“Remember that we give up without a struggle: there’s too much at stake to risk a bullet now, and these country lumpkins shoot first, and hand you their cards afterward.”
He dived into an alley, and emerged midway of a block where a number of barrels under a shed awning advertised a grocery.
“Admirable!” whispered Hood, throwing his arms about his comrades. “We will now arouse the watch.”
With this he kicked a barrel into the gutter, and jumped back like a mischievous boy into the shelter of the alley. Footsteps were heard in a moment, far down the street.
“These country cops are sometimes shrewd, but often the silly children of convention like the rest of us. West Dempster has an evil reputation in the underworld. The pinching of joy-riders is purely incidental; they run in anybody they catch after the curfew sounds from the coffin factory.”
A window overhead opened with a bang, and a blast from a police whistle pierced the air shrilly. Deering started to run, but Hood upset him with a thrust of his foot. Two men were already creeping up behind them in the alley; the owner of the grocery stole out of the front door in a long nightgown and began howling dismally for help.
“Throw up your hands, boys; it’s no use!” cried Hood in mock despair.
Then the man in the nightgown, after menacing Hood with a pistol, stuck the barrel of it into Deering’s mouth, opened inopportunely to protest his innocence. The policemen threw themselves upon Hood and Cassowary, toppled them over, and flashed electric lamps in their faces.
“More o’ them yeggs,” announced one of the officers with satisfaction as he snapped a pair of handcuffs on Cassowary’s wrists. “Don’t you fellows try any monkey-shines or we’ll plug you full o’ lead. Trot along now.”
The gentleman in the night-robe wished to detain the party for a recital of his own prowess in giving warning of the attempted burglary. The police were disposed to make light of his assistance, while Hood hung back to support the grocer’s cause, a generosity on his part that was received ill-temperedly by the officers of the law. They bade the grocer report to the magistrate Monday morning, and they parted, but only after Hood had shaken the crestfallen grocer warmly by the hand, warning him with the greatest solicitude against further exposure to the night air. Two other policemen appeared; the whole force was doing them honor, Hood declared proudly. He lifted his voice in song, but the lyrical impulse was hushed by a prod from a revolver. He continued to talk, however, assuring his captors of his heartiest admiration for their efficiency. He meant to recommend them for positions in the secret service—men of their genius were wasted upon a country town.