and at last by the bulk of the crowd. They
had come so near the porch that it could now be seen by the light of
the moon that few of them carried arms. Some had sticks; one or two men
carried heavy stones in their hands; one young man brandished an axe;
one had a hammer. There was evidently no attempt at organization
whatever.

Farnham waited until they were only a few feet away, and then shouted:

"Forward! Guide right! Double time! March!"

The men darted out from the shadow and began to lay about them with
their clubs. A yell of dismay burst from the crowd. Those in front
turned and met those behind, and the whole mass began striking out
wildly at each other. Yelling and cursing, they were forced back over
the lawn to the gate. Farnham, seeing that no shots had been fired, was
confirmed in his belief that the rioters were without organization and,
to a great extent, without arms. He therefore ordered his men to the
right about and brought them back to the house. This movement evidently
encouraged the mob. Loud voices were distinctly heard.

"Who's afraid of half a dozen cops?" said a burly ruffian, who carried
a slunfg-shot. "There's enough of us to eat 'em up."

"That's the talk, Bowersox," said another. "You go in and get the first
bite."

"That's my style," said Bowersox. "Come along, Offitt. Where's Bott? I
guess he don't feel very well. Come along, boys! We'll slug 'em this
time!" And the crowd, inspirited by this exhortation and the apparent
weakness of the police force, made a second rush for the house.

Temple was standing next to Farnham. "Arthur," he whispered, "let's
change weapons a moment," handing Farnham his club and taking the
revolver from his hand. Farnham hardly noticed the exchange, so
intently was he watching the advance of the crowd, which he saw, in a
moment, was far more serious than the first. They were coming up more
solidly, and the advantage of the surprise was now gone. He waited,
however, until they were almost as near as they had been before, and
then gave the order to charge, in the same words as before, but in a
much sharper and louder tone, which rang out like a sudden blast from a
trumpet.

The improvised policemen darted forward and attacked as vigorously as
ever, but the assailants stood their ground. There were blows given as
well as taken this time. There was even a moment's confusion on the
extreme right of the line, where the great bulk of Bowersox bore down
one of