Criminals -- Fiction; Social problems -- Fiction; United States -- Social conditions -- 1865-1918 -- Fiction
The patrol wagon bowled rapidly onward, and the brougham followed
rapidly behind. The early darkness of the winter afternoon was
enveloping the world, and in the damp and heavy air the roar of the city
was intensified. The patrol wagon turned into Franklin Street and
disappeared in the confusion of vehicles. The street was crowded;
enormous trucks clung obstinately to the car tracks and only wrenched
themselves away when the clamor of the gongs became desperate, their
drivers swearing at the motormen, flinging angry glances at them. The
trolley-cars swept by, filled with shop-girls, clerks, working-men,
business men hanging to straps, reading evening papers in the brilliant
electric lights; men clung to the broad rear platforms; at every
crossing others attached themselves to these dark masses of humanity,
swarming like insects. The sidewalks were crowded, and, as far as one
could see, umbrellas balanced in the glistening mist.
The brougham of the Wards succeeded presently in crossing Franklin
Street.
"They were taking them to the penitentiary!" said Elizabeth, speaking
for the first time.
"I presume they were," said her mother.
"Harry Graves was among them," Elizabeth went on, staring widely before
her, her tone low and level.
Mrs. Ward turned her head.
"I saw his face--it stood out among the rest. I can never forget it!"
She sat with her gloved hands in her lap. Her mother did not speak, but
she looked at her.
"And that man--that big, brutal man, throwing that woman down, and then
striking that man in the face!"
Mrs. Ward, not liking to encourage her daughter’s mood, did not speak.
"Oh, it makes me sick!"
Elizabeth stretched forth her hand, drew a cut-glass bottle from its
case beside the little carriage clock and mirror, and, sinking back in
her cushioned corner, inhaled the stimulating odor of the salts. Then
her mother stiffened and said:
"I don’t know what Barker means, driving us down this way where we have
to endure such sights. You must control yourself, dear, and not allow
disagreeable things to get on your nerves."
"But think of that poor boy, and the man who was struck, and that
woman!"
"Probably they can not feel as keenly as--"
"And think of all those men! Oh, their faces! Their faces! I can
never forget them!"
Elizabeth continued to inhale the salts, her mind deeply intent on the
scene she had just witnessed. They were drawing near to Claybourne
Avenue now, and Mrs. Ward’s spirits visibly improved at the sight of its
handsome lamp posts and the carriages flashing by, their rubber tires
rolling softly on the wet asphalt.
"Well," she exclaimed, settling back on the cushions, "this is better!
I don’t know what Barker was thinking of! He’s very stupid at times!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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