As they turned a corner, the roaring suddenly swelled. Around another corner, a Phoenician in loose robe and slippers came flying, panting and pumping his arms. After him pelted a yelling horde of Syracusans, brandishing knives and clubs and screaming threats. Archytas and Zopyros flattened themselves against the wall. The mob rushed past them unheeding. They eyes of the pursuers glared; foam spattered their beards. Then they were gone.
Zopyros and Archytas looked at one another. Zopyros said: "Let's hurry. The way these people are worked up, the gods know what they'll do."
They hastened on, until at one corner a smell of smoke and a crackle of flame drew their attention. Zopyros exclaimed:
"Zeus on Olympos, those fools will burn down the city!"
A mob of a hundred-odd men had gathered in front of a small house in the middle of the block, closed and shuttered like the rest. Some were kindling torches and throwing them to the roof of the house, already blazing briskly. Smoke curled up from the closed shutters.
The door flew open, and a young man rushed out. Zopyros caught only a glimpse of the man before the mob, with a roar, closed in on him. Knives flashed in the sunlight; clubs rose and fell. The mob fell back in a semicircle from the remains on the street. Presently the door opened again.This time a woman ran out. The mob closed in again, stabbing and flailing. Then came a small boy, who was likewise done to death. At last an old woman hobbled out, but a step from the door she, too, went down.
Members of the mob, screaming and foaming, rushed about waving severed arms and legs and spattering blood in all directions.
One of them kicked a head along the street like a ball. Others dashed into the smoking entrance to try to grab house furnishings before the blazing roof fell in.
A squad of Dionysios' mercenaries appeared. They marched up to the burning house and thrust the mob back with spear shafts. Ignoring the dismembered corpses, they organized a line to bring buckets of water from the nearest fountain to quench the blaze.
Archytas and Zopyros worked free of the crowd and resumed their march towards the latter's home. Now and then they passed a mangled body lying in a pool of blood. When Archytas had trouble keeping up with Zopyros' long strides, he panted:
"Slow down, old boy, slow down! I dare not run, lest some mob of citizens think me a fugitive."
They found Zopyros' door closed on an empty street. Zopyros knocked and called until Korinna opened. They slipped inside. The closing of the door plunged the interior into gloom. Korinna embraced her husband, trembling. Hieron clung to his mother, asking endless questions, until Archytas took him aside and began to tell him a story. Zopyros got his sword out of his chest.
There came a sharp knocking. "Who is it?" said Zopyros.
"It is I, Asto! Let me in, in the name of your gods!"
Zopyros knew a moment of hideous indecision. Ordinarily he would have admitted the Phoenician without question, since he counted the man as a friend. But now he feared to endanger his family. He looking despairingly at Korinna, saying:
"It's Captain Asto. If I keep him out, he'll be killed; if I let him in, they may come for us—"
"Let him in; let him in! Quickly!"
Zopyros opened the door. Asto, sweating and panting, ducked inside. Before Zopyros could close the door, the roar of a mob rose. The horde streamed around the nearest corner. Zopyros quickly slammed the door and shot the bolt. To Asto he snapped:
"Go to the back room. Under the bed, quickly!"
There came a thunderous hammering on the door, and yells: "Open up!"
"We know he's in there!"
"Open, or we'll burn you down!"
Archytas, pale, thumbed the edge of his sword. "We shall have to open the door, or they'll fry us. Perhaps we can talk our way out of this."
With racing heart, Zopyros whipped his cloak around his left arm for a shield, threw open the door, and blocked it, sword in hand. Archytas, likewise armed, crowded up beside him.
"What do you want?" said Zopyros in a voice that he made especially deep and harsh.
The nearest members of the mob gave back at the sight of the swords. Somebody shouted: "There's a polluted Phoenician in there! We saw him go in! We want him!"
"Phoenician? Nonsense! There's no such person here."
Archytas added: "We opened the door to look out when we heard the noise. You only saw us close the door. Your Phoenician ran that way." He pointed.
"Then, by Herakles, let us in to see for ourselves!"
Archytas said: "Are you mad? Don't you know who we are? We're the President's chief engineers, and this house is full of his secret devices."
An argument broke out among the crowd. Some said yes, these men were really governmental officials. Others said no, they were lying, and in any case a search should be made.
Zopyros glanced up and clown the street. If only Segovax were to appear at the head of a squad of soldiers! But there was no sign of help. Segovax would be out on the archery range, drilling his catapult teams.
A lean, shabby youth with eyes like a dead fish circulated among the rear ranks, shouting: "Go on! What are you afraid of? We know the moneygrubber is in there. Even if he isn't, these men may be Carthaginian spies. Anyway, they'll have some loot worth taking. Go on! Go on!"
Every time the youth got several men organized to push forward, they drove those in the front rank closer to the door. When Zopyros and Archytas flourished their swords in the loot-hungry faces of the foremost, they pushed back, so that there was a continual stir in the mob. All the while Archytas kept up a running fire of argument, firm but not ill tempered.
Zopyros had an inspiration. Still facing the mob, he called: "Korinna! You know my burning glass? Get it for me."
Presently he felt the lens thrust into his left hand. He held it up in front of his left eye and called to the youthful agitator in the rear: "Ed, fish-face! You in the blue shirt!"
"Who, me?"
"Yes, you! You don't believe we have secret devices here, eh? Well, here's one. It's a device for casting the evil eye. Shall I show you how it works?"
He stared through the glass at the blurred image of the youth, who gave back with a cry: "Don't you dare point that thing at me! By Zeus, I'll kill you if you do! Put it away! Turn it away from me!"
As the young man spoke, he seized another of the crowd and hid behind his body. The second man struggled and whirled the youth in front of him in turn. The youth freed himself, dodged about among the crowd, and ran down the street, shouting threats and obscenities. Several others ran witlessly after him. Another man led a group off in the opposite direction, crying:
"Follow me! I'll show you some real Punics with lots of loot!"
The rest of the crowd hastened off, singly and in groups, glancing back apprehensively at Zopyros and his glass. Soon they were all gone.
Safely back in the house, Zopyros and Archytas sat down weakly, the latter mopping his forehead. Zopyros said: "I don't usually drink in the morning, but ... Ah, thank you, darling. One for Archytas, too. Hieron, fetch Daddy that lamp."
Zopyros touched a pine splinter to the hearth embers, blew until the splinter caught fire, and used the flaming splinter to light the lamp.
"That was a cursed near thing," muttered Archytas. "By the Silver Egg, I haven't been so frightened since old man Pelias caught us stealing his plums and set that great savage dog on us!"
Zopyros patted Korinna, saying: "You were brave to let Asto in, considering how you feel about his people."
"Asto? I wasn't thinking of him!"
"You weren't?"
"No, I was thinking of his family in Motya. I know what it's like to be a lone widow with a child to bring up."
A plaintive voice came from the bedroom: "Please, my lords and lady, is it safe to come out now?"
"No; stay where you are," said Zopyros. "We'll call you when things quiet down. Son! Carry this cup of wine in to Asto; he doubtless needs it."