At the first low mutter of that threat of imminent disaster, Garth sprang.

Gripping Tim firmly in his arms, he leaped from the quaking staircase, falling awkwardly, prone beneath the burden of the other’s helpless body, as he landed.

And even as he reached the ground, the upper story of the house, with a roar that shook the whole remaining fabric of the building, crashed to earth in an avalanche of stone and brick and flying slates, whilst the stairway upon which he had been standing gave a sickening lurch, rocked, and fell out sideways into the hall in a smother of dust and plaster.

Stumblingly, those who had been watching groped their way through the powdery cloud, as it swirled and eddied, towards the dark blotch at the foot of the stairs which was all that could be distinguished of Trent and his burden.

To Sara, the momentary silence that ensued was in infinity of nameless dread.  Then—­

“We’re all right,” gasped Trent reassuringly, and choked violently as he inhaled a mouthful of grit-laden air.

In the same instant, across the murk shot a broad beam of light from the open doorway.  Behind it Sara could discern white faces peering anxiously—­Audrey’s and Miles’s, and, behind them again, loomed the heads and shoulders of others who had hurried to the scene of the catastrophe.

Then Herrick’s voice rang out, high-pitched with gathering apprehension.

“Are you all safe?”

And when the reassuring answer reached the little throng upon the threshold, a murmur of relief went up, culminating in a ringing cheer as the news percolated through to the crowd which had collected in the roadway.

In an amazingly short time, so it seemed to Sara, she found herself comfortably tucked into the back seat of Garth’s car, between him and Molly.  Judson, with Jane beside him, took the wheel, and they were soon speeding swiftly away towards Greenacres, where Audrey had insisted that the homeless household must take refuge—­the remainder of the party following in the Herricks’ limousine.

It had been a night of adventure, but it was over at last, and, as Jane Crab remarked with stolid conviction—­

“The doctor—­blessed saint!—­was never intended to be killed by one of they ’Uns, so they might as well have saved theirselves the trouble of trying it—­and we’d all have slept the easier in our beds!”

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE RECKONING

Elisabeth came slowly out of the room where her son was lying.

She had reached Greenacres—­in response to Sara’s letter, posted on the eve of the raid—­late in the afternoon of the following day, and Audrey had at once taken her upstairs to see Tim and left them together.  And now, as she closed the door of his room behind her, she leaned helplessly against the wall and her lips moved in a whispered cry of poignant misery.