"You can't make those sharps disgorge," counselled Newmark. "At the
first look of trouble they will light out. They have it all fixed.
Force won't do you much good--and may get some of you shot."
"I'm not going to use force," denied Orde. "I'm just going to play
their game. But I bet I can make it go. Only I sort of want the
moral support of the boys."
"I tell you, you CAN'T win!" cried Newmark disgustedly. "It's a
brace game pure and simple."
"I don't know about it's being pure," replied Orde drolly, "but it's
simple enough, if you know how to make the wheels go 'round. How is
it, boys--will you back my play?"
And such was their confidence that, in face of Newmark's
demonstration, they said they would.
VII
After the men had been paid off, perhaps a dozen of them hung around
the yards awaiting evening and the rendezvous named by Orde. The
rest drifted away full of good intentions, but did not show up
again. Orde himself was busy up to the last moment, but finally
stamped out of the office just as the boarding-house bell rang for
supper. He surveyed what remained of his old crew and grinned.
"Well, boys, ready for trouble?" he greeted them. "Come on."
They set out up the long reach of Water Street, their steel caulks
biting deep into the pitted board-walks.
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