Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century — John Shaqi
Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth CenturyDonnelly, Ignatius
Science
Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
Donnelly, Ignatius
Dystopias -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Science fiction; Social problems -- Fiction; Twentieth century -- Fiction
there was in them, and in the whole contour of the face, a look of
honesty and dignity, and calm intelligence, rarely witnessed in the
countenance of woman. She did not appear to be at all alarmed; and
when I told my story of the driver lashing the aged beggar, her face
lighted up, and she said, with a look that thrilled me, and in a soft
and gentle voice: "We are much obliged to you, sir; you did perfectly
right."
I was about to reply, when I felt some one tugging fiercely at my
coat, and turning around, I was surprised to find that the beggar was
drawing me away from the carriage by main force. I was astonished
also at the change in his appearance. The aspect of decrepitude had
disappeared, a green patch that I had noticed covering one of his
eyes had fallen off, and his black eyes shone with a look of command
and power that was in marked contrast with his gray hair, his crooked
back, and his rags.
"Come," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "come quickly, or you will be
arrested and cast into prison."
"What for?" I asked.
"I will tell you hereafter--look!"
I looked around me and saw that a great crowd had collected as if by
magic, for this city of ten millions of people so swarms with
inhabitants that the slightest excitement will assemble a multitude
in a few minutes. I noticed, too, in the midst of the mob, a
uniformed policeman. The driver saw him also, and, recovering his
courage, cried out, "Arrest him--arrest him." The policeman seized me
by the collar. I observed that at that instant the beggar whispered
something in his ear: the officer's hand released its hold upon my
coat. The next moment the beggar cried out, "Back! Back! Look out!
Dynamite!" The crowd crushed back on each other in great confusion;
and I felt the beggar dragging me off, repeating his cry of
warning--"Dynamite! Dynamite!"--at every step, until the mob
scattered in wild confusion, and I found myself breathless in a small
alley. "Come, come," cried my companion, "there is no time to lose.
Hurry, hurry!" We rushed along, for the manner of the beggar inspired
me with a terror I could not explain, until, after passing through
several back streets and small alleys, with which the beggar seemed
perfectly familiar, we emerged on a large street and soon took a
corner elevator up to one of the railroads in the air which I have
described. After traveling for two or three miles we exchanged to
another train, and from that to still another, threading our way
backward and forward over the top of the great city. At length, as if
the beggar thought we had gone far enough to baffle pursuit, we
descended upon a bustling business street, and paused at a corner;
and the beggar appeared to be looking out for a hack. He permitted a
dozen to pass us, however, carefully inspecting the driver of each.
At last he hailed one, and we took our seats. He gave some whispered
directions to the driver, and we dashed off.
"Throw that out of the window," he said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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