“Yes,” was the answer of all of them.
The boys felt excited. They liked the way Walters treated them. They felt as though they were members of the force with certain jobs assigned to them. They looked forward to doing as well as they could.
The next moment the car came to a halt at the corner across from the grocery store. Paul immediately jumped out of the car with the detectives and Ken at once took his place behind the steering wheel. The detectives carried no rifles as they did not wish to arouse suspicion. They were merely armed with their service revolvers which they held ready in their coat pockets.
Walters waited for his mates to take their places and then he nodded to each one of them in turn. To Paul, he whispered hurriedly, “In case of trouble, take shelter right away; get out of the way of the line of fire. You understand?”
“Yes, sir,” was his meek reply.
Paul felt a wave of excitement. He felt a little anxious and hoped everything would pass off quietly without anyone coming to harm.
Walters, with Paul at his side, started to cross the street toward the grocery store. They mounted the sidewalk and approached the door. Suddenly a shot rang out, fired, so it seemed to Paul, point blank at them. Immediately Walters, with his left hand, shoved Paul to one side and sent him sprawling. As for himself, he dodged behind the wall. Evidently, the grocery man had seen them coming and had realized who they were and what they were up to. And it further seemed that he did not intend to give up without a violent struggle. Walters shouted, “Come on out or we are coming in to get you.”
For an answer another shot rang out. Harriman meant business and no fooling. Walters signalled to his fellow detectives covering the front of the house and the man crawled across the street to the car at the curb. “Duck,” he said to Ken.
Ken complied and lowered himself in the car. The detective took out two rifles, a couple of boxes of ammunition which he shoved into his pocket and a square box. With this load he crept back into position. Suddenly Walters ran across the front of the store and joined him. The next instant a shot rang out. But it was too late. Walters was safe and sheltered by lying flat on the ground behind the curb. “Come on out,” he called for a second time, “or we’ll give you the works.”
Again the answer was a shot. Walters picked up a small stone lying nearby, and, without raising himself, threw it and shattered the window. Several shots rang out and Walters and his mate returned the fire just to impress the gangster.