The Witness

up by her father to the strong arms reached out from the low front
of the balcony. Stephen caught her and swung her up beside him, pointing
her up to the door, and shouting to her to go quickly down the
fire-escape, even while he reached out his other hand to catch a woman,
whom willing hands below were lifting up. Men climbed upon the seats and
vaulted up when they heard the cry and saw the way of safety; and some
stayed and worked bravely beside Stephen, wrenching up the seats and
piling them for a ladder to help the women up. More just clambered up
and fled to the fire-escape, out into the night and safety.

But Stephen had no thought of flight. He stayed where he was, with
aching back, cracking muscles, sweat-grimed brow, and worked, his breath
coming in quick, sharp gasps as he frantically helped man, woman, child,
one after another, like sheep huddling over a flood.

Courtland was there.

He had lingered a moment behind the rest in the corner of the dormitory
corridor, glancing into the disfigured room; water, egg-shells, ruin,
disorder everywhere! A little object on the floor, a picture in a cheap
oval metal frame, caught his eye. Something told him it was the picture
of Stephen Marshall's mother that he had seen upon the student's desk a
few days before, when he had sauntered in to look the new man over.
Something unexplained made him step in across the water and debris and
pick it up. It was the picture, still unscarred, but with a great streak
of rotten egg across the plain, placid features. He recalled the tone in
which the son had pointed out the picture and said, "That's my mother!"
and again he followed an impulse and wiped off the smear, setting the
picture high on the shelf, where it looked down upon the depredation
like some hallowed saint above a carnage.

Then Courtland sauntered on to his room, completed his toilet, and
followed to the theater. He had not wanted to get mixed up too much in
the affair. He thought the fellows were going a little too far with a

John Addington Symonds (October 5, 1840 - April 19, 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. He was an early advocate of the validity of male love which included for him pederastic as well as egalitarian relationships, and which he would refer to as lamour de limpossible.

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