“Ladies and brothers of our cause! Please stop all proceedings—I am out of breath—I will sit down for a few minutes.”
All present looked at the man with a great deal of curiosity and patiently waited for him to recover his breath. The interval was about five minutes. Then the stranger jumped up and said:
“I am from Jefferson. I ran all the way At this bit of information every one became highly excited, and the stranger immediately proceeded to inquire if there was anyone they suspected. They all looked at each other, and, becoming satisfied that they were all friends of Anarchy, waited for the man to give them more precise information. The stranger then continued: “The man is described to me, and that is all I know.” He looked around for a moment and finally said, pointing to the man addressed: “If I am not damnably mistaken, you are the man!” At the same time he ordered the guard to lock the door and pull out the key. “Now,” he resumed, addressing the man to whom he had pointed, who was none other than a detective in my service, “you will have to give a good account of yourself.” This placed my man in a rather embarrassing position, but he was equal to the emergency. “I am an Anarchist,” he spoke up promptly, in a loud, clear and firm tone of voice, “and I have been one for years, and you are simply one of those Pinkerton bummers. What business have you here in our meetings, I would like to know. The other day I passed Pinkerton’s office. I was sitting in a car, and I saw you coming down stairs. I suppose you met some fool that gave you a little information so as to get in here. All you want to know evidently is how many are present here, and, if possible, learn what we are doing. You get out of here in five seconds, or I will shoot you down like a rat.”