It rose and fell, rose and fell,
rose and fell; and then came poignant silence. The sound stabbed
through me. Without hesitation or thought of peril, I let myself go
and plunged downward into the darkness.
CHAPTER XXIII
DEADLY PERIL
There must be a providence which protects fools and madmen, for I
landed in a heavy clump of shrubbery, and got to my feet with no
injury more serious than some scratches on hands and face, which at
the time I did not even feel. In a moment, I had found the path and
was speeding toward the house. Ahead of me flitted a dark shadow which
I knew to be Godfrey, and behind me came the pad-pad of heavy feet,
which could only belong to Simmonds. And then, from the direction of
the house, came the crash of broken glass.
I reached the lawn, crossed it, and traversed the short avenue which
ended at the library door. Three men were there, and Simmonds came
panting up an instant later. The detectives had their torches in their
hands, and I saw that they had broken one of the glass panels of the
doors, and that one of them had passed a hand through the opening and
was fumbling about inside.
Pages:
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276