drinking rather heavily; but 1 was
somewhat reassured by the fact that the
majority seemed clear of head, sober and
ready; their morale was like to steady the
befuddled ones.
Sevrance turned to them, briefly outln-
y
for sparing me; he said that we had missed
the boats. through no fault OF any one
concerned Slight patience would be re-
qulred, then all would doubtless be we'll.
In the meantime he gave directions for the
sequestering temporarily of the unconscious
constable in a nearby tolshed. And IL
any others came to bother u.s." he ordered,
give them dose of the same, boys"
At the moment of his peroration CAL
lahan reappeared. "'Tis meself" he an
bo good enough t. sthep this way,
gintlemin-"
We were good enough to follow him. you
may be sure We slipped out of the IL
Elimination furnished by the nearby electric
arc, and shambled on through mud ankle
deep, in total darkness-a compact body of
men, and silent. l lost reckoning there
even as l lost touch with Sevrance. Our
crowd was close about me, and l surren-
dered myself to their guidance. content to
follow the general direction After sew
eral minutes enlivened by momentarily
increasing racket of pursuit, we came to
the waters edge. There we came upon
q number of small boats, some apparently
seaworthy many worthless. according to the
statements of those around us.
without more ado, however, and as cir
cumspecty as possible. we got into them
six to ten to n boat Callahan's voice was
to be heard, indicating an adjacent boat
house as the spot where oars were OBJ
talnable Several dozen were apparently
brought out and thrown upon the ground
for selection, with clatter that brought
the pursuers down upon us in short order.
Finally. however, something like order was
resolved out of that chaos l heard Sew
rance calling to me, evidently from boat
at some distance upstream, and | answered.
reassuring him as to my safety.
mob of men charged across lighted
space some distance inland. with chorus
OF yells, apprisinG us that we were dis
covered Callahan, in the boat next mine,
raised shout to push off. There were
some seconds OF furious splashings, varied
with profanity and the humping and scrap
ing of boats the darkness held about us
intense and unreleved.
Abruptly l was aware that the boat In
whose stern ! sat was aloat, l fancy II
was the last to get off.
Hardly had the men found the oars and
the blades caught the water. ere the fore
most Of the laEdsmen were wadng out after