I can see you writhing and screaming and wailing,
'Why didn't somebody tell us? Why didn't somebody tell us?' Somebody
has told you. Somebody's telling you now. And will you listen? Not a
bit of it. You'll have heard the music to-night, the drums and the
trumpets, you'll have joined in the singing, and to-night you'll go
back and tell your friends: 'Yes, we had a fine evening. You ought
to go. It's worth while and costs you nothing.' And to-morrow you
will have forgotten everything. But I tell you that every man,
woman, and child in this building stands in as desperate peril as
though his house was on fire over his head and there was no way
out."
He stopped for a moment to get breath, leaning forward over the desk
and panting. Over the building there was a great silence. Maggie was
stirred beyond any earlier experience. She did not know whether he
were charlatan or no. She did not care. She had lived for more than
two years in Skeaton, where everything and every one was dead. Now
here was life. The evidence of it reassured her, whispering to her
that Martin still lived, that he could be found, even that he was
coming to her.
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