things of stone, listening; and men shook their fists at the black sky
and at that traveling mutter of the winds and waters; and the beasts
sniffed at the darkening air.

Then, clear, I heard a Voice call: "Brothers! The dike is breaking! The
River comes! Link arms, brothers; with the dike of our bodies we will
save our home! Sisters, behind us, link arms! Close in the crevices,
children! The River!" And all that multitude, whom I had seen treading
quietly the grass and fallen leaves with prosperous feet, came hurrying,
their eyes no longer fixed on the rich plain, but lifted in trouble and
defiance, staring at that rushing blackness. And the Voice called:
"Hasten, brothers! The dike is broken. The River floods!"

And they answered: "Brother, we come!"

Thousands and thousands they pressed, shoulder to shoulder--men, women,
and children, and the beasts lying down behind, till the living dike was
formed. And that blackness came on, nearer, nearer, till, like the
whites of glaring eyes, the wave crests glinted in the dark rushing
flood. And the sound of the raging waters was as a roar from a million
harsh mouths.

But the Voice called: "Hold, brothers! Hold!"

And from the living dike came answer: "Brother! We hold!"

Then the sky blackened to night. And the terrible dark water broke on
that dike of life; and from all the thin living wall rose such cry of
struggle as never was heard.