"Ho, there! Stop him, you!"
It was the vintner who caused this cry; and the agility with which he scrambled through the window into the blind alley was an inspiration.
"After him!" yelled the officer. "He is probably the one rare bird in the bunch."
But they searched in vain.
Gretchen stared ruefully at the blank window.
Somehow this flight pained her; somehow it gave her the heartache to learn that her idol was afraid of such a thing as a policeman.
"Out into the street, every mother's son of you!" cried the officer angrily to the quaking socialists. "This is your last warning, Goldberg. The next time you go to prison for seditious teachings. Out with you!"
The socialists could not have emptied the cellar any quicker had there been a fire.
Gretchen alone remained. It was her duty to carry the steins up to the bar. The officer, rather thorough for his kind, studied the floor under the window. He found a cutting from a newspaper. This interested him.
"Do you know who this fellow was?" with a jerk of his head toward the window.