me that there's a little trouble, they'll make it as big as they can."

"But the whole thing's so absurd," the boy said. "What do they think
they're going to do,--raid the school?" He laughed.

The policeman turned on him quickly.

"'Tis absurd, as ye say, sorr," he said rebukingly "but there's many a
good man been hurt with less cause than this. That crowd's growin' by
thousands. Do you slip away, sorr, I'm afraid there's goin' to be
trouble."

"Not much," Hamilton answered, "now I'm in this far, I'm going to stay
and see the fun out."

"Well then, sorr," advised the policeman, "ye'd better slip through the
school gates. Show your census badge, and the other men at the gate will
let ye through."

Thanking him, Hamilton walked across the narrow stretch of road between
the foremost ranks of the crowd and the little group of policemen
gathered in front of the school entrance. As he did so, a bottle came
whizzing at his head with deadly aim. Fortunately he had been keeping
his head partly turned curiously toward the crowd, and he saw the
missile in time to dodge. It missed him and went hurtling on, just
passing between two policemen and smashing on the iron bars of the
railing.

"You nearly got hit that time," said one of the policemen, as Hamilton
showed his badge and was let through. "How did you get in with them?"

"Just doing my work," the boy answered, "and got carried right along. I
was curious at first,--then when I wanted to get out I found I couldn't.
I think," he added, a little nervously, for the flying jagged bottle had
startled him not a little, "that's the first time I've been in front of
a mob."

"I wish it was the last I'm likely to be," was the reply, "especially a
crowd of women like that. Men you know what to do with."

"What do you suppose they'll do?" asked the boy. "Try to rush the
school?"

"They did once not far from here," the policeman answered, "it was a
school on the East Side, where nearly all the children were Jewish, and
in order to make it easier for the poorer children the school
authorities had opened a sort of restaurant where the kids could get
lunch for three cents. The story got abroad that the children were
getting ham and pork, and the whole section rose in arms. We tried to
disperse them and couldn't. There was no way of reasoning with them,
there was nothing they could do, but they just hung around."

"What for?"

"Waiting a chance to burn the school down, every on