These threats grew
more definite in character as time went on.
The effect of all this in the long run was, of course, confusion and
instability. People laughed or cursed; but they also listened and
reasoned. Gradually, throughout the city, dread was extending the
blackness of its terror. A knowledge that would have caused a tremendous
panic if it had been divulged suddenly now gave birth to a deep seated
uneasiness.
Where the panic would have torn men up by the roots and flung them in
terrorized mobs through the congested ways and out into the inhospitable
country, the uneasiness of dread held them cowering at their accustomed
tasks. They were afraid; but they had had time to think, and they realized
what it would mean to leave their beloved or accustomed or necessary city,
as the case might be. And it must be remembered that the definite
knowledge of what might be feared was not yet disseminated among them.
But this attitude hurt business, and business struck back. The subways
were practically deserted; the theaters empty; the accustomed careless
life of the Great White Way thinned; the streams of life slackened.
Furthermore, the intelligent criminal immediately discovered that ideal
shields were being provided him gratis behind which to conduct his crimes.
In the silence a man could blow out the side of a bank building with
impunity, provided only he kept out of sight. In the darkness he could
pilfer at will, with only the proviso that he forget not his gum shoes.
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