I was one of the first men on the car, and made my way into it, throwing
men right and left as I entered it. I shall never forget the look that
came into her eyes as she saw me. She rose with a cry and, stretching
out her hands, pushed the child into my arms with a single word: "Save
her." It was like an elixir; it gave me ten times the strength I had
before. The car was blocked, and we descended from it--I in front
protecting her--and fought our way through the mob to the outskirts, the
old Drummer, a squad of policemen, and myself; I with the child by the
hand to keep her near the ground and less exposed, and the old Drummer
shielding us both and roaring like a lion. It was a warm ten minutes;
the air was black with stones and missiles. The crowd seemed to have
gone mad and were like ravening wolves. The presence of a woman and
child had no effect on them but to increase their fury. They were mad
with the insanity of mobbism. But at last we got through, though I was
torn and bleeding. They were after the motorman and conductor. The
latter had escaped into a shop and the door was shut; but the mob was
not to be balked. Doors and windows were smashed in like paper. The mob
poured in and rummaged everywhere for its victim, up-stairs and down,
like terriers in a cellar after a rat. Fortunately for him, he had
escaped out the back way. They looted the shop and then turned back to
search for another victim. As we were near old Loewen's house we took
the refugees there, and when they were in that place of safety, I
returned to the scene of conflict. I had caught sight of several faces
in the crowd that roused me beyond measure, and I went back to fight. If
I had had a pistol that day, I should certainly have committed murder. I
had seen Wringman covertly urging the mob on and Pushkin enjoying it.
Just as I stepped from the car with the child, trying to shield her and
Eleanor Leigh, and with the old Drummer bulky and raging at my side,
trying to shield us all and sputtering oaths in two languages, my eye
reached across the mob and I had caught sight of McSheen's and Pushkin's
heads above the crowd on the far edge of the mob where it was safe.
McSheen wore his impervious mask; the other's face was wicked with
satisfaction, and he was laughing. A sudden desire to kill sprang into
my heart. If I had not had my charges to guard, I should have made my
way to him then. I came back for him now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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