METROPOLIS sen's mouth. His mouth stood open, distorted-his hands rose as in childish defence, to ward off a blow which had alr,~ady fallen. H.~s voice said, quite high and piteously: My son ... ? "They took him prisoner,"-Josaphat tore the words out"because they sought a victim for their despair. and for the fury of their immeasurable, inconceivable agony. When . they saw the black water funning towards them from the shafts of the underground railway. and when they realised that, as the result of the stopping of the pumps, the whole workmen's town had been flooded out, then they went mad with despair. They say that some mothers, blind and deaf to all remonstrance, ltried, as if possessed, to dive down through the Booded shafts, and just the, terrible absoluteness of the futility of any attempt at rescue has twned them into beasts and they lust for revenge...." "Revenge ... on whom?"
- 00 the g~rl who"seduced them..•."
On the If,IrI. ••• "Yes . "Go on
- '
"They have taken captive tbe girl, on' whom they put the blarp.e of aU this horror. ... Freder wanted to save her, for he loves the girl. ... They have taken him captive and are forcing him to look on and see how his beloved dies. ...
They have built the bonfire before the cathedral. ... They are dancing round the bonnre.. .. They are yelling: 'We have captured the son of Joh Fredersen and his beloved' ... a~d I .kn~.w- I know: He'll never get away from them alIve... . I For the space of some seconds there was so deep and perfect a silence that the golden glow of the morning, breaking forth, strong and radiant had the effect of a powerful roar.. Then Joh Fredersen turned around, breaking into a fun. He Hung himself at the door. So forceful and irresistible was this movement that it seemed as if the closed door itself were not able to withstand it.
Past the knots of human being ran Joh Fredersenacross to the stair-case and down the steps. His course was
211
