But his voice was drowned
in the confused outburst of shouts.
"Down with the autocracy!"
The police rushed through the crowd toward the orator, who, closely
surrounded on all sides, shouted, waving his hand:
"Long live liberty! We will live and die for it!"
The mother shut her eyes in momentary fear. The boisterous tempest
of confused sounds deafened her. The earth rocked under her feet;
terror impeded her breathing. The startling whistles of the
policemen pierced the air. The rude, commanding voice of the
captain was heard; the women cried hysterically. The wooden fences
cracked, and the heavy tread of many feet sounded dully on the dry
ground. A sonorous voice, subduing all the other voices, blared
like a war trumpet:
"Comrades! Calm yourselves! Have more respect for yourselves!
Let me go! Comrades, I insist, let me go!"
The mother looked up, and uttered a low exclamation. A blind impulse
carried her forward with outstretched hands. Not far from her, on
a worn path between the graves, the policemen were surrounding the
long-haired man and repelling the crowd that fell upon them from all
sides. The unsheathed bayonets flashed white and cold in the air,
flying over the heads of the people, and falling quickly again with
a spiteful hiss.
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