Harrigan | Page 3

from this deadly fighter. His bellow of triumph rang over the clamor.
His hat was off; his long black hair stood straight up in the wind; and
he leaped after them with flailing arms.
But now the police had managed to pry their way into the mass by dint
of indiscriminate battering. As the black-haired man came face to face
with the sergeant, the light gleamed on a high-swung club that thudded
home; and the big man dropped out of sight. He came up again almost
at once, but with men draped from every portion of his body. The
soldiers and police had joined forces, and once more a dozen men
clutched him, spilling over him like football players in a scrimmage.
He was knocked from his feet by the impact.
"Coming!" shouted Harrigan.
He raced with long strides, head lowered and back bowed until his long
arms nearly swept the ground. Gathering impetus at every stride, he

crushed into the floundering heap of arms and legs. The police sergeant
rose and whirled with lifted club. Harrigan grunted with joy as he dug
his left into the man's midsection. The sergeant collapsed upon the
ground, embracing his stomach with both arms. Harrigan jerked away
the upper layers of the attackers and dragged the black-haired man to
his feet.
"Shoulder to shoulder!" thundered Harrigan, and smote Officer Akana
upon the point of the chin.
The victory was not yet won. The black soldiers of Uncle Sam's regular
army need not take second place to any body of troops in the world.
These men had tasted their own blood and they came tearing in now for
revenge.
Harrigan, standing full in front of the rescued man until the latter
should have recovered his breath, found food for both fists, and his love
of battle was fed. The other man had fought stiffly erect, standing with
feet braced to give the weight of his whole body to every punch;
Harrigan raged back and forth like a panther, avoiding blows by the
catlike agility of his movements, which left both hands free to strike
sledge-hammer blows. Presently he heard a chuckling at his side. Out
of the corner of his eye he saw the black-haired man come into the
battle, straight and stiff as before, with long arms shooting out like
pistons.
It was a glorious sight. Something made Harrigan's heart big; rose and
swelled his throat; rose again and came as a wild yell upon his tongue.
The unfortunates who have faced Irish legions in battle know that yell.
The soldiers did not know it, and they held back for a moment.
Something else lowered their spirits still more. It was the clanging of
the police patrol as it swung to a halt and a body of reserves poured out.
"Here comes our finish!" panted Harrigan to his comrade in arms. "But
oh, man, I'm thinkin' it was swate while it lasted!"
In his great moments the Irish brogue thronged thick upon his tongue.

"Finish, hell!" grunted the other. "After me, lad!"
And lowering his head like a bull, he drove forward against the crowd.
Harrigan caught the idea in a flash. He put his shoulder to the hip of his
friend. They became a flying wedge with the jabbing fists of the
black-haired man for a point--and they sank into the mass of soldiers
like a hot knife into butter, shearing them apart.
There were few who wished more action, for the police reserves were
capturing man after man. One or two resisted, but a revolver fired
straight in the air put a sudden period to such thoughts. The crowd
scattered in all directions and Harrigan was taking to his heels among
the rest when an iron hand caught his shoulder and jerked him to a halt.
It was the black-haired man.
"Easy," he cautioned. He pulled a cap out and settled it upon his head.
Harrigan followed suit with his soft hat.
"Are you after givin' yourself away to the law?" he queried, bewildered.
"Steady, you fool," said the other; "they're only after the ones who run
away."
An excited Kanaka confronted them with brandished club.
"What's the cause of the disturbance, officer?" asked the big man.
The policeman for answer waved them away and darted after a running
soldier.
"I'll be damned!" murmured Harrigan, and his eyes dwelt on his
companion's face almost tenderly.
They were at the edge of the crowd when a shrill voice called: "Those
two big men! Halt 'em! Stand!"
Officer Akana ran through the crowd with his regulation Colt
brandished above his head.

"The time's come!" said Harrigan's new friend, and broke into a run.
CHAPTER 2
They were past the thick of the mob now and they dodged rapidly
among the cottages until the clamor of police