Benham's
tallness, his very Gentile face, his good clothes, and an air of
tense authority about him had its effect, and the kickers shuffled
off with remarks that were partly apologies. But Benham's friend
revolted. This was no business of theirs.
Benham went on unaccompanied towards the glare of the burning
houses.
For a time he watched. Black figures moved between him and the
glare, and he tried to find out the exact nature of the conflict by
enquiries in clumsy Russian. He was told that the Jews had insulted
a religious procession, that a Jew had spat at an ikon, that the
shop of a cheating Jew trader had been set on fire, and that the
blaze had spread to the adjacent group of houses. He gathered that
the Jews were running out of the burning block on the other side
"like rats." The crowd was mostly composed of town roughs with a
sprinkling of peasants. They were mischievous but undecided. Among
them were a number of soldiers, and he was surprised to see a
policemen, brightly lit from head to foot, watching the looting of a
shop that was still untouched by the flames.
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