nto the horses' bridles."
(And he earned for himself, thereby, the nickname of "Bloody Bridles"
Waite.)

Now it began to appear that his prediction was about to come true; for
he called out the militia, and the Board armed the police. My brother
was a militiaman, and I kept pace with him as his regiment marched from
the Armouries to attack the City Hall. There were riflemen on the
towers and in the windows of that building; and on the roofs of the
houses for blocks around were sharpshooters and armed gamblers and the
defiant agents of the powers who were behind the Police Board in their
fight. Gatling guns were rushed through the streets; cannon were
trained on the City Hall; the long lines of militia were drawn up
before the building; and amid the excited tumult of the mob and the
eleventh-hour conferences of the Committee of Public Safety, and the
hurry of mounted officers and the marching of troops, we all waited
with our hearts in our mouths for the report of the first shot.
Suddenly, in the silence that expected the storm, we heard the sound of
bugles from the direction of the railroad station, and at the head of
another army--a body of Federal soldiers ordered from Fort Logan by
President Cleveland, at the frantic call of the Committee of Public
Safety--a mounted officer rode between the lines of militia and police,
and in the name of the President commanded peace.

The militia withdrew. The crowds dispersed. The police and their
partisans put up their guns, and the Beast, still defiant, went back
sullenly to cover. Not until the Supreme Court had decided that
Governor Waite had the right and the power to unseat the Board--not
till then was the City Hall surrendered; and even so, at the next
election (the Beast turning polecat), "Bloody Bridles" Waite was
defeated after a campaign of lies, ridicule, and abuse, and the men
whom he had opposed were returned to office.

I had eyes, but I did not see. I thought the whole quarrel was a
personal matter between the Police Board and Governor Waite, who seemed
determined merely to show them that he was master; and if my young
brother had been shot down by a policeman that night, I suppose I
should have joined in the curses upon poor old "Bloody Bridles."

However, my prospects in the office had begun to improve. I had had my
salary raised, and I had ceased doing janitor work. I had become more
of a clerk and less of an office boy. A number of us "kids" had go