ging the English Transport Workers' strike song,

"HOLD THE FORT!"

We meet today in Freedom's cause,
And raise our voices high;
We'll join our hands in union strong,
To battle or to die.

CHORUS

Hold the fort for we are coming,
Union men be strong.
Side by side we battle onward,
Victory will come!

Look, my comrades, see the union,
Banners waving high.
Reinforcements now appearing,
Victory is nigh.

See our numbers still increasing;
Hear the bugle blow:
By our union we shall triumph
Over every foe.

Fierce and long the battle rages,
But we will not fear.
Help will come whene'er it's needed,
Cheer, my comrades, cheer!

From a hillside overlooking the scene thousands upon thousands of
Everett citizens sent forth cheer after cheer as a hearty welcome to the
"invading army." High up on the flag-pole of the Verona clambered Hugo
Gerlot, a youthful free speech enthusiast, to wave a greeting to the
throng that lined the shore. Passenger Oscar Carlson and his friend
Ernest Nordstrom, from their position on the very bow of the boat,
caught the spirit of the party and endeavored to join in the song that
resounded louder and clearer as many of the men left the cabins to go
out upon the deck.

Completely filling the bow of the boat and blocking the passageway on
either side, the singers crowded to the rail in the usual joyously
impatient manner of holiday excursionists, and then for the first time
observed a body of deputies march from the large warehouse and settle
into lines across the back and sides of the open landing space on the
dock, where Curtis, McRae, and Beard were stationed.

Waiting until Captain Ramwell's wharfinger, William Kenneth, had made
fast the bowline to prevent the boat from backing out, Sheriff Donald
McRae gave his belt holster a hitch to bring his gun directly across his
middle and then lurched forward to the face of the dock. Holding up his
left hand to check the singing, he yelled to the men on board:

"Who is your leader?"

Immediate and unmistakable was the answer from practically every member
of the Industrial Workers of the World:

"We are all leaders!"

Angrily jerking his gun from its holster and flourishing it in a
threatening manner, McRae cried:

"You can't land here!"

"The hell we can't!" came the reply as the men s