presently a welcome freshness.  She felt excessively ill at ease, and it was a relief to ascribe her sensation to a state of the atmosphere.  Again the thunder rolled.  It was so loud that it seemed to be immediately above their heads.  And the wind rose suddenly and swept with a long moan through the trees that surrounded the house.  It was a sound so human that it might have come from the souls of dead men suffering hopeless torments of regret.

The lamp went out, so suddenly that Susie was vaguely frightened.  It gave one flicker, and they were in total darkness.  It seemed as though someone had leaned over the chimney and blown it out.  The night was very black, and they could not see the window which opened on to the country.  The darkness was so peculiar that for a moment no one stirred.

Then Susie heard Dr Porhoet slip his hand across the table to find matches, but it seemed that they were not there.  Again a loud peal of thunder startled them, but the rain would not fall.  They panted for fresh air.  On a sudden Susie’s heart gave a bound, and she sprang up.

‘There’s someone in the room.’

The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she heard Arthur fling himself upon the intruder.  She knew at once, with the certainty of an intuition, that it was Haddo.  But how had he come in?  What did he want?  She tried to cry out, but no sound came from her throat.  Dr Porhoet seemed bound to his chair.  He did not move.  He made no sound.  She knew that an awful struggle was proceeding.  It was a struggle to the death between two men who hated one another, but the most terrible part of it was that nothing was heard.  They were perfectly noiseless.  She tried to do something, but she could not stir.  And Arthur’s heart exulted, for his enemy was in his grasp, under his hands, and he would not let him go while life was in him.  He clenched his teeth and tightened his straining muscles.  Susie heard his laboured breathing, but she only heard the breathing of one man.  She wondered in abject terror what that could mean.  They struggled silently, hand to hand, and Arthur knew that his strength was greater.  He had made up his mind what to do and directed all his energy to a definite end.  His enemy was extraordinarily powerful, but Arthur appeared to create some strength from the sheer force of his will.  It seemed for hours that they struggled.  He could not bear him down.

Suddenly, he knew that the other was frightened and sought to escape from him.  Arthur tightened his grasp; for nothing in the world now would he ever loosen his hold.  He took a deep, quick breath, and then put out all his strength in a tremendous effort.  They swayed from side to side.  Arthur felt as if his muscles were being torn from the bones, he could not continue for more than a moment longer; but the agony that flashed across his mind at the thought of failure braced him to a sudden angry jerk.  All at once Haddo collapsed, and they fell heavily