IX.
Arthur and Van Deventer, in turn with the others of the coolerheads, thundered at the apathetic people, trying to waken themto the necessity for work. They showered promises of inevitablereturn to modern times, they pledged their honor to the belief thata way would ultimately be found by which they would all yet findthemselves safely back home again.
The people, however, had seen New York disintegrate, and Arthur'sexplanation sounded like some wild dream of an imaginativenovelist. Not one person in all the gathering could actually realizethat his home might yet be waiting for him, though at the same timehe felt a pathetic anxiety for the welfare of its inmates.
Every one was in a turmoil of contradictory beliefs. On the one handthey knew that all of New York could not be actually destroyed andreplaced by a splendid forest in the space of a few hours, so theaccident or catastrophe must have occurred to those in the tower,and on the other hand, they had seen all of New York vanish bybits and fragments, to be replaced by a smaller and dingier town,had beheld that replaced in turn, and at last had landed in themidst of this forest.
Every one, too, began to feel am unusual and uncomfortable sensationof hunger. It was a mild discomfort as yet, but few of them hadexperienced it before without an immediate prospect of assuaging thecraving, and the knowledge that there was no food to be had somehowincreased the desire for it. They were really in a pitiful state.
Van Deventer spoke encouragingly, and then asked for volunteers forimmediate work. There was hardly any response. Every one seemedsunk in despondency. Arthur then began to talk straight from theshoulder and succeeded in rousing them a little, but every one wasstill rather too frightened to realize that work could help at all.
In desperation the dozen or so men who had gathered in Van Deventer'soffice went about among the gathering and simply selected men atrandom, ordering them to follow and begin work. This began to awakenthe crowd, but they wakened to fear rather than resolution. Theywere city-bred, and unaccustomed to face the unusual or the alarming.
Arthur noted the new restlessness, but attributed it to growinguneasiness rather than selfish panic. He was rather pleased that theywere outgrowing their apathy. When the meeting had come to an end hefelt satisfied that by morning the latent resolution among the peoplewould have crystallized and they would be ready to work earnestlyand intelligently on whatever tasks they were directed to undertake.
He returned to the ground floor of the building feeling much morehopeful than before. Two thousand people all earnestly workingfor one end are hard to down even when faced with such a task asconfronted the inhabitants of the runaway skyscraper. Even if theywere never able to return to modern times they would still be ableto form a community that might do much to hasten the developmentof civilization in other parts of the world.
His hope received a rude shock when he reached the great hallway onthe lower floor. There was a fruit and confectionery stand here, andas Arthur arrived at the spot, he saw a surging mass of men about it.The keeper of the stand looked frightened, but was selling off hisstock as fast as he could make change. Arthur forced his way tothe counter.
"Here," he said sharply to the keeper of the stand, "stop sellingthis stuff. It's got to be held until we can dole it out whereit's needed."
"I--I can't help myself," the keeper said. "They're takin'it anyway."
"Get back there," Arthur cried to the crowd. "Do you call thisdecent, trying to get more than your share of this stuff? You'll getyour portion to-morrow. It is going to be divided up."
"Go to hell!" some one panted. "You c'n starve if you want to,but I'm goin' to look out f'r myself."
The men were not really starving, but had been put into a panic bythe plain speeches of Arthur and his helpers, and were seizing whatedibles they could lay hands upon in preparation for the hungerthey had been warned to expect.
Arthur pushed against the mob, trying to thrust them away from thecounter, but his very effort intensified their panic. There was aquick surge and a crash. The glass front of the showcase broke in.
In a flash of rage Arthur struck out viciously. The crowd paidnot the slightest attention to him, however. Every man was toopanic-stricken, and too intent on getting some of this food beforeit was all gone to bother with him.
Arthur was simply crushed back by the bodies of the forty or fiftymen. In a moment he found himself alone amid the wreckage of thestand, with the keeper wringing his hands over the remnants ofhis goods.
Van Deventer ran down the stairs.
"What's the matter?" he demanded as he saw Arthur nursing a bleedinghand cut on the broken glass of the showcase.
"Bolsheviki!" answered Arthur with a grim smile. "We woke up someof the crowd too successfully. They got panic-stricken and startedto buy out this stuff here. I tried to stop them, and you see whathappened. We'd better look to the restaurant, though I doubt ifthey'll try anything else just now."
He followed Van Deventer up to the restaurant floor. There werepicked men before the door, but just as Arthur and the bank presidentappeared two or three white-faced men went up to the guards andstarted low-voiced conversations.
Arthur reached the spot in time to forestall bribery.
Arthur collared one man, Van Deventer another, and in a moment thetwo were sent reeling down the hallway.
"Some fools have got panic-stricken!" Van Deventer explained tothe men before the doors in a casual voice, though he was breathingheavily from the unaccustomed exertion. "They've smashed up thefruit-stand on the ground floor and stolen the contents. It's nothingbut blue funk! Only, if any of them start to gather around here,hit them first and talk it over afterward. You'll do that?"
"We will!" the men said heartily.
"Shall we use our guns?" asked another hopefully.
Van Deventer grinned.
"No," he replied, "we haven't any excuse for that yet. But you mightshoot at the ceiling, if they get excited. They're just frightened!"
He took Arthur's arm, and the two walked toward the stairway again.
"Chamberlain," he said happily, "tell me why I've never had as muchfun as this before!"
Arthur smiled a bit wearily.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself!" he said. "I'm not. I'm goingoutside and walk around. I want to see if any cracks have appearedin the earth anywhere. It's dark, and I'll borrow a lantern downin the fire-room, but I want to find out if there are any moredevelopments in the condition of the building."
The Runaway Skyscraper Page 9