In conjectural statements, the French often use the Future or the Conditional, instead of the Perfect or the Pluperfect used in English.

The shop-walkers behaved curiously, too.

The private business man shall be absorbed into the national economy rather than destroyed.

They're both so engrossed in this that they don't notice my landlady, who comes rushing out to learn what's going on. Why, her son explains, he grabbed me by the weasand, it took me a long time to get my wind back.