By ten o'clock the authorities had taken the matter in hand. By
some mishap the one man who could have done most to help was lying
unconscious at Charing Cross Hospital with no chance of his throwing
any light on the subject for some days to come. Darbyshire's hurt was
not dangerous, but his recovery was a matter of time.
Meanwhile Dr. Longdale was the man of the hour. But he could not allay
the panic that had gripped London. A deadly fear had taken possession
of everybody. Longdale could hold out no hope, he could only give his
conversation with Darbyshire and declare that the bubonic microbe had
impregnated the Thames. Did he think seriously of the danger? The
answer was not reassuring. For his part Longdale would far rather see a
million of troops and a siege train battering London than hear of such
a thing as this.
There was only one thing for it. It was no time for kid glove remedies.
Six of the great London Water Companies had their supply cut off within
an hour. It is almost impossible to sit down and realise what this
means, and that under a sky like brass and the thermometer at 97° in
the shade.
Try and imagine it for a moment, and try and wonder why the thing has
not happened before. Think of two-thirds of two millions deprived
suddenly of the element which is almost as vital to existence as food.
Try and realise that these two-thirds of six millions derive their
water supply from an open stream that at any moment by the accident of
chance might be turned into a hideous poison-cup.
Under a blazing sunshine after days of heat and dust the packed East
End was suddenly deprived of every drop of water. For an hour or two
no great hardship was felt, but after that every moment added to the
agony. Before long the railway termini were packed with people eager to
be away from the metropolis.
[Illustration: Well-dressed business men could be seen proceeding in
cabs to the favoured area with buckets and water cans.]
By midday business was at a standstill. There was not a water cart to
be seen from Kensington to the Mansion House. Every cart and tank that
could be raked together had been despatched into the New River and Kent
Water area with instructions to convey a supply as speedily as possible
to the congested districts East and South-east of the Thames. By lunch
time the City presented a strange spectacle. Well-dressed business men
could be seen proceeding in cabs to the favoured area with buckets and
water cans with the avowed object of taking a supply forthwith. Cabmen
were commanding their own prices.
Fairly early in the morning came the announcement that mineral waters
had gone up two hundred per cent. in price. By midday the supply for
the time being had ceased. Men of means with an eye to the future
had bought up the whole stock. The streets were crowded with people
anxiously waiting developments.
For the time being the scare was kept well in hand. What men were most
anxious to know, though they dared hardly whisper the question, was
whether any disease had broken out as yet. It was a little after two
o'clock that the _Evening Flashlight_ settled the question. A boy came
yelling down the Strand with a flapping of papers on his shoulders.
"The plague broke out," he cried; "two cases of bubonic fever at
Limehouse. Dr. Longdale's analysis. Speshull."
There was a rush for the lad and his papers were gone in a twinkling of
an eye. He looked down dazed at the pile of silver and coppers in the
palm of his grimy hand.
Yes, there it was right enough. Two cases of bubonic plague had been
located in a crowded corner of Limehouse, and Dr. Longdale had been
called in to verify them. He had not the slightest hesitation in so
doing. Perhaps if the readers of the _Flashlight_ had known these two
cases were renegades from the Santa Anna, the panic might have been
allayed. But nobody knew.
There was terror in the mere suggestion of the plague. Doubtless,
people said, these two poor fellows had drunk of the polluted flood and
paid the penalty. But no fever breaks out quite so soon as that and
within a few hours nine-tenths of the white-face multitude had drunk of
the same stream. Man turned to friend and stranger to stranger with the
same dread question in his eye. It might be the turn of any one of them
next. There were those who shrugged their shoulders stolidly, others
that crept in bars and restaurants and asked furtively for brandy.
The streets were still packed with people waiting for fresh
information. By this time there was something like method in the
conveyance of water to the affected parts. But after all the New River
and Kent companies could not do everything. At the utmost they could
supply no more than 60,000,000 gallons per day and now they were
suddenly called upon for water for the whole of London. Just enough to
drink and keep body and soul together was all that could be expected.
In some crowded districts where great breweries and the like had been
established much was accomplished by private enterprise. There were
scores of artesian wells in East and South London and these were
generously given over at once to the requirements of the people. Even
private houses known to possess pumps were besieged and strangers of
all classes were accommodated. The situation was dreadful enough but it
would be worse if a real panic broke out.
Presently people began to press in dense masses along the Strand and
the avenues leading to Trafalgar Square where fountains by Nelson's
column were spurting high and clear. There was a continuous rush in the
direction of the Square where placards announced the fact that there
was no suggestion of contamination here. People danced and raved about
the fountain, they fought for the water, they carried it away only to
lose it again in the crush, they bent down and lifted the precious
fluid to their lips in the hollow of their hands.
Still, there was no sign of panic as yet, no more cases of fever
reported. As night fell the streets cleared and something like a normal
condition of things was restored.