第526章

第526章“goingtothepolice,tobesure.”

“isittruewearebeaten？”

“why,whatdidyouthink？lookwhatfolksaresaying！”

questionsandanswerswereaudible.thetavern-keeper,takingadvantageoftheincreasednumbersoftherabble,droppedbehindthemob,andwentbacktohistavern.

thetallyoungfellow,notremarkingthedisappearanceofhisfoe,thetavern-keeper,stillmovedhisbarearmandtalkedincessantly,attractingtheattentionofall.themobpressedabouthisfigureprincipally,expectingtogetfromhimsomesolutionofthequestionsthatwereabsorbingallofthem.

“letthemshowtheorder,lethimshowthelaw,that’swhatthegovernment’sfor！isn’titthetruthiamsaying,goodchristianfolk？”saidthetallyoungman,faintlysmiling.

“doeshesupposethere’snogovernment？couldwedowithoutgovernment？wouldn’ttherebeplentytorobus,eh？”

“whytalknonsense！”wasmurmuredinthecrowd.“why,willtheyleavemoscowlikethis！theytoldyoualotofstuffinjoke,andyoubelievedthem.haven’twetroopsenough？nofear,theywon’tlethimenter！that’swhatthegovernment’sfor.ay,listenwhatfolksarepratingof！”theysaid,pointingtothetallfellow.

bythewallofthekitay-gorodtherewasanothersmallgroupofpeoplegatheredaboutamaninafriezecoat,whoheldapaperinhishand.

“adecree,adecreebeingread！adecreeisbeingread,”washeardinthecrowd,andthemobsurgedroundthereader.

themaninthefriezecoatwasreadingtheplacardofthe31stofaugust.whenthemobcrowdedround,heseemeddisconcerted,butatthedemandofthetallfellowwhopressedcloseuptohim,hebeganwithafaintquiverinhisvoicereadingthenoticeagainfromthebeginning.

“earlyto-morrowiamgoingtohishighnesstheprince,”heread（“hishighness！”thetallyoungmanrepeated,withatriumphantsmileandknittedbrows）,“toconsultwithhim,toactandtoaidthetroopstoexterminatethewretches;we,too,willdestroythemrootandbranch…”thereaderwentonandpaused（“d’yesee？”bawledthetallfellowwithanairofvictory.“he’llunravelthewholeevilforyou…”）“andsendourvisitorspackingtothedevil;ishallcomebacktodinner,andwewillsettowork,wewillbedoingtillwehavedone,anddoneawaywiththevillains.”

theselastwordswereutteredbythereaderinthemidstofcompletesilence.thetallfellow’sheadsankdejectedly.itwasobviousthatnobodyhadunderstoodtheselastwords.thewords“ishallcomebacktodinner”inespecialseemedtooffendbothreaderandaudience.thefacultiesofthecrowdwerestrainedtothehighestpitch,andthiswastooeasyandunnecessarilysimple;itwasjustwhatanyoneofthemmighthavesaid,andwhatforthatreasoncouldnotbesaidinadecreecomingfromahigherauthority.

allstoodindepressedsilence.thetallfellow’slipsmoved,andheered.

“askhim！…isn’tthathimself？…how’ditbetoaskhim！orelse…he’llexplain…”wassuddenlyheardinthebackrowsofthecrowd,andthegeneralattentionturnedtothechaiseoftheheadofthepolice,whichdroveintothesquare,escortedbytwomounteddragoons.

theheadofthepolice,whohaddrivenoutthatmorningbycountrastoptchin’scommandtosetfiretothebarquesintheriver,andhadreceivedforthatcommissionalargesumofmoney,atthatmomentinhispocket,orderedhiscoachmantostoponseeingacrowdbearingdownuponhim.

“whatarethosepeople？”heshoutedtothepeople,whotimidlyapproachedthechaiseindetachedgroups.“whatisthiscrowd,iaskyou？”repeatedtheheadofpolice,receivingnoreply.

“yourhonour,”saidthemaninthefriezecoat,“itwastheirwish,yourhonour,notsparingtheirsubstance,inaccordwithhisexcellencythecount’sproclamation,toserve,andnottomakeariotatall,ashisexcellencysaid…”

“thecounthasnotgone,heishere,andwillgiveordersaboutyou,”saidtheheadofpolice.“goon！”hesaidtohiscoachman.thecrowdstoodstill,pressingroundthosewhohadheardwhatwassaidbytheofficial,andlookingatthedepartingchaise.

theheadofthepolicemeantimelookedabouthiminalarm,andsaidsomethingtohiscoachman;thehorsestrottedfaster.

“cheated,mates！leadustohimself！”bawledthevoiceofthetallfellow.“don’tlethimgo,lads！lethimanswerforit！keephim！”roaredvoices,andthecrowddashedfullspeedafterthechaise.

themobinnoisytalkpursuedtheheadofthepolicetolubyanka.

“why,thegentryandthetradespeopleareallgone,andwearelefttoperish.arewedogs,pray？”washeardmorefrequentlyinthecrowd.