In the midst of a speaker’s appeal to the sacred rights of labor against the wrongs of coolie immigration, a man swung himself over the back rail of the platform and whispered to Parks.
"What’s that?" demanded Parks incredulously.
Parks’ face grew black with suppressed storm, and the man continued:
"He said you could rouse the town about it if you thought best, but for himself he didn’t want the course of the law interfered with."
"What do you think, Hampden?" said Parks, in my ear. "Kearney’s arrested!"
"Oh, it’s his Nob Hill speech. He threatened to hang Stanford and Crocker, you know; and they’ve jailed him for that."
"Well," I said cheerfully, "are you going to follow your example by leading the mob to rescue him?"
"I’d take five thousand men down to the City Prison and have him out in half an hour, if I was sure he hadn’t contrived this arrest himself," replied Parks darkly.
"What put that into your head?" I asked in surprise.
"Never mind," said Parks with an angry shake of his head. "I’ve a right to my suspicions." Then he turned to his messenger and growled: "Don’t say anything about this. I’ll announce it later if it seems best. I’ll have to think it over a little. I’ll wait till Reddick has spoken, anyhow."
Reddick, as the mouthpiece of the Council of Nine, gave a speech filled with denunciations of social and industrial conditions, and with the roars of applause that he evoked, the currents and eddies of men grew stronger. As he drew toward the close of his address, I felt a touch from behind, and turned to find Clark beckoning for attention. As I bent to him, he whispered in my ear:
"Those fellows of Morgan’s are trying to stir up a rumpus. They are going through the crowd now passing the word that it’s time to burn out the rich fellows that have brought in the Chinese, and that the place to begin is on Van Ness Avenue, and finish with Nob Hill and Chinatown. There’s going to be trouble as soon as the meeting breaks up."
This alarming information revealed Bolton’s purpose, whatever might be the plans of the Council of Nine, and though the meeting seemed likely to be prolonged for an hour or two more, I scribbled a note on the back of one of Wharton Kendrick’s cards and handed it to Clark, saying: