His attention was presently attracted to a crowd of about thirty or forty people, congregated near a gas lamp at the roadside.The sound of many angry voices rose from the centre of this group, and as he stood on the outskirts of the crowd, Barrington, being tall, was able to look into the centre, where he saw Owen.The light of the street lamp fell full upon the latter's pale face, as he stood silent in the midst of a ring of infuriated men, who were all howling at him at once, and whose malignant faces bore expressions of savage hatred, as they shouted out the foolish accusations and slanders they had read in the Liberal and Tory papers.
Socialists wished to do away with religion and morality! to establish free love and atheism! All the money that the working classes had saved up in the Post Office and the Friendly Societies, was to be Robbed from them and divided up amongst a lot of drunken loafers who were too lazy to work.The King and all the Royal Family were to be Done Away with! and so on.
Owen made no attempt to reply.and the manner of the crowd became every moment more threatening.It was evident that several of them found it difficult to refrain from attacking him.It was a splendid opportunity of doing a little fighting without running any risks.
This fellow was all by himself, and did not appear to be much of a man even at that.Those in the middle were encouraged by shouts from others in the crowd, who urged them to `Go for him' and at last -almost at the instant of Barrington's arrival - one of the heroes, unable to contain himself any longer, lifted a heavy stick and struck Owen savagely across the face.The sight of the blood maddened the others, and in an instant everyone who could get within striking distance joined furiously in the onslaught, reaching eagerly over each other's shoulders, showering blows upon him with sticks and fists, and before Barrington could reach his side, they had Owen down on the ground, and had begun to use their boots upon him.
Barrington felt like a wild beast himself, as he fiercely fought his way through the crowd, spuming them to right and left with fists and elbows.He reached the centre in time to seize the uplifted arm of the man who had led the attack and wrenching the stick from his hand, he felled him to the ground with a single blow.The remainder shrank back, and meantime the crowd was augmented by others who came running up.
Some of these newcomers were Liberals and some Tories, and as these did not know what the row was about they attacked each other.The Liberals went for those who wore Tory colours and vice versa, and in a few seconds there was a general free fight, though most of the original crowd ran away, and in the confusion that ended, Barrington and Owen got out of the crowd without further molestation.
Monday was the last day of the election - polling day - and in consequence of the number of motor cars that were flying about, the streets were hardly safe for ordinary traffic.The wealthy persons who owned these carriages...