"Well," said my father when the Inspector had finished reading. "This is the shop up to this door,"--pointing to one behind him,--"beyond this door is Liberty Hall, and through {34} this door you will not go. Go ahead and search." "We have no desire to enter Liberty Hall," said the Inspector. "I don't doubt you," said my father, whereat we all grinned. At an order from the Inspector one of the policemen began to search around the place where the papers were kept. He looked at my father standing in the doorway with his carbine, and for a moment we thought he was going to rush him. Perhaps visions of stripes danced before him; but, at an order from his superior he went on with his work. It was a good thing for him that he did so, as there were the best of shots present, with less than ten paces between him and them. "There is nothing here," he said at last to the Inspector. (We had made sure there would not be.) And then they all left the shop. In the meantime, a series of strange sights were to be seen all over the city. The mobilization orders had gone forth and the men were answering them. Women in the fashionable shopping districts were startled by the sight of men, with their faces still grimed with the dust of their work, tearing along at a breakneck {35} speed, a rifle in one hand and a bandolier in the other. Out from the ships where they were working; from the docks; out of the factories; in from the streets,--racing, panting, with eager faces and joyful eyes they trooped into Liberty Hall. Joyful because they believed the call had come at last. No obstacle was great enough to prevent their answering the order. One batch were working in a yard overlooking a canal. A man appeared at the door, whistled to one of the men and gave him a sign. "Come on, boys, we're needed," cried one and made for the door. The foreman, thinking it was a strike, closed the door. Nothing daunted they swarmed the walls, jumped into the canal, swam across, ran to their homes for their rifles and equipment and arrived at Liberty Hall, wet and happy. Another batch were busy with a concrete column and had just got it to the critical period, where one must not stop working or it hardens and cannot be used, when the mobilizer appeared at the door and gave them the news. Down went the tools and out they went through the gate in the twinkling of an eye. {36}