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Show 41 right in its rush to the river. When it put its mouth down to drink, Gast took Hilde*s stick and rapped the creature sharply over the head. It dropped into the water. The children, already in high spirits, were excited by this new game. "We'll do the next ones," Damien and Dietrich shouted, and they began walloping rats great blows with their staffs. Then the others hurried to join in, running up the bank to chase more rats to the river, smashing them with sticks and throwing the bodies into the Weser. By this time hordes of rats were rushing to the river in their need for water, and even the youngest children shouted and jostled in their eagerness to kill them. Their blows became heavier and harsher, and soon they weren't satisfied to merely stun the rats and drown them, but began to compete with each other in hitting hard enough to break open the rats' skulls. Soon the riverbank turned red with blood. The supply of rats seemed endless, and the children grew frenzied in their desire to kill rats, split rats apart, trample them and drown them. The faces of the children glowed red with effort and heat, and they laughed in high, unnatural squeals as the massacre became more vicious. Gast had been encouraging them, saying, "Well done, my little ones," and, "A sturdy blow, Gerhardt - look, there's another one!" When there was no longer any need to goad them to kill, he began to play sounds on his flute which imitated trumpets calling soldiers to battle. |