The Red Symbol

by John Ironside

  CHAPTER XL

  A STRICKEN TOWN

  We rode on, avoiding the village, which remained dark and silent; thesleeping peasants had either not heard or not heeded the sound and shockof the explosion.

  When we regained the road on the further side, two mounted men awaitedus, who, after exchanging a few low-spoken words with the Pavloffs, fellin behind us; and later another, and yet another, joined us in the sameway.

  It must have been about one in the morning when we reached the villagehalf-way between Zizcsky and Zostrov, where Mishka and I had got thelast change of horses on our journey to the castle. Here again all wasdark and quiet, and we rode round instead of through the place, Lorisand I, with the Pavloffs, halting at a little distance, near a smallfarmhouse which I remembered as that of the _starosta_, while our fourrecruits kept on.

  Mishka rode up and kicked at the outer gate. A light gleamed in the yardand the _starosta_, yawning and blinking, appeared, holding a lanternand leading a horse.

  "The horses are ready? That is well, little father," Mishka saidapprovingly.

  "They have been ready since midnight, and the samovar also; you willdrink a glass of tea, Excellencies."

  As he led out the other three horses in turn, a lad brought us steamingglasses of tea, and I was glad of mine, anyhow; for the night, thoughstill and clear, was piercingly cold.

  "The horses will come on, with four more recruits, after a couple ofhours' rest," said Loris, as we started again.

  We kept up an even pace of about ten miles an hour till we had traversedabout half the remaining distance, picking up more silent men on littleshaggy country horses till we rode a band of some fifteen strong.

  I think I must have fallen half asleep in my saddle when I was startledby a quick exclamation from Loris.

  "Look! What is yonder?"

  I looked and saw a ruddy glow in the sky to northward,--a flickeringglow, now paling, now flashing up vividly and showing luminous clouds ofsmoke,--the glow of a great fire.

  "That is over Zizscky; it was to-night then, and we are too late!"

  We checked instinctively, and the Pavloffs ranged alongside. We four,being better mounted, were well ahead, and the others came straggling inour rear.

  "They were to defend the synagogue; we may still be in time to help,"said Pavloff.

  "True, we four must push on; these others must follow as they are able,and tell the rest as they meet them. Give Stepan the word, Mishka,"commanded the Duke.

  Mishka wheeled his horse and rode back, and we pressed forward,increasing the pace to a gallop. Within an hour we had covered thetwenty versts and were on the outskirts of the town. Every instant thatawful glow grew brighter, and when we drew near we saw that half thehouses in the Jewish quarter were ablaze, while horrible sounds came tous,--the noise of a devils' orgy, punctuated irregularly by the crackleof rifle shots.

  "They are holding the synagogue," Loris said grimly. "Otherwise thefiring would be over by this time."

  The straggling street that formed this end of the town was quiet anddeserted, save for a few scared women and children, who were standing inthe roadway, and who scurried back to their houses at the first sound ofour horses' hoofs.

  "Dismount, and turn the horses loose!" Loris commanded. "We shall findthem later, perhaps; if not, well, we shall not!"

  We hurried along on foot, and a minute or two later we entered theJewish quarter and were in the midst of a hellish scene, lighted luridlyby the glare of the burning houses. The road was strewn with batteredcorpses, some lying in heaps; and burly _moujiks_, shrieking unsexedviragoes, and brutal soldiers, maddened with vodka, delirious with thelust of blood and pillage, were sacking the houses that were not yetablaze, destroying, in insensate fury, what they were unable to carryoff, fighting like demons over their plunder. Here and there were groupsof soldiers, who, though they were not joining in the work ofdestruction, made no effort to check it, but looked on with grim jests.I saw one present his rifle, fire haphazard into the crowd, and yellwith devilish mirth as his victim fell, and the confusion increased.

  His laugh was cut short, for Loris knocked the rifle out of his hand,and sternly ordered him back to the barracks, if that was all he coulddo towards restoring order.

  The man and his comrades stared stupidly. They did not know who he was,but his uniform and commanding presence had their effect. The ruffiansstood at attention, saluted and asked for orders!

  "Clear the streets," he commanded sternly. "Drive the people back totheir quarter and keep them there; and do it without violence."

  He stood frowning, revolver in hand, and watched them move off withsheepish alacrity and begin their task, which would not have been aneasy one if the soldiers had been under discipline. But there was nodiscipline; I did not see a single officer in the streets that night.

  "Are you wise?" Mishka growled unceremoniously, as we moved off. I sawnow that he and his father were also in uniform, and I surmise thatevery one who saw us took the Grand Duke to be an officer in highcommand, and us members of his staff.

  We had our revolvers ready, but no one molested us, and as we made ourway towards the synagogue, Loris more than once repeated his commandsto the idle soldiers, with the same success.

  Barzinsky's inn, where Mishka and I had slept less than a fortnightback, was utterly wrecked, though the fire had not yet reached it, andin a heap in the roadway was the corpse of a woman, clad in a dirtybedgown. Her wig was gone and her skull battered in, but I knew it wasthe placid, capable, good-tempered landlady herself. The stumps of herhands lay palm down in a pool of blood,--all the fingers gone. She hadworn rings, poor soul.

  But that was by no means the most sickening sight I saw on that nightof horror!

  We reached the square where the synagogue stood, and found it packedwith a frenzied, howling mob, who were raging like wolves round thegaunt weather-worn stone building. There was no more firing, eitherfrom within or without.

  The glass of the two small windows above the doorway--whence, as Ilearned later, the defenders had delivered the intermittent fusiladethat had hitherto kept the mob at bay--was smashed, and the space filledin with hastily fixed barricades. The great door was also doubtlessstrongly barricaded, since it still withstood an assault with axes andhammers that was in progress.

  "They shoot no more; they have no more bullets," shrieked a virago inthe crowd. "Burn them out, the filthy _zhits_."

  Others took up the cry.

  "Burn them out; what folly to batter the door! Bring straw and wood;burn them out!"

  "Keep away,--work round to the left; there will be space soon," growledMishka, clutching me back, as I began to force my way forward. "Do as Isay," he added authoritatively.

  I guessed he knew best, so I obeyed, and edged round on the outside ofthe crowd.

  Something whizzed through the air, and fell bang among the crowd,exploding with a deafening report.

  A babel of yells arose,--yells of terror now; and the mob surged back,leaving a clear space in which several stricken figures werewrithing,--and one lay still.

  "Fly!" shouted a stentorian voice. "They are making bombs and throwingthem; fly for your lives. Why should we all perish?"

  I was carried back in the rush, and found myself breathless, backagainst a wall. Three figures cleared themselves from the ruck, and Ifought my way to them.

  "Well done, Mishka,--for it was thou!" exclaimed Loris. "How was itdone?"

  "_Pouf_, it was but a toy," grunted Mishka. "I brought it in mypocket,--on chance; such things are useful at times. If it had beena real bomb, we should all have entered Heaven--or hell--together."

  "Get to the steps; they are coming back," cried Loris.

  He was right. A section of the crowd turned, and made an ugly rush, onlyto halt in confusion as they found themselves confronted by levelledrevolvers, held by four men in uniform.

  "Be off," Loris shouted. There was no anger in his voice; he spoke assternly and dictatorially as one speaks to a fractious chi
ld. "You havedone enough mischief for one night,--and the punishment is still tocome. Back, I say! Go home, and see that you do no more evil."

  He strode towards them, and they gave back before him.

  "Jesu! It is the archangel Michel! Ah, but we have sinned, indeed," awoman wailed hysterically. The cry was caught up, echoed in awestruckmurmurs; and the whole lot of them quickened their flight, as we marchedon their heels.

  "A compliment to you, my Mishka,--you and your toy bomb; somewhat morelike Jove and his thunderbolts though, eh?" said Loris, and I saw hiseyes gleam for a moment with a flash of the quaint humor that cropped upin him at the most unexpected moments. "It was a good thought, for itachieved much, at very little cost. But these poor fools! When will theylearn wisdom?"

  We stood still, waiting for a brief space, to see if the mob wouldreturn. But the noise receded,--the worst was over; though the balefulglare of the burning houses waxed ever brighter, revealing all thehorrors of that stricken town.

  With a sigh Loris thrust his revolver back into his belt,--none of ushad fired a shot,--and strode back to the door of the synagogue.

  From within we could hear, now that the din had ceased, the wailing offrightened children, the weeping of women.

  Loris drew his revolver again and beat on the door with the butt.

  "Open within there!" he cried. "All is safe, and we are friends."

  "Who are you? Give the name, or the word," came the answer, in a woman'svoice; a voice that I knew well.

  "Open, Anna; _a la vie et a la mort_!" he called.

  A queer dizziness seized me as I listened. She was within, then; inanother minute I should meet her. But how could I hope that she wouldhave a word, a glance, to spare for me, when _he_ was there. I couldnot even feel jealous of him; he was so far above me in every way. Forme there must still be only "the page's part," while he was the king,and she the queen.

  There were lumbering noises within, as of heavy goods being moved; butat last the door swung back, and there on the threshold, with her handsoutstretched, stood Anne Pendennis.