up." At the spot where this unwelcome interruption occurred there
are but few houses; brick-fields and clay-pits stretch away at either
side, and the neighbourhood is thinly inhabited. But its comparative
quiet now gave way to a scene of bustle and excitement so strange
that it seems to have almost paralysed the spectators with amazement.
The peremptory command levelled at the driver of the van was hardly
uttered, when a body of men, numbering about thirty, swarmed over
the wall which lined the road, and, surrounding the van, began to
take effectual measures for stopping it. The majority of them were
well-dressed men, of powerful appearance; a few carried pistols or
revolvers in their hands, and all seemed to act in accordance with a
preconcerted plan. The first impulse of the policemen in front appears
to have been to drive through the crowd, but a shot, aimed in the
direction of his head brought the driver tumbling from his seat,
terror-stricken but unhurt; and almost at the same time, the further
progress of the van was effectually prevented by shooting one of the
horses through the neck. A scene of indescribable panic and confusion
ensued; the policemen scrambled hastily to the ground, and betook
themselves to flight almost without a thought of resistance. Those
in the cab behind got out, not to resist the attack, but to help in
running away; and in a few minutes the strangers, whose object had by
this time become perfectly apparent, were undisputed masters of the
situation. Pickaxes, hatchets, hammers, and crow-bars were instantly
produced, and the van was besieged by a score stout pairs of arms,
under the blows from which its sides groaned, and the door cracked and
splintered. Some clambered upon the roof, and attempted to smash it in
with heavy stones; others tried to force an opening through the side;
while the door was sturdily belaboured by another division of the
band. Seeing the Fenians, as they at once considered them, thus busily
engaged, the policemen, who had in the first instance retreated to a