He drew his
pistol, but with a howl of fury it was knocked from his hand, and the
next moment he lay senseless upon the ground, felled by a savage blow
from his own club.
The taste of conflict, the sight of blood, had roused to a fierce
flame the smouldering spirit of lawlessness and insurrection in the
mob. A savage rage seemed to have taken possession of the men as, with
frantic haste and mad delight, they tore up cobble-stones and built a
huge barricade across the track. When it was completed, Carrots darted
up on top of it and waved a red handkerchief above his head. A hoarse
roar of approval broke from the mob, but Steel sternly ordered the boy
down and hissed in his ear,
"You fool! You might have spoiled everything by that! Don't ye show
that again till I give the signal--d'ye hear?"
Carrots nodded with an evil gleam in his narrow eyes, that made Theo
shiver.
"Come on, now. We've done enough for once," Steel added, and keeping
his hand on the arm of the boy the two disappeared in the throng that
was slowly melting away.
Then, with a long breath, Jimmy turned to Theodore.
"My!" he exclaimed, in a tone of shuddering satisfaction. "It's awful,
ain't it, Theo! S'pose he's dead?" He gazed with half fearful interest
toward the policeman who had been clubbed and about whom a group had
gathered.
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