'There have been others, then?' Hemmingway inquired.
'Yes. There's been a bad one in northern India and another in Brazil. Lots of volcanoes, too, are reported as showing unusual activity. That's why Gervaise is so set on it you should leave London tonight. If the shocks get worse, we're going to feel them here. Then people may lose their heads and in the stampede you may not be able to get out of London at all.'
'Sorry,' said Sam, 'I can't go down tonight. I've got to go over a big factory out at Hendon this evening, and I've another two that I must visit tomorrow; but that's no reason the rest of you shouldn't go.'
'I'm not leaving London without you,' Lavina said quietly.
'Nonsense, darling.' He squeezed her arm. 'I was going to suggest that you got away tonight before the evacuation starts, in any case. You needn't worry about me. I must see my job through, then I'll get to Stapleton under my own steam.'
'I'm not leaving without you, Sam,' she repeated.
'Now, be sensible,' he urged. 'I'll be much easier in my mind knowing that you're safely out of it.'
'I'm sorry, but I've no intention of being parted from you at a time like this.'
Sam had known Lavina long enough to realise how mulish she could be when she had made up her mind upon a thing, so he did not press her further; and after a short silence Derek asked Roy:
'How did you find things on your way here?'
Roy depressed the corners of his mouth. 'Down the line everyone's hard at it digging trenches and sand-bagging their houses and that sort of thing, but London's pretty mouldy.
Squads of soldiers and police are patrolling the streets and breaking up any crowds that try to gather. The shops are all shut, of course, which seems queer, with so many people about. A woman threw herself under my train as we steamed into Waterloo, but apart from that I didn't see much hysteria.'
'The churches are doing a roaring business, though,' Sam added. 'They're in perpetual session and packed to suffocation. I even saw people kneeling on the steps of St. Martin-in-the-Fields as I passed it. There are a good few drunks about, too. But, by and large, people are still taking things pretty calmly. There are no signs of any riots yet, anyway.'
'Then let's go out this evening,' Lavina suggested. 'I'm sick of sitting here doing nothing, and I've been cooped up in the house all day.'
'I'd rather you didn't, darling.' Sam said quickly.
She gave him one of her most bewitching smiles. 'I shall be perfectly all right, sweet, with Derek and Roy to look after me.'
'Where would you go?'
'Oh, I don't know. But we may be living in the last days of London, and I'd like to see how its people are behaving.'
'Well, if I let you, will you promise to set off for Stapleton first thing tomorrow morning?'
'When do you expect to get there yourself?'
'Tomorrow evening at the latest.'
Lavina nodded. She was not really an unreasonable person and was excellent at making compromises. 'In that case, I'm game to play. What time will you be back tonight?'
'It's difficult to say. I tell you what, though. As you've agreed to leave first thing tomorrow, there's not really much point in my coming back here at all. You see, my first visit in the morning is Edmonton and, as the evacuation will be in full swing, the traffic congestion going out of London is sure to be appalling. If I pack a bag, I could get a bed in my manager's house at Hendon for tonight and then go across country to Edmonton tomorrow without coming back into London at all. That'd save me so much time I might even be able to get down to Stapleton by the afternoon.'
'Then although I hate the thought of being parted from you even for a single night, that's clearly the thing to do, darling.
Roy and Derek will take care of me and we'll all meet again at Stapleton tomorrow.'
'I'd better pack a bag, too. then,' said Hemmingway.
Sam shook his head. 'No. One of us must sort out all the private papers here and, since I'm not returning, that'll be your job. I can manage quite well without you for these last factory visits. While the others are out on the spree you'd better go through the safe and sling all the contracts and important stuff into a suitcase. I shall have to take the Rolls but you've got your own car and Derek's got his so one of you can take Lavina and the other Roy down to Stapleton first thing tomorrow.'
When Sam had packed and gone, Hemmingway disappeared to his room while Derek went round to get his car, which he had left in the garage at the back of the house. Lavina and Roy were waiting for him outside the front door and the three of them set off on a tour of the West End.
There was not much traffic about as most people who had private cars were now on their way to the country, feeling that they would be safer there than in London where big fires were liable to break out. Turning into Piccadilly, they saw a line of vans outside Burlington House into which porters were loading works of art for removal to places of safety. There were vans, too, in Bond Street, as many of the luxury traders had decided to evacuate their stocks of furs, jewels andobjets d'art; but most of the shops were closed and shuttered.
The streets were fairly full of people strolling aimlessly, or gathered in small knots on corners arguing together. But it was by no means a typical West End crowd. Most of them seemed to have come in from the poorer districts, judging from their clothes.
Apart from the small squads of police and troops who were patrolling the streets, the most unusual sight was the activity which was going forward on nearly every roof-top. As they turned west along Oxford Street, small figures were silhouetted against the evening skyline busily placing layers of sand-bags on roofs as a protection against the smaller meteorites.
At Marble Arch the crowd overflowed into the roadway, as the Park, having been turned into a supply depot, was closed; and the Hyde Park orators had set up their stands round the
Arch itself. The political speakers were, as usual, denouncing the Government but their audiences were poor ones. The religious preachers were having it all their own way as they urged the packed throngs to 'repent in time,' and some people were even kneeling on the pavements before them. A policeman signalled Derek down a side-street so, turning the car round, they ran slowly back towards Tottenham Court Road.
On reaching Charing Cross Road they turned south and came into the theatre district, which again was crowded. In order to keep things as normal as possible, the Government had decreed that the places of amusement should be kept open, but there were no pit queues although it was just past eight. On the other hand, the pubs were doing a roaring trade. There was not enough room in the bars to hold the customers and many of them had carried their drinks outside, where they stood arguing over them in the sultry, windless air.
The majority of the people seemed calm and expectant, just waiting for something—they didn't quite know what—to happen; but it was clear that two schools of extremists had arisen. A strong religious revival was gaining many adherents. Street preachers had taken up their position on corners and outside some of the theatres. In raucous tones they were proclaiming the Second Coming and large, earnest audiences were gathered in front of each of them.
The other school consisted of those fatalists who were thronging the public-houses, determined to follow the old exhortation, 'Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.' Many of them were already drunk and some were dancing with the women on the pavements.