“Remember!” he shouted hoarsely, “you’ll have to pay dearly for your insolence!”
Another policeman called out the names of several men from a list he was holding. These were led out. As they passed through the low door they stooped slightly. Now only six men remained in the cell.
Seato tried to rise from the floor, but the policeman kicked him twice.
Some more police came in after a while to guard the six men left. All converation was forbidden.
Rinkichi sat near the high-barred window. The outlines of the people in the room swam.
It seemed as if shadows and not people were moving up and down the cell. The yellow lamps paled. It was growing light. The cell became a faint blue. Rinkichi’s head ached from weariness. Day began. It was very quiet in the police headquarters now. A sort of frozen silence lay over everything. Footsteps now approaching, now receding, could be heard. They would halt for a moment and then begin again. A door would open.
Every few minutes a noise would come from the next cell. The sound of a heavy body being dragged along. Some resistance seemed to be made against the dragging. Dead silence. Somebody passed by, yawning loudly under the window, in the street below.
“Why don’t they let me go to sleep?” somebody muttered in a dark corner of the cell. “It’s getting light. It’ll soon be day.” The eyes of the
