noon
But in time the agitation became so general as to paralyze a wide section of the water-front , and the city awoke to the realization that a serious conflict was in progress . The handful of fishermen , hidden under the roof of the great warehouse , outnumbered twenty to one , and guarded only by a thin line of pickets , became a centre of general interest . As the violence of the mob , stimulated rather than checked by the indifference of the police , became more openly daring , so likewise did the reprisals of the fishermen , goaded now to a stubborn rage . They would not hear to having their food brought to them , but insisted daily on emerging in a body at noon and spending the hour in combat . Not to speak of the physical disabilities they incurred in these affrays , the excitement distracted them and affected their work disastrously , to the great concern of their employer . It was on the fourth day that Boyd espied the man in the gray suit among the strikers and pointed him out to his three companions , Clyde and Fraser having joined him and George in a spirit of curiosity . Clyde was for immediately executing a sally to capture the fellow , explaining that once they had him inside the dock-house they could beat him until he confessed that Marsh was behind the strike , but his valor shrank amazingly when Fraser maliciously suggested that he himself lead the dash .