"Oh, I didn't expect you to go alone. Take as many men as you like. Will twenty be enough?"
I thought so.
"Well, then, here are a dozen John Doe warrants. They will be your authority for whatever you may find it necessary to do in arresting these men. Now come out here and pick your company."
He led the way to the main hall, glanced over the throng that still pervaded it, and cried in a resonant voice:
"Volunteers wanted for dangerous service."
His discouraging form of statement did not dismay all of the company before him. At least fifty men stepped forward at the call.
"Take your pick," said Coleman with a wave of his hand. "If they haven't revolvers, I will supply them. You'd better take the clubs for ordinary service."
I selected a score of men whose faces showed vigor and determination, looked to their arms, directed them to the pile of pick-handles, and when each man had satisfied himself of the virtue of his weapon by knocking down an imaginary enemy, I led the way to the street.
"Where are we going?" asked one of the men with the easy familiarity of the volunteer.
"Secret service," I replied. "Don't make any more noise than you have to." If we were to arrest the conspirators without bloodshed it was necessary to take them by surprise, and we approached their meeting-place with as much caution as I could contrive.