Domestic fiction; Sisters -- Fiction; Women -- England -- Fiction
Daniel was removed--he did not go: he was removed, by two bare-headed
constables. Samuel wanted to have speech with him, and could not. And
later, Samuel stood in the porch of the Town Hall, and Daniel appeared
out of a corridor, still in the keeping of two policemen, helmeted now.
And down below at the bottom of the broad flight of steps, up which
passed dancers on the nights of subscription balls, was a dense crowd,
held at bay by other policemen; and beyond the crowd a black van. And
Daniel--to his cousin a sort of Christ between thieves--was hurried
past the privileged loafers in the corridor, and down the broad steps.
A murmuring wave agitated the crowd. Unkempt idlers and ne'er-do-wells
in corduroy leaped up like tigers in the air, and the policemen fought
them back furiously. And Daniel and his guardians shot through the
little living lane. Quick! Quick! For the captive is more sacred even
than a messiah. The law has him in charge! And like a feat of
prestidigitation Daniel disappeared into the blackness of the van. A
door slammed loudly, triumphantly, and a whip cracked. The crowd had
been balked. It was as though the crowd had yelled for Daniel's blood
and bones, and the faithful constables had saved him from their lust.
Yes, Samuel had qualms. He had a sickness in the stomach.
The aged Superintendent of Police walked by, with the aged Rector. The
Rector was Daniel's friend. Never before had the Rector spoken to the
Nonconformist Samuel, but now he spoke to him; he squeezed his hand.
"Ah, Mr. Povey!" he ejaculated grievously.
"I--I'm afraid it's serious!" Samuel stammered. He hated to admit that
it was serious, but the words came out of his mouth.
He looked at the Superintendent of Police, expecting the Superintendent
to assure him that it was not serious; but the Superintendent only
raised his small white-bearded chin, saying nothing. The Rector shook
his head, and shook a senile tear out of his eye.
After another chat with young Lawton, Samuel, on behalf of Daniel,
dropped his pose of the righteous man to whom a mere mishap has
occurred, and who is determined, with the lofty pride of innocence, to
indulge all the whims of the law, to be more royalist than the king. He
perceived that the law must be fought with its own weapons, that no
advantage must be surrendered, and every possible advantage seized. He
was truly astonished at himself that such a pose had ever been adopted.
His eyes were opened; he saw things as they were.
He returned home through a Square that was more interested than ever in
the facade of his cousin's house. People were beginning to come from
Hanbridge, Knype, Longshaw, Turnhill, and villages such as Moorthorne,
to gaze at that facade. And the fourth edition of the Signal,
containing a full report of what the Stipendiary and the barrister had
said to each other, was being cried.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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