or, if they were seen, it was by the
lurid glare of burning buildings,--the red flames of which--flung upon
the stained and brutal faces, the torn and tattered garments, of men and
women who danced and howled around the scene of ruin they had
caused--made the whole aspect of affairs seem more like a gathering of
fiends rejoicing in Pandemonium than aught with which creatures of flesh
and blood had to do.

Standing on some elevated point, looking over the great city, which
presented, as usual, at night, a solemn and impressive show, the
spectator was thrilled with a fearful admiration by the sights and
sounds which gave to it a mysterious and awful interest. A thousand
fires streamed up against the sky, making darkness visible; and from all
sides came a combination of noises such as might be heard from an
asylum in which were gathered the madmen of the world.

The next morning's sun rose on a city which was ruled by a reign of
terror. Had the police possessed the heads of Hydra and the arms of
Briareus, and had these heads all seen, these arms all fought, they
would have been powerless against the multitude of opposers. Outbreaks
were made, crowds gathered, houses burned, streets barricaded, fights
enacted, in a score of places at once. Where the officers appeared they
were irretrievably beaten and overcome; their stand, were it ever so
short, but inflaming the passions of the mob to fresh deeds of violence.
Stores were closed; the business portion of the city deserted; the large
works and factories emptied of men, who had been sent home by their
employers, or were swept into the ranks of the marauding bands. The city
cars, omnibuses, hacks, were unable to run, and remained under shelter.
Every telegraph wire was cut, the posts torn up, the operators driven
from their offices. The mayor, seeing that civil power was helpless to
stem this tide, desired to call the military to his aid, and place the
city under martial law, but was opposed by the Governor,--a governor,
who, but a few days before, had pronounced the war a failure; and not
only predicted, but encouraged this mob rule, which was now crushing
everything beneath its heavy and ensanguined feet. This man, through
almost two days of these awful scenes, remained at a quiet seaside
retreat but a few miles from the city. Coming to it on the afternoon of
the second day,--instead of ordering cannon planted in the streets,
giving these creatures opportunity to retire to