We had reached Union Square on our return to the Committee’s headquarters, when the night air burst into a clangor of alarm. There was a sudden chorus of shrieking whistles, a distant tintinnabulation of gongs, and the great bell in the fire house on Brenham Place thrilled the air with its tolling vibrations. "Box fifty-nine!" cried one of the men who had counted the strokes. "Where’s that?" "It’s the Mail docks, I’ll bet!" cried another. "They’ve been threatening to burn ’em." I turned to look, and the guess was confirmed. A glare of red had flamed up in the southeastern sky, and the fire was already under good headway. "It’s the third alarm," said a sentinel who stood by the corner. "The Committee’s been sending men down there already." The sharp cry of commanding voices echoed from Horticultural Hall, men were climbing into express-wagons and hurrying off on the gallop, and our way was blocked for a minute by a company that marched rapidly out of the building, quickened its pace to a run, and sped down Post Street. Instead of clubs they carried rifles, and I surmised that the armament of the Council of Nine was being turned against the Council’s purposes. Within the hall all was excitement; cries of command rose sharply as companies were assembled by zealous officers, and squads were marching out as rapidly as they could be armed. William T. Coleman met me by the door of the office. "Well, it seems to have begun at last," he said. "The Mail docks have been set afire, and the report comes that the Chinamen down there are being killed by a big mob." "There was talk of burning the _City of Tokio_ with the thousand coolies it has brought," I said, with a shudder at the thought of the barbarities that were perhaps being enacted on the threatened dock. "The _Tokio_ isn’t in yet," said Coleman. "The report of her arrival was a mistake." "I don’t believe there’s any real fight in the mob," I said. "We have just cut the head off the beast." Coleman grasped my hand. "I’m obliged to you for the work you have done," he said. "The guns you sent in will be put to good use. And now would you mind taking a company down to the docks?" "Not at all," I returned unhesitatingly, resolved to live up to the figure I had assumed in his eyes. "You have something of an interest down there," he added. "Kendrick’s lumber-yards are right near the docks, and you may want to do something to protect them." Then turning to the despatching officer, he said: "Put Brixton’s company under command of Captain Hampden. Brixton won’t be back to-night." "I should like," I said, "to add to it the men I have brought back from the House of Blazes. In affairs of this sort it’s some advantage to be acquainted with your men, and we’ve rubbed shoulders to-night in a way that is better than an introduction." Coleman looked at the dozen men who lined up at my call, and gave a nod of assent.