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- Джек Лондон
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- Алая чума
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- Стр. 22/31
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"
When
twenty-four
hours
had
gone
by
and
no
signs
of
the
plague
were
apparent
,
we
congratulated
ourselves
and
set
about
digging
a
well
.
You
have
seen
the
great
iron
pipes
which
in
those
days
carried
water
to
all
the
city-dwellers
.
We
feared
that
the
fires
in
the
city
would
burst
the
pipes
and
empty
the
reservoirs
.
So
we
tore
up
the
cement
floor
of
the
central
court
of
the
Chemistry
Building
and
dug
a
well
.
There
were
many
young
men
,
undergraduates
,
with
us
,
and
we
worked
night
and
day
on
the
well
.
And
our
fears
were
confirmed
.
Three
hours
before
we
reached
water
,
the
pipes
went
dry
.
"
A
second
twenty-four
hours
passed
,
and
still
the
plague
did
not
appear
among
us
.
We
thought
we
were
saved
.
But
we
did
not
know
what
I
afterwards
decided
to
be
true
,
namely
,
that
the
period
of
the
incubation
of
the
plague
germs
in
a
human
's
body
was
a
matter
of
a
number
of
days
.
It
slew
so
swiftly
when
once
it
manifested
itself
,
that
we
were
led
to
believe
that
the
period
of
incubation
was
equally
swift
.
So
,
when
two
days
had
left
us
unscathed
,
we
were
elated
with
the
idea
that
we
were
free
of
the
contagion
.
"
But
the
third
day
disillusioned
us
.
I
can
never
forget
the
night
preceding
it
.
I
had
charge
of
the
night
guards
from
eight
to
twelve
,
and
from
the
roof
of
the
building
I
watched
the
passing
of
all
man
's
glorious
works
.
So
terrible
were
the
local
conflagrations
that
all
the
sky
was
lighted
up
.
One
could
read
the
finest
print
in
the
red
glare
.
All
the
world
seemed
wrapped
in
flames
.
San
Francisco
spouted
smoke
and
fire
from
a
score
of
vast
conflagrations
that
were
like
so
many
active
volcanoes
.
Oakland
,
San
Leandro
,
Haywards
--
all
were
burning
;
and
to
the
northward
,
clear
to
Point
Richmond
,
other
fires
were
at
work
.
It
was
an
awe-inspiring
spectacle
.
Civilization
,
my
grandsons
,
civilization
was
passing
in
a
sheet
of
flame
and
a
breath
of
death
.
At
ten
o'clock
that
night
,
the
great
powder
magazines
at
Point
Pinole
exploded
in
rapid
succession
.
So
terrific
were
the
concussions
that
the
strong
building
rocked
as
in
an
earthquake
,
while
every
pane
of
glass
was
broken
.
It
was
then
that
I
left
the
roof
and
went
down
the
long
corridors
,
from
room
to
room
,
quieting
the
alarmed
women
and
telling
them
what
had
happened
.
"
An
hour
later
,
at
a
window
on
the
ground
floor
,
I
heard
pandemonium
break
out
in
the
camps
of
the
prowlers
.
There
were
cries
and
screams
,
and
shots
from
many
pistols
.
As
we
afterward
conjectured
,
this
fight
had
been
precipitated
by
an
attempt
on
the
part
of
those
that
were
well
to
drive
out
those
that
were
sick
.
At
any
rate
,
a
number
of
the
plague-stricken
prowlers
escaped
across
the
campus
and
drifted
against
our
doors
.
We
warned
them
back
,
but
they
cursed
us
and
discharged
a
fusillade
from
their
pistols
.
Professor
Merryweather
,
at
one
of
the
windows
,
was
instantly
killed
,
the
bullet
striking
him
squarely
between
the
eyes
.
We
opened
fire
in
turn
,
and
all
the
prowlers
fled
away
with
the
exception
of
three
.
One
was
a
woman
.
The
plague
was
on
them
and
they
were
reckless
.
Like
foul
fiends
,
there
in
the
red
glare
from
the
skies
,
with
faces
blazing
,
they
continued
to
curse
us
and
fire
at
us
.
One
of
the
men
I
shot
with
my
own
hand
.
After
that
the
other
man
and
the
woman
,
still
cursing
us
,
lay
down
under
our
windows
,
where
we
were
compelled
to
watch
them
die
of
the
plague
.
"
The
situation
was
critical
.
The
explosions
of
the
powder
magazines
had
broken
all
the
windows
of
the
Chemistry
Building
,
so
that
we
were
exposed
to
the
germs
from
the
corpses
.
The
sanitary
committee
was
called
upon
to
act
,
and
it
responded
nobly
.
Two
men
were
required
to
go
out
and
remove
the
corpses
,
and
this
meant
the
probable
sacrifice
of
their
own
lives
,
for
,
having
performed
the
task
,
they
were
not
to
be
permitted
to
reenter
the
building
.
One
of
the
professors
,
who
was
a
bachelor
,
and
one
of
the
undergraduates
volunteered
.
They
bade
good-bye
to
us
and
went
forth
.
They
were
heroes
.
They
gave
up
their
lives
that
four
hundred
others
might
live
.
After
they
had
performed
their
work
,
they
stood
for
a
moment
,
at
a
distance
,
looking
at
us
wistfully
.
Then
they
waved
their
hands
in
farewell
and
went
away
slowly
across
the
campus
toward
the
burning
city
.
"
And
yet
it
was
all
useless
.
The
next
morning
the
first
one
of
us
was
smitten
with
the
plague
--
a
little
nurse-girl
in
the
family
of
Professor
Stout
.
It
was
no
time
for
weak-kneed
,
sentimental
policies
.
On
the
chance
that
she
might
be
the
only
one
,
we
thrust
her
forth
from
the
building
and
commanded
her
to
be
gone
.
"
She
went
away
slowly
across
the
campus
,
wringing
her
hands
and
crying
pitifully
.
We
felt
like
brutes
,
but
what
were
we
to
do
?
There
were
four
hundred
of
us
,
and
individuals
had
to
be
sacrificed
.
"
In
one
of
the
laboratories
three
families
had
domiciled
themselves
,
and
that
afternoon
we
found
among
them
no
less
than
four
corpses
and
seven
cases
of
the
plague
in
all
its
different
stages
.
