Page:The Cannery Boat.pdf/131

Rh force of the mob focussedfocused [sic] on the two of them. Barrels, pails, stones from both sides whistled through the air and landed on them. Above the steaming heads, little pails collided with big barrels and were smashed to smithereens.

Yamaguchi was caught up in the raging whirlpool which stank of sweat and pulp, and carried into the barrelling-shop. They were being pressed by the scabs. Between the vats fights were going on. The lamp hanging from the ceiling and its glass shade were smashed by a blow from a long bamboo pole.

It was pitch dark.

At that moment Yamaguchi got a great whiff of strong, raw soy and was struck by something which came at him wildly, sideways.

The bung is out! he realized in a flash. … The soy shot right out at him from the lower part of the vat, as from a pump, and completely drenched him. The thick, sticky liquid dripped from all his body. In no time all around him had become a seething flood of soy. His eyes smarted with the salt and when, without thinking, he wiped them with his hand, it, too, must have been covered with soy, for they stung worse than ever. As he stood there blinking, against the light above the strainer next door he saw the forms of Handa and Himuro, bringing up supporters.

All ahead of Machida seemed bathed in active radiance. He was practically unaware of what he was doing. Only not to be behind the others, not