ment afterwards an explosion was heard even
where they were sitting, and an immense tree of smoke mounted towards
the pure sky. Little by little the air was filled with an imperceptible
murmur caused by the shouts of thousands of men. Cries burst forth quite
close to the square.

"What has been blown up?"

The bewilderment was great, for although accidents were common, such
a violent explosion as this one had never been seen, and everybody
perceived that something terribly strange had happened.

Attempts were made to locate the place of the accident; districts,
streets, different buildings, clubs, theatres, and shops were mentioned.
Information gradually became more precise and at last the truth was
known.

"The Steel Trust has just been blown up."

Clair put his watch back into his pocket.

Caroline looked at him closely and her eyes filled with astonishment.

At last she whispered in his ear:

"Did you know it? Were you expecting it? Was it you . . . ?"

He answered very calmly:

"That town ought to be destroyed."

She replied in a gentle and thoughtful tone:

"I think so too."

And both of them returned quietly to their work.

S. 3

From that day onward, anarchist attempts followed one another every week
without interruption. The victims were numerous, and almost all of them
belonged to the poorer classes. These crimes roused public resentment.
It was among domestic servants, hotel-keepers, and the employees of such
small shops as the Trusts still allowed to exist, that indignation
burst forth most vehemently. In popular districts women might be heard
demanding unusual punishments for the dynamitards. (They were called
by this old name, although it was hardly appropriate to them, since, to
these unknown chemists, dynamite was an innocent material only fit to
destroy ant-hills, and they considered it mere child's play to explode
nitro-glycerine with a cartridge made of fulminate of mercury.) Business
ceased suddenly, and those who were least rich were the first to feel
the effects. They spoke of doing justice themselves to the anarchists.
In the mean time the factory workers remained hostile or indifferent
to violent action. They were threatened, as a result of the decline of
business, with a likelihood of losing their work, or even a lock-out
in all the factories. The Federation of Trade Unions proposed a general
strike as the most powerful means of influencing the employers, and the
best aid th