The Crowds in the Hamburg Exchange.
"You are foreigners," said the boy, "and the old boss on the docks doesn't allow foreigners out here. But I suppose he saw that you were girls and you wouldn't know much. We have got to be careful of spies. We have arrested twenty already. The last one I spotted myself. He was drawing a plan on a paper. I can tell you nothing gets by me. I can see you two are harmless."
We made a circle around the harbor. When we came near the cruisers, coming back, one of the biggest ones broke loose from the group and began to move slowly away.
"Do you see that?" said the boy, "she is going out again. She has been here for three weeks. She has been in many a fight. I can tell you she is a devil." The boat had but a few lights showing, and in a minute she was lost in the darkness.
On our ferry coming back were several hundred workmen. They were not cripples but big strong men. When we got off the dock at St. Pauli they all jumped off and ran. We ran too, for we were nearly frozen stiff. The old man in blue was waiting for us, and with chattering teeth we thanked him and told him how much we had enjoyed our trip.
"Wouldn't you like to come in and get warmed up a bit?" he asked and he took us into a little office where a great fire was burning. He talked to us about America. I think he must have been a mate on a steamer.
View of a Grain Storage at Hamburg.
It was just six o'clock when we ran up the foot-bridge. A boat-load of workmen ran up with us. At the top we stood a minute and looked out over the harbor. A sea of lights! A bay of boats! More workmen! The old man in blue had said: "We are getting ready for the Hamburg of to-morrow."