ndaged heads
and arms, the capture had not been effected without resistance. Many of
the poor fellows appeared more suited to a hospital than the duties of
active service, and several lay with bloodless faces and white lips, the
handcuffed wrists seeming a very mockery of a condition so destitute of
all chance of resistance.

The sympathies of the bystanders were very varied regarding them. Some
were full of tender pity and compassion; some denounced the system as
a cruel 'and oppressive tyranny; others deplored it as an unhappy
necessity; and a few well-to-do-looking old citizens, in drab shorts
and wide-brimmed hats, grew marvellously indignant at the recreant
poltroonery of 'the scoundrels who were not proud to fight their
country's battles.'

As I was wondering within myself how it happened that men thus coerced
could ever be depended on in moments of peril and difficulty, and
by what magic the mere exercise of discipline was able to merge the
feelings of the man in the sailor, the crowd was rudely driven back by
policemen, and a cry of 'Make way,' 'Fall back there,' given. In the
sudden retiring of the mass I found myself standing on the very edge
of the line along which a new body of impressed men were about to pass.
Guarded front, flank, and rear, by a strong party of marines, the poor
fellows came along slowly enough. Many were badly wounded, and walked
lamely; some were bleeding profusely from cuts on the face and temples;
and one, at the very tail of the procession, was actually carried in
a blanket by four sailors. A low murmur ran through the crowd at the
spectacle, which gradually swelled louder and fuller till it burst forth
into a deep groan of indignation, and a cry of 'Shame I Shame!' Too much
used to such ebullitions of public feeling, or too proud to care for
them, the officer in command of the party never seemed to hear the angry
cries and shouts around him; and I was even more struck by his cool
self-possession than by their enthusiasm. For a moment or two I was
convinced that a rescue would be attempted. I had no conception that so
much excitement could evaporate innocuously, and was preparing myself
to take part in the struggle when the line halted as the leading files
gained the stairs, and, to my wonderment, the crowd became hushed and
still. Then, one burst of excited pity over, not a thought occurred to
any to offer resistance to the law, or dare to oppose the constituted
authorities. How un