“Orders is orders, sir,” said Stanley. “I was told to git ten men, an’ I’ve got ’em.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“Guard the company’s property, sir,” answered Stanley, promptly, for he knew the proper answer.
“Is it in danger?” inquired the mayor, with irony.
“It will be after to-morrow noon, sir. Besides, we’re going to get in a lot of strike-breakers to-night and we’re going to see that they’re not interfered with. And then I’ve got to patrol the yards and keep out trespassers. You see I’ve got a pretty big job on hand.”
The mayor considered gloomily for a moment; but he really had no choice in the matter, so he reluctantly swore the men in, and handed each of them a special officer’s badge.
“Now I just want to say one thing to you fellows,” he said, when this ceremony was finished. “These badges and the oath you have just taken give you authority to see that the law is observed—in other words, to see that no right, either of property or person, is interfered with. But they don’t give you a right to engage in a riot or to molest anybody who isn’t molesting you. Above all, they don’t give you a right to use your guns indiscriminately, and if any innocent person is hurt by you, some of you are going to suffer. I’ll see to that. That’s all.”
Word of their presence at the mayor’s office had got about, and a little crowd, principally of boys, awaited them outside. When they made their appearance, they were greeted by a chorus of yells, mostly from the aforesaid boys.
“Don’t mind ’em,” said Stanley, quietly. “It’s only a lot of kids,” and he marched them off in the direction of the station.
The crowd followed, growing larger as it went, but it came to a halt when the freight-house was reached and the deputies entered, closing the door behind them. Two or three stones were thrown, but a couple of policemen, sent by the mayor, soon arrived, and compelled the crowd to disperse.