America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 422 St. Elizabeth's Mental Hospital

"Mr. Cronin, why are you here today?"

In the new office of the Workers' Party, Dennis and his right-hand men stood ready.

His voice echoed in the empty "office".

Their original office at the dock was completely burned down by Chen Jianqiu.

Due to limited funds, Dennis had to rent another abandoned warehouse near the dock.

This warehouse is big, but the roof is broken and leaks every time it is windy or rainy.

But this does not trouble the workers.

After renovations and the addition of some tables and chairs, it became the new office of the California Workers Party.

"I said that my knighthood was occupied by Chinese laborers. Do you believe it?"

Cronin put his arms on the table in front of Dennis and stared directly at Dennis.

The two men behind Dennis looked at each other.

They could feel that the expressions on each other's faces were very strange, and they were both suppressing laughter.

The muscles in Dennis's face trembled.

"Clonin, if you really plan to humiliate me, please don't use such stupid words, okay?"

Dennis was very disdainful of Cronin's behavior.

If you have something to say, tell it in such a weird and roundabout way. Who should listen to it?
"What I said is true!" Cronin looked at Dennis with a serious expression.

Dennis turned his head, glanced at a clerk behind him, and asked knowingly:
"Are there any powerful Chinese labor groups in San Francisco?"

The clerk's eyes widened: "Are you talking about the X Court (a branch of the HONG Sect)?"

"Were you knocked over by the Chinese gang?" Dennis leaned back and leaned against the back of the chair, his face full of sarcasm.

"No, it was the Chinese workers who joined my knights. Then, they occupied our meeting. Ah, no, they should have gathered with guns."

Cronin's beard rose and fell.

He began to speak incoherently, and his usual eloquence was gone.

Because what happened yesterday and today was difficult for him to understand.

Dennis lost his patience.

"Cronin, I'm fed up with these lies you've been telling me. Did you take the wrong medicine today?"

"You come alone today, I won't make it difficult for you. If you dare to let your yellow-haired little brat treat us like other trade union organizations, believe me, I will definitely retaliate in kind!"

After saying that, he made a driving gesture to signal Cronin to leave quickly.

"It's him, that yellow-haired brat, he betrayed me, he."

Cronin wanted to say something else, but several people behind Dennis had already taken a few steps forward and surrounded him.

The bearded man was kicked out.

Standing alone at the gate of the Workers' Party, Cronin suddenly felt a little miserable.

When had Dennis ever been able to ride on his head like this? !

However, there was no time for him to wallow in self-pity.

Because, when the bearded man raised his head, he suddenly found that there were some Chinese workers near the dock and opposite him.

Although these Chinese workers are doing their own thing.

But he always felt that they were watching him from time to time.

The bearded man lowered his head and began to walk quickly.

His pace became faster and faster, and after a few steps, he turned into a run.

Ten minutes later, Cronin stopped at the entrance of an alley, panting.

He couldn't remember how many times he had run away today.

These damn Chinese seem to be determined to kill themselves!

what to do? what to do?
no solution anymore! Just call the police!

Although Cronin did not have a good relationship with the San Francisco police because of his frequent speeches and strikes.

But there is a benefit.

That is, they are very familiar.

He was a subject of surveillance registered with Sheriff Porter.

Therefore, when he saw Cronin stepping into the door of the police station from the window, Chief Porter jumped up from his chair with excitement.

Did this guy turn himself in because of his conscience?
"Chief Potter, please bear with me and listen to what I'm going to say next."

After arriving at Sheriff Porter's office, Cronin's first words made him frown.

"Last night, a group of Chinese workers occupied the meeting place of the Knights of Labor." Cronin calmed down and said slowly.

But his words were still rudely interrupted by Sheriff Porter.

"Tell me more about the meeting place. Where is it? What time is it? What kind of meeting are you going to have there in the evening?"

It seems that the Sheriff is more interested in this.

Cronin was stunned. He looked at the police chief in disbelief:

"Don't you want to know why those Chinese workers showed up collectively at the meeting place of the Knights of Labor?"

"I don't want to know." The police chief shook his head, "What extraordinary things can those honest Chinese workers do?"

"They joined the Knights of Labor!"

"So?" The Sheriff didn't quite understand Cronin's logic. "Are you here to show off to me? The team has grown again?"

"I've been sidelined! I've been subverted!" Cronin gasped hysterically, "My personal safety has been threatened!"

"Ah, that's great, oh, no, I mean, that's shocking."

Sheriff Bota's words stumbled, but he could no longer conceal his inner ecstasy. This damned labor union had finally started to fight among itself, and he no longer had to worry about these people making a mess of the factory.

"Why don't you tell me about the meeting you had in the middle of the night." The police chief leaned forward.

Cronin felt so desperate that he slammed the Sheriff's desk:

"Those Chinese will destroy us! Do you understand? If you let them occupy the union, it will be a disaster!"

Sheriff Porter was startled, and then he shouted angrily at the door:

"Come here, put this madman in a cell and brainwash him!"

Several police officers rushed in and pushed Cronin to the ground.

They searched the bearded man, including the revolver in his clothes.

After a day of cooling off in a cell, Cronin was released.

There were several scars on his face, a black eye on his right eye, and his cheek was swollen.

The police returned the clothes and revolver to him, but confiscated the ammunition from his gun.

Cronin didn't know and didn't check.

He took the revolver with a blank look and stuffed it into his clothes.

He was now penniless and hungry; his hair and beard were as messy as straw.

Desperate, Cronin wandered aimlessly through the streets of San Francisco.

I don’t know if it’s because of hunger or the mental torture of the past few days.

He suddenly had an impulse that was considered imaginary.

Otherwise, he could just go find that blond kid Moody (Hawley) and fight him to the death. If he could kill him, wouldn't he be able to regain control of the Knights of Labor?

Think of this.

Kronin then walked back towards the direction of the Knights' headquarters.

If he remembered correctly, Moody (Hawley) should live near there.

He walked forward step by step.

Trams clanged past him; passers-by were curious about his homeless attire, his zombie-like gait, and his cloudy eyes.

They always think that this person has something wrong with his brain.

However, Kroening's road to revenge stopped when he reached the bottom of the Customs Building.

He saw some more Chinese people appearing in the direction he was heading.

Their clothes and appearance were exactly the same as the two Chinese people who had been guarding downstairs of their building.

Only this time, a white man with an upturned beard stood in front of them.

Beside the white man, there were some sturdy men in grey robes. One of them was whispering with the man with a curled beard.

These people looked at him at the same time.

Kroenig took two steps back.

He looked around.

People also gathered from other directions. Among them were Chinese, white people, and even two black people.

Kronin had no way to retreat, and a surge of anger rose in his heart.

He took out the revolver from his arms and pointed it at the people in front of him:

"Come on! I'm not afraid of you! Don't you want to kill me, you bastards!"

Kroening roared with his eyes wide open, his temples bulging and the veins on his neck exposed.

"Doctor, as I told you before, this man suffers from a very serious mental illness. He always fantasizes that someone is trying to kill him."

Hanif, with his mustache raised, spoke to the burly man in a gray robe beside him.

"Some people saw him running wildly on the street for no apparent reason. He also had a persistent delusion that the Chinese were going to take over the entire United States."

"You idiots! If this continues, Chinese workers will swarm over California like locusts! They will occupy the entire West! You will all die without a burial place!" Cronin screamed hysterically.

"It seems that he is very ill and very aggressive."

The doctor looked at Kroenig and the revolver in his hand and thought.

The doctor came from the notorious St. Elizabeth's Asylum in San Francisco.

This mental hospital was originally intended for veterans who suffered mental trauma during the Civil War, but later on, it was no longer a mental rehabilitation center.

As long as you pay enough fees, you can keep your patient, or "patient", in there as long as you want.

As for their treatment style.

The doctor's strong arms and the rope in his hands are enough to illustrate this.

The detectives from the Border Detective Agency and the staff from the mental hospital approached the bearded man cautiously.

Without any warning, Kroenig pulled the trigger at one of the Chinese men.

His response was a hollow sound.

Everyone rushed forward and knocked Kroening to the ground.

They hurriedly tied up the bearded man and stuffed him into a carriage nearby in public.

"Stop looking! Stop looking! Catch the mentally ill ones! Disperse! Disperse!" A staff member began to drive away the crowd watching from the surrounding area.

"I will go to the hospital to settle the bill tomorrow." Hanif put on his hat, got on his horse, and said to the doctor.

"I hope you can give him good treatment. As for the treatment period, my client hopes it will be..."

Hanif adjusted his hat and stroked his beard.

"Always."

(End of this chapter)