The River of Death | Page 5

regular. An hour later it was
writhing like some great reptile in the throes of mortal pain.

III.
BY ten o'clock the authorities had taken the matter in hand. By some
mishap the one man who could have done most to help was lying
unconscious at Charing Cross Hospital with no chance of his throwing

any light on the subject for some days to come. Darbyshire's hurt was
not dangerous, but his recovery was a matter of time.
Meanwhile Dr Longdale was the man of the hour. But he could not
allay the panic that had gripped London. A deadly fear had taken
possession of everybody. Longdale could hold out no hope, he could
only give his conversation with Darbyshire and delare that the bubonic
microbe had impregnated the Thames. Did he think seriously of the
danger? The answer was not reassuring. For his part Longdale would
far rather see a million of troops and a siege train battering London than
hear of such a thing as this.
There was only one thing for it. It was no time for kid glove remedies.
Six of the great London Water Companies had their supply cut off
within an hour. It is almost impossible to sit down and realise what this
means, and that under a sky like brass and the thermometer at 97 deg.
in the shade.
Try and imagine it for a moment, and try and wonder why the thing has
not happened before. Think of two-thirds of two millions deprived
suddenly of the element which is almost as vital to existence as food.
Try and realise that these two-thirds of six millions derive their water
supply from an open stream that at any moment by the accident of
chance might be turned into a hideous poison-cup.
Under a blazing sunshine after days of heat and dust the packed
East-end was suddenly deprived of every drop of water. For an hour or
two no great hardship was felt, but after that every moment added to
the agony. Before long the railway termini were packed with people
eager to be away from the metropolis.
By midday business was at a standstill. There was not a water cart to be
seen from Kensington to the Mansion House. Every cart and tank that
could be raked together had been despatched into the New River and
Kent Water area with instructions to convey a supply as speedily as
possible to the congested districts East and South-east of the Thames.
By lunch time the City presented a strange spectacle. Well-dressed
business men could be seen proceeding in cabs to the favoured area

with buckets and water cans with the avowed object of taking a supply
forthwith. Cabmen were commanding their own prices.
Fairly early in the morning came the announcement that mineral waters
had gone up two hundred per cent. in price. By midday the supply for
the time being had ceased. Men of means with an eye to the future had
bought up the whole stock. The streets were crowded with people
anxiously waiting developments.
For the time being the scare was kept well in hand. What men were
most anxious to know, though they dared hardly whisper the question,
was whether any disease had broken out as yet. It was a little after two
o'clock that the Evening Flashlight settled the question. A boy came
yelling down the Strand with a flapping of papers on his shoulders.
"The plague broke out," he cried; "two cases of bubonic fever at
Limehouse. Dr. Longdale's analysis. Speshull."
There was a rush for the lad and his papers were gone in a twinkling of
an eye. He looked down dazed at the pile of silver and coppers in the
palm of his grimy hand.
Yes, there it was right enough. Two cases of bubonic plague had been
located in a crowded corner of Limehouse, and Dr. Longdale had been
called in to verify them. He had not the slightest hesitation in so doing.
Perhaps if the readers of the Searchlight had known these two cases
were renegades from the Santa Anna, the panic might have been
allayed. But nobody knew.
There was terror in the mere suggestion of the plague. Doubtless,
people said, these two poor fellows had drunk of the polluted flood and
paid the penalty. But no fever breaks out quite so soon as that and
within a few hours nine-tenths of the white-face multitude had drunk of
the same stream. Man turned to friend and stranger to stranger with the
same dread question in his eye. It might be the turn of any one of them
next. There were those who shrugged their shoulders stolidly, others
that crept in bars and restaurants and asked furtively for brandy.

The streets were still packed with people waiting for