The police made numerous arrests. Troops summoned from all parts of the National Federation protected the offices of the Trusts, the houses of the multi-millionaires, the public halls, the banks, and the big shops. A fortnight passed without a single explosion, and it was concluded that the dynamitards, in all probability but a handful of persons, perhaps even still fewer, had all been killed or captured, or that they were in hiding, or had taken flight. Confidence returned; it returned at first among the poorer classes. Two or three hundred thousand soldiers, who had been lodged14 in the most closely populated districts, stimulated15 trade, and people began to cry out: “Hurrah for the army!”
The rich, who had not been so quick to take alarm, were reassured17 more slowly. But at the Stock Exchange a group of “bulls” spread optimistic rumours19 and by a powerful effort put a brake upon the fall in prices. Business improved. Newspapers with big circulations supported the movement. With patriotic20 eloquence21 they depicted22 capital as laughing in its impregnable position at the assaults of a few dastardly criminals, and public wealth maintaining its serene23 ascendency in spite of the vain threats made against it. They were sincere in their attitude, though at the same time they found it benefited them. Outrages25 were forgotten or their occurrence denied. On Sundays, at the race-meetings, the stands were adorned26 by women covered with pearls and diamonds. It was observed with joy that the capitalists had not suffered. Cheers were given for the multi-millionaires in the saddling rooms.
On the following day the Southern Railway Station, the Petroleum27 Trust, and the huge church built at the expense of Thomas Morcellet were all blown up. Thirty houses were in flames, and the beginning of a fire was discovered at the docks. The firemen showed amazing intrepidity28 and zeal29. They managed their tall fire-escapes with automatic precision, and climbed as high as thirty storeys to rescue the luckless inhabitants from the flames. The soldiers performed their duties with spirit, and were given a double ration13 of coffee. But these fresh casualties started a panic. Millions of people, who wanted to take their money with them and leave the town at once, crowded the great banking30 houses. These establishments, after paying out money for three days, closed their doors amid mutterings of a riot. A crowd of fugitives31, laden32 with their baggage, besieged33 the railway stations and took the town by storm. Many who were anxious to lay in a stock of provisions and take refuge in the cellars, attacked the grocery stores, although they were guarded by soldiers with fixed34 bayonets. The public authorities displayed energy. Numerous arrests were made and thousands of warrants issued against suspected persons.
During the three weeks that followed no outrage24 was committed. There was a rumour18 that bombs had been found in the Opera House, in the cellars of the Town Hall, and beside one of the pillars of the Stock Exchange. But it was soon known that these were boxes of sweets that had been put in those places by practical jokers or lunatics. One of the accused, when questioned by a magistrate35, declared that he was the chief author of the explosions, and said that all his accomplices36 had lost their lives. These confessions37 were published by the newspapers and helped to reassure16 public opinion. It was only towards the close of the examination that the magistrates38 saw they had to deal with a pretender who was in no way connected with any of the crimes.
The experts chosen by the courts discovered nothing that enabled them to determine the engine employed in the work of destruction. According to their conjectures39 the new explosion emanated40 from a gas which radium evolves, and it was supposed that electric waves, produced by a special type of oscillator, were propagated through space and thus caused the explosion. But even the ablest chemist could say nothing precise or certain. At last two policemen, who were passing in front of the Hotel Meyer, found on the pavement, close to a ventilator, an egg made of white metal and provided with a capsule at each end. They picked it up carefully, and, on the orders of their chief, carried it to the municipal laboratory. Scarcely had the experts assembled to examine it, than the egg burst and blew up the amphitheatre and the dome4. All the experts perished, and with them Collin, the General of Artillery41, and the famous Professor Tigre.
The capitalist society did not allow itself to be daunted42 by this fresh disaster. The great banks re-opened their doors, declaring that they would meet demands partly in bullion43 and partly in paper money guaranteed by the State. The Stock Exchange and the Trade Exchange, in spite of the complete cessation of business, decided44 not to suspend their sittings.
In the mean time the magisterial45 investigation46 into the case of those who had been first accused had come to an end. Perhaps the evidence brought against them might have appeared insufficient47 under other circumstances, but the zeal both of the magistrates and the public made up for this insufficiency. On the eve of the day fixed for the trial the Courts of Justice were blown up and eight hundred people were killed, the greater number of them being judges and lawyers. A furious crowd broke into the prison and lynched the prisoners. The troops sent to restore order were received with showers of stones and revolver shots; several soldiers being dragged from their horses and trampled48 underfoot. The soldiers fired on the mob and many persons were killed. At last the public authorities succeeded in establishing tranquillity49. Next day the Bank was blown up.
From that time onwards unheard-of things took place. The factory workers, who had refused to strike, rushed in crowds into the town and set fire to the houses. Entire regiments50, led by their officers, joined the workmen, went with them through the town singing revolutionary hymns51, and took barrels of petroleum from the docks with which to feed the fires. Explosions were continual. One morning a monstrous52 tree of smoke, like the ghost of a huge palm tree half a mile in height, rose above the giant Telegraph Hall which suddenly fell into a complete ruin.
Whilst half the town was in flames, the other half pursued its accustomed life. In the mornings, milk pails could be heard jingling53 in the dairy carts. In a deserted54 avenue some old navvy might be seen seated against a wall slowly eating hunks of bread with perhaps a little meat. Almost all the presidents of the trusts remained at their posts. Some of them performed their duty with heroic simplicity55. Raphael Box, the son of a martyred multi-millionaire, was blown up as he was presiding at the general meeting of the Sugar Trust. He was given a magnificent funeral and the procession on its way to the cemetery56 had to climb six times over piles of ruins or cross upon planks57 over the uprooted58 roads.
The ordinary helpers of the rich, the clerks, employees, brokers59, and agents, preserved an unshaken fidelity60. The surviving clerks of the Bank that had been blown up, made their way along the ruined streets through the midst of smoking houses to hand in their bills of exchange, and several were swallowed up in the flames while endeavouring to present their receipts.
Nevertheless, any illusion concerning the state of affairs was impossible. The enemy was master of the town. Instead of silence the noise of explosions was now continuous and produced an insurmountable feeling of horror. The lighting61 apparatus62 having been destroyed, the city was plunged63 in darkness all through the night, and appalling64 crimes were committed. The populous65 districts alone, having suffered the least, still preserved measures of protection. They were paraded by patrols of volunteers who shot the robbers, and at every street corner one stumbled over a body lying in a pool of blood, the hands bound behind the back, a handkerchief over the face, and a placard pinned upon the breast.
It became impossible to clear away the ruins or to bury the dead. Soon the stench from the corpses67 became intolerable. Epidemics68 raged and caused innumerable deaths, while they also rendered the survivors69 feeble and listless. Famine carried off almost all who were left. A hundred and one days after the first outrage, whilst six army corps66 with field artillery and siege artillery were marching, at night, into the poorest quarter of the city, Caroline and Clair, holding each other’s hands, were watching from the roof a lofty house, the only one still left standing70, but now surrounded by smoke and flame. Joyous71 songs ascended72 from the street, where the crowd was dancing in delirium73.
“To-morrow it will be ended,” said the man “and it will be better.”
The young woman, her hair loosened and her face shining with the reflection of the flames, gazed with a pious74 joy at the circle of fire that was growing closer around them.
“It will be better,” said she also.
And throwing herself into the destroyer’s arms she pressed a passionate75 kiss upon his lips.
点击收听单词发音
1 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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2 anarchist | |
n.无政府主义者 | |
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3 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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4 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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5 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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6 vehemently | |
adv. 热烈地 | |
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7 dynamite | |
n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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8 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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9 cartridge | |
n.弹壳,弹药筒;(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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10 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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11 anarchists | |
无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 ) | |
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12 federation | |
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会 | |
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13 ration | |
n.定量(pl.)给养,口粮;vt.定量供应 | |
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14 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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15 stimulated | |
a.刺激的 | |
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16 reassure | |
v.使放心,使消除疑虑 | |
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17 reassured | |
adj.使消除疑虑的;使放心的v.再保证,恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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18 rumour | |
n.谣言,谣传,传闻 | |
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19 rumours | |
n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 );风闻;谣言;谣传 | |
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20 patriotic | |
adj.爱国的,有爱国心的 | |
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21 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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22 depicted | |
描绘,描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 ); 描述 | |
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23 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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24 outrage | |
n.暴行,侮辱,愤怒;vt.凌辱,激怒 | |
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25 outrages | |
引起…的义愤,激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26 adorned | |
[计]被修饰的 | |
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27 petroleum | |
n.原油,石油 | |
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28 intrepidity | |
n.大胆,刚勇;大胆的行为 | |
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29 zeal | |
n.热心,热情,热忱 | |
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30 banking | |
n.银行业,银行学,金融业 | |
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31 fugitives | |
n.亡命者,逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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32 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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33 besieged | |
包围,围困,围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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35 magistrate | |
n.地方行政官,地方法官,治安官 | |
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36 accomplices | |
从犯,帮凶,同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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37 confessions | |
n.承认( confession的名词复数 );自首;声明;(向神父的)忏悔 | |
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38 magistrates | |
地方法官,治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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39 conjectures | |
推测,猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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40 emanated | |
v.从…处传出,传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 );产生,表现,显示 | |
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41 artillery | |
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队) | |
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42 daunted | |
使(某人)气馁,威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 bullion | |
n.金条,银条 | |
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44 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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45 magisterial | |
adj.威风的,有权威的;adv.威严地 | |
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46 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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47 insufficient | |
adj.(for,of)不足的,不够的 | |
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48 trampled | |
踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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49 tranquillity | |
n. 平静, 安静 | |
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50 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
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51 hymns | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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52 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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53 jingling | |
叮当声 | |
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54 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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55 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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56 cemetery | |
n.坟墓,墓地,坟场 | |
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57 planks | |
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点 | |
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58 uprooted | |
v.把(某物)连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 );根除;赶走;把…赶出家园 | |
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59 brokers | |
n.(股票、外币等)经纪人( broker的名词复数 );中间人;代理商;(订合同的)中人v.做掮客(或中人等)( broker的第三人称单数 );作为权力经纪人进行谈判;以中间人等身份安排… | |
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60 fidelity | |
n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
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61 lighting | |
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光 | |
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62 apparatus | |
n.装置,器械;器具,设备 | |
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63 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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64 appalling | |
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的 | |
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65 populous | |
adj.人口稠密的,人口众多的 | |
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66 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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67 corpses | |
n.死尸,尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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68 epidemics | |
n.流行病 | |
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69 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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70 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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71 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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72 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73 delirium | |
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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74 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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75 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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