Let us not soil our hands with their
blood!"
He spread out his arms again, majestically. "Stand back! Make way
for them!"
Not all the crowd understood the words, but enough of them did, and
set the example. In dead silence they withdrew from the sides and
front of the car. The body of the dead child had been dragged out of
the way and laid on the sidewalk, covered by a coat; and so
Carpenter said to the Stebbins family: "The road is clear before
you. Step in." Half dazed, the four people obeyed, and again
Carpenter raised his voice. "Drinkers of human blood, devourers of
human bodies, go your way! Go forward to that doom which history
prepares for parasites!"
The engine began to purr, and the car began to move. There was a low
mutter from the crowd, a moan of fury and baffled desire; but not a
hand was lifted, and the car shot away, and disappeared down the
street, leaving Carpenter standing on the curb, making a Socialist
speech to a mob of greasers and dagoes.
XXI
When he stopped speaking, it was because a woman pressed her way
through the crowd, and caught one of his hands.
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