Page:The Cannery Boat.pdf/147

Rh amazed, excited and stirred Arisuke and his mates to the depths of their souls. They pledged themselves to work for the 4,000,000 citizens regardless of consequences. With a little exaggeration you might say that for such inexperienced men it meant risking their lives. Arisuke himself, at Miyakezaka, made a mistake in putting on the brakes, and damaged the back of the car ahead. A friend, who had been allotted to a motor-bus, finally managed to smash it to pieces. There was even a picture of it in the papers the next day.

However, he met with two unpleasant experiences. One happened when the car he was driving was slowing up before the next stop. A group of three tough-looking fellows, walking close alongside, suddenly fixed him with a scowl.

“You scab. You’ll remember this.”

Scab? He did not know what it meant then, but later on, when he came to learn, he felt the blood leave his cheeks.

The other incident happened when he had knocked off work and was going to take the Overhead from Shimbashi Station. A group of bus conductresses—strikers—marching in a row, all of a sudden scattered a shower of leaflets, and then ran for their lives. After them went two plain-clothes men. One of them grabbed a girl by the shoulder with one hand, and struck her full in the face with all his strength with the other. He followed this up with a kick in the back. Five or six yards ahead she collapsed and fell on her back. The two detectives planted themselves on top of her. Arisuke gasped and turned his head away.