The Red Symbol Part 39

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

"Be off," Loris shouted. There was no anger in his voice; he spoke as sternly and dictatorially as one speaks to a fractious child. "You have done enough mischief for one night,--and the punishment is still to come. 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," a woman wailed hysterically. The cry was caught up, echoed in awestruck murmurs; and the whole lot of them quickened their flight, as we marched on their heels.

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

We stood still, waiting for a brief s.p.a.ce, to see if the mob would return. But the noise receded,--the worst was over; though the baleful glare of the burning houses waxed ever brighter, revealing all the horrors of that stricken town.

With a sigh Loris thrust his revolver back into his belt,--none of us had 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 of frightened children, the weeping of women.

Loris drew his revolver again and beat on the door with the b.u.t.t.

"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's voice; 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; in another minute I should meet her. But how could I hope that she would have a word, a glance, to spare for me, when _he_ was there. I could not even feel jealous of him; he was so far above me in every way. For me 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; but at last the door swung back, and there on the threshold, with her hands outstretched, stood Anne Pendennis.

CHAPTER XLI

LOVE OR COMRADESHIP?

"I knew thou wouldst come," she said in French, as he caught those outstretched hands in his.

She looked pale and worn, as was natural,--but lovelier than ever, as she stood, a shadowy figure in her dark gown against the gloom behind her, for there was no light within the synagogue. The lurid glare from without shed an unearthly radiance on her white face and shining hair.

"I am not alone," he said. "Maurice Wynn is with me; and the good Mishka and his father."

She glanced at me doubtfully, and then held out her hand, flashing at me the ghost of her old arch smile.

"It is Maurice, indeed; how the beard has changed you,--and the uniform!

I did not know you," she said, still in French. "But come; there is still much to do, and we must be gone before daylight. How did you drive them off? Will they make another attack?" she asked, turning to Loris.

"I think not; they have had enough for one time. You must thank Mishka here for putting them to the rout," he answered. "Ah, Stepan, you are here also, as I expected," he added to a young man of about my own age, whom I guessed to be Anne's cousin, Count Va.s.silitzi, from the strong likeness between them, though his hair was much darker than hers, and he wore a small mustache.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _"I knew thou wouldst come," she said._ Page 268]

What pa.s.sed in the synagogue both before and after we came, I only learned later; for Mishka and I were posted on guard at the entrance of the square, while Pavloff went off to seek our horses and intercept the men who were following us. If he met them in time, they would make a _detour_ round the town and wait for us to join them on the further side.

Our sentry-go business proved an unnecessary precaution, for no more rioters appeared; the excitement in the town was evidently dying out, the _pogrom_ was over,--for the time.

Some of the bolder spirits among the Jews came from the synagogue, exchanging pious e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns of thanks to G.o.d for their deliverance.

They slunk furtively by us; though one venerable-looking old man paused and invoked what sounded like a blessing on us,--in Hebrew, I think.

"You can keep all that for the gracious lady," growled Mishka. "It is to her you owe your present deliverance."

"It is, indeed," he answered in Russian. "The G.o.d of our fathers will bless her,--yea, and she shall be blessed. And He will bless you, Excellencies,--you and your seed even to the third and fourth generation, inasmuch that you also have worked His will, and have delivered His children out of the hands of evil-doers."

Mishka scratched his head and looked sheepish. This blessing seemed to embarra.s.s him more than any amount of cursing would have done.

"They are harmless folk, these Jews," he grunted. "And they are brave in their way, although they are forever cringing. See--the old man goes with the others to try and check the course of the fires. They are like ants in a disturbed ants' nest. They begin to repair the damage while it is yet being done. To-morrow, perchance even to-day, they will resume their business, and will truckle to those who set out to outrage and murder them this night! That is what makes the Jew unconquerable. But it is difficult to teach him to fight, even in defence of his women; though we are doing something in that way among the younger men. They must have done well to hold out so long."

"How did they get arms?" I asked.

"They have not many so far, but there is one who comes and goes among them,--one of themselves,--who brings, now a revolver or two, now a handful of cartridges, now a rifle taken to pieces; always at the risk of his life, but that to him is less than nothing."

"Yossof!" I exclaimed.

He nodded, but said no more, for Count Va.s.silitzi came across the square to us.

"All is quiet?" he asked. "Good. We can do no more, and it is time we were off. You are Monsieur Wynn? I have heard of you from my cousin. We must be friends, Monsieur!"

He held out his hand and I gripped it. I'd have known him anywhere for Anne's kinsman, he was so like her, more like her in manner even than in looks; that is, like her when she was in a frivolous mood.

There was quite a crowd now on the steps of the synagogue, a crowd of weeping women--yes, and weeping men, too,--who pressed around Anne, jostling each other in the attempt to kiss her hands, or even the hem of her gown.

She looked utterly exhausted, and I saw,--not without a queer pang at heart,--that Loris had his arm round her, was indeed, rather carrying, than merely supporting her.

"Let us through, good people," I heard him say. "Remember that her peril is as great as yours, even greater."

As he spoke, her eyelids drooped, and she swayed back on to his shoulder. He swung her into his arms as I had seen him do once before, on that memorable summer night more than three months ago, when I thought I had looked my last on her; and, as the women gave way before him, he strode off, carrying his precious burden as easily as if she had been a little child.

We followed closely, revolvers in hand; but there was no need to use them. The few streets we traversed on the route Loris took were deserted; and though the houses on either side were smouldering ruins, we pa.s.sed but few corpses, and some of those were Russians. The worst of the carnage had been in the streets further from the synagogue.

"You came just in time," remarked Va.s.silitzi. "We were expecting the door to be burst in or burnt every moment; so we packed the women and children up into the women's gallery again--we'd been firing from there till the ammunition was gone--and waited for the end. Most of the Jews were praying hard; well, I suppose they think their prayers were efficacious for once."

"Without doubt," I answered. His cynical tone jarred on me, somehow.

"They will need all their prayers," he rejoined, shrugging his shoulders. "To-night is but a foretaste of what they have to expect. But perhaps they will now take the hint, and learn to defend themselves; also they will not have the soldiers to reckon with, if they can hold out a little longer."

"How's that?" I asked, because he seemed to expect the question; not because I was particularly interested; my mind was concentrated on those two in front.

"Why, because the soldiers will be wanted elsewhere, as I think you know very well, _mon ami_," he laughed. "Well, I for one am glad this little affair is over. I could do with some breakfast, and you also, eh? Anna is worn out; she will never spare herself. _Ma foi!_ she is a marvel; I say that always; and he is another. Now if I tried to do that sort of thing"--he waved his hand airily towards Loris, tramping steadily along.

"But I should not try; she is no light weight, I give you my word! Still they make a pretty picture,--eh? What it is to be a giant!"

I'd have liked to shake him, and stop his irresponsible chatter, which seemed out of place at the moment. I knew he wouldn't have been able to carry Anne half across the street; he was a little, thin fellow, scarcely as tall as Anne herself.