Page:America Fallen!.djvu/127

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Bombardment of New York
115

ing between the railroad ties of the tracks—someone stayed to help—more stumbled and fell. The crowd behind, infuriated by the delay, made a rush, throwing down others in the van. Soon, there was a mass of struggling, cursing humanity wedged tight from rail to rail, preventing down others in the van. Soon there thousand behind stayed not their rush. The crushing out of life that was happening on lower Broadway was being repeated 150 feet above the East River.

And just then there sailed above the bridge, high in air, a German hydro-aëroplane. The mob saw it and knew the meaning of the dread portent. "God in Heaven, they are going to shell the bridge!" And then the strange thing happened. The crowd stopped its convulsive struggle. Except for the down-trodden and dying, silence fell on that multitude, and, awestruck, they gazed skyward at the