America 1881: Legend of the West

Chapter 432: Pier 63 Hyde Street

In a blink of an eye, it was the next night.

At this time, San Francisco was already in full bloom.

Holly had a simple dinner and then continued to stay in the office to deal with the strike.

In addition to achieving the California union's own demands, this strike is also a show of solidarity with the upcoming general strike in Chicago on May 1.

By then, it will be a nationwide strike.

Thousands of American workers will roar against their bosses on this day with the strongest voice of the second half of the 19th century.

But the headquarters of the Knights of Labor thought otherwise.

Holly received a letter this morning.

The letter was written by Te. Vin Powderly, the national leader of the Knights of Labor,

The labor leader, who is usually well-dressed and dressed like a jazzman, hoped that Hawley would not join in the heckles.

In the letter, he stated his view that labor conflicts should be resolved through arbitration and peaceful negotiation rather than confrontation and violence.

Holly scoffed.

No wonder Cronin ignored the headquarters at all.

There are many mountains below, opportunism is practiced above, and there are a bunch of ghosts and snakes in the middle, each with their own agenda.

This kind of Knights of Labor is not far from collapse.

Holly debated whether to write a reply to headquarters.

The pen he held stayed on the paper for a long time, but in the end no words came down.

Otherwise, it’s better not to come back now.

He really didn't know what to write to this man.

There's no point in yelling at him, and it's even more contrary to your true feelings to lick him.

It's better to wait until the strike is over and then deal with the problem.

Holly put down his pen and glanced at the clock in the corner.

The time has come to half past seven in the evening.

It's time to go to the appointment and meet Chen Jianqiu.

He put all the pens and papers into the drawer, stood up, put on a thin coat, and then covered the lid of the kerosene lamp.

The flame of the kerosene lamp went out and the room became pitch black.

Holly walked out of the door, turned around, locked it, and stuffed the key into his coat pocket.

After making sure there was no one around, Holly walked towards Hyde Street.

It's not far from the office yard to the destination, but you need to pass through a low shack area.

Most people here are reluctant to light lights at night, so it's pitch dark.

Holly walked through the streets of the slum area in the moonlight.

However, when he passed by a narrow alley, a black shadow turned out of the intersection.

Holly reacted very quickly and moved his hand directly to his waist.

However, his hand was held down.

The black shadow moved faster and was already in front of him:
"it's me."

A familiar voice came from beside me.

The visitor pulled him under the moonlight and took off his hat at the same time.

A familiar face caught Holly's eye.

It's Chen Jianqiu.

"Brother?" Holly was surprised and happy, "Didn't we make an appointment to meet at the pier?"

He glanced behind Chen Jianqiu and found that there were only two of them in the entire alley.

"Your Knights of Labor have been infiltrated and all strike plans have been leaked." Chen Jianqiu said lightly.

Holly looked shocked, and his mind flashed to the faces of people who had been exposed to the strike plan.

"Are they those three people from Hanif?" After thinking for a while, Holly asked calmly.

"Whether the undercover agent is among those three people will be known after tonight." Chen Jianqiu glanced at the direction of the dock. "As for the dock, we won't go there to join in the fun."

"Brother, where did you arrange an ambush?" Huo Li knew that Chen Jianqiu would never strike lightly.

Chen Jianqiu shook his head.

"Hanif found something that the reporters and Brannan were very interested in." He raised his eyebrows. "Hanif has no other abilities, but he is quite good at collecting these things."

Holly somewhat understood what Chen Jianqiu was talking about.

The look on his face also became wonderful.

"So, Hanif's demotion was also fake, right?" he asked, "It was just a show for those people to see?"

This time, Chen Jianqiu shook his head again.

"This is true."

He rubbed his face, with a look of hatred on his face:
"Sometimes, I really want to send him to my ranch to raise horses."

The pier at 63 Hyde Street is different from other piers in San Francisco.

There is a beach here.

Opposite the beach is Marin County, and across the middle is the Golden Gate Strait.

There was no Golden Gate Bridge at this time.

The communication between the two sides is basically by ferry, so during the day, people come and go on the strait, which is very lively.

But at night, after the last ferry ended its mission, tranquility returned here.

The moonlight is very gentle today.

Under the moonlight, the beach was completely deserted as the sea breeze pushed the waves gently lapping.

But Brannan was not in the mood to enjoy the beauty of the beach under the moonlight.

Even though it was neither too cold nor too hot in San Francisco at the end of April, it was just right to put on a coat.

However, Brannan's face still hurt from the sea breeze. "Mr. Brannan, what exactly is that shocking news you're talking about?" a reporter behind him complained.

He and several of his colleagues, as well as Brannan's men, hid in the shadow of the trestle.

"It's so dark at night, you didn't bring us to the beach to enjoy the breeze, right?" The reporter shrank his head.

Brannan smiled "hehe": "You just have to wait patiently. The news I will give you will definitely be very exciting!"

"But didn't you say eight o'clock? It's already eight-thirty now." The reporter took out his pocket watch and looked at the hands in the moonlight.

Brannan frowned.

Yes, didn't Heilman tell him it was eight o'clock? But it's been almost half an hour, why hasn't he seen anyone yet?
How could these two people be so unpunctual even for an appointment?

Just when Brannan secretly cursed.

One of the attendants beside him touched Brannan's shoulder lightly.

"Master, look here, who is that?"

The attendant pointed in the direction of the beach and said softly.

Brannan looked in the direction pointed by the entourage.

A man wearing overalls appeared on the beach at some point.

The moonlight cannot illuminate his face, but his blond hair is particularly conspicuous.

This man stopped on the beach, looking up in the direction of Hyde Street from time to time, as if waiting for someone.

"Hey, we're finally here. I'll show you your true colors later."

Brannan turned his head and looked at his entourage with excitement.

"Are the gas lamps and mirrors ready? Turn on the brightness to the maximum in a moment!"

Sure enough, not long after, another person appeared in the direction that person was looking.

The difference between this person and the man on the beach is that this person wrapped himself tightly and walked towards the beach in a hurry.

The two men soon met and entered the shadows.

"Ready, ready, hehe." Brannan could no longer contain his excitement and was rubbing his hands together.

"Young Master, should we take a closer look? Why do I feel that the man's figure doesn't look like Chen Jianqiu? Chen Jianqiu is not that short!" the follower said cautiously.

"See? How? Don't I have to get closer to see?" Brannan asked himself.

He stood up first, rushed out from the shadow of the pier, and ran towards his target.

A group of people surrounded the two people on the beach.

"Lights! Lights! Shine them on! Shine them on! Let everyone see who you are!" Brannan rubbed his hands excitedly.

The followers used everything they could.

The flames of five or six gas lamps shot up high, and under the reflection of the mirror, they illuminated the beach brightly.

The two people who were caught raised their hands to cover their faces.

Especially the one who came later, wearing a big hood, and the scarf he had just untied was wrapped back around him in an instant.

"What? You two dare not admit it, do you?" Brannan looked at the two men with a gloating look.

He called to the reporters behind him: "Come and see, you will testify today! I won't say anything! You can write whatever you want!"

When they heard that reporters were coming, the two men seemed to become nervous instantly and started to back away.

Finally, someone couldn't hold on any longer.

"Brannan! I was wrong! It's all my fault! Can you forgive me?" A female voice with a crying tone came from under the hood.

Brannan suddenly felt something was wrong.

Why does this voice sound so familiar?

He quickly rushed to the person who was speaking, took away her arms that were covering her face, and at the same time pulled off the hood on her head.

A ball of hair rolled out from inside.

Brannan looked closer by the light of the gas lamp and saw a woman's face that was very familiar to him.

This is his wife, Susanna!

Brannan walked up to another man and slapped his hand away, which was also covering his face.

This is a young face, also very handsome, but definitely not Holly!

"Why are you here? Didn't you tell me you were at your mom's house?"

Brannan yelled at his wife.

He pointed at the blond young man and asked:

"Who is he?"

Susanna rushed to her husband and hugged him: "It's all my fault. Don't make things difficult for Dick! I beg you!"

This woman would come out at this time every week to have a secret meeting with her lover.

But it has never been discovered.

She just saw Brannan appear here with a large group of people, and she thought that her husband had found out about the affair and came to settle the score.

She knew very well what kind of person her husband was.

Susannah held Brannan in her arms and winked at her lover. Her mouth moved, and from the shape of her lips, she was saying:

"What are you standing there for? Run!"

The young man named Dick reacted quickly. He found an opportunity and ran into the darkness.

Brannan, who was still confused, suddenly woke up when he saw this.

He pushed his wife away, pulled out a revolver from his follower's waist, raised his hand and fired a shot in the direction Dick was running.

The shot obviously missed.

Brannan chased into the darkness with a gun in hand, shouting obscenities as he ran.

When the followers saw the young master chasing after him, they naturally followed him, leaving only the reporters who were still staring in amazement.

I've seen people catching adulterers, but I've never seen one so ruthlessly done with reporters.

Since he said we can write whatever we want, let's respect his wishes.

(End of this chapter)