ter had to fight it
out by themselves after a while, for the military boarded the wrecking
train again, and the engineer, completely "rattled," opened the
throttle, and whisked them away to the West, leaving a dozen
revolver-armed policemen to meet the assaults of a mob that had now
increased to five thousand.

The Press abuses the police on principle, but, seeing that heroic
encounter, I wavered in the keeping of my promise to Belle not to run
into danger. Even as I hesitated, "hurry-up wagons" arrived with
re-enforcements from neighboring police stations, and then the crowd
could not disperse quickly enough. It was a desperate sight--men
knocking each other down in their haste to get away, and the women who
had been spurring them on, now shrieking and groaning like maniacs. One
of the poor creatures was hit on the ankle by a bullet, and her falling
over into the gutter was too much for my virtuous resolution. Even if
she is a dirty, howling Polack, a man does not enjoy seeing a woman
knocked down, so I left my doorstep and went to help the lady up.
Constitutionally I am not a brave man, but I forgot all about the flying
bullets till one took me in the knee, and I toppled over, hitting my
head against the curbstone as I did so. I must have been stunned, for
when I opened my eyes again the street was empty, except for a
thundering vehicle that was bearing straight down upon me.

At first I thought it was a runaway, for the horse was foaming of mouth
and bloodshot of eyeball; but no, there was a man, or fiend, with a
similar wild gleam in his eye, urging the brute upon me, while he
sounded a gong to keep everything out of his way. All this I saw in a
flash, and in a flash too went through my mind the advice given by
President Cleveland in his proclamation to non-combatants to keep out of
harm's way.

I rolled over on my side with the sickening certainty that the next
instant the hoofs and the wheels would be upon me, but the horse pulled
up on his haunches at my very feet, the rattle and clanging ceased, and
a doctor in his shirt sleeves appeared as if by magic.

It was an ambulance, of course.

I fainted when they lifted me, and only came to myself in the
hospital--Mary's hospital, and her ward. Every one in Chicago was
crowded that week and the next, but--the ruling principle strong in
death--I declined to be put away out of eyeshot and earshot into a
private room.

"D'ye want me to send word to Mis' Gemmell to