Then Kennedy went directly at Long Sin.  They struggled furiously.

Long Sin, with his wonderful knowledge of jiu-jitsu, might not have been a match for six other Chinamen, but he was for one white man.  With a mighty effort he threw Kennedy, rushed for the door and, as he passed through the outside room, seized a Tong axe from the wall.

Afraid of the wonderful jiu-jitsu, I had picked up the first thing handy, which was a tabaret.  I literally broke it over the head of my Chinaman, then turned and dashed out after Long Sin just as Kennedy picked himself up and followed.

I caught up with the Chinaman and we had a little struggle, but he managed to break away and raised his axe threateningly.  A shout from Kennedy caused him to turn and run down the flight of stairs, Kennedy closely behind him.

In the main hall of the apartment house were two elevator shafts facing the street entrance, some twenty-five or thirty feet away.  Through the street door the janitor and two or three other men were running in.  They had heard the noise of the fighting above.

Escape to the street was cut off.  We were behind him on the flight of stairs.

Long Sin did not hesitate a moment.  He ran to the elevator, the door of which was open, seized the elevator boy and sent him sprawling on the marble floor.  Then he slammed the door and the elevator shot up.

Kennedy was only a few feet behind, and he took in the situation at a glance.  He leaped into the other elevator, and before the surprised boy could interfere shot it up only a few feet behind Long Sin.

Up the two elevators rose, Kennedy firing as best he could at Long Sin, while the shots reverberated through the elevator shaft like cannon.

It was a wild race to the roof.  Long Sin had the start, and as the elevator reached the top floor he flung it open, dashed out and through a door up to the roof itself.

A second later Kennedy’s elevator stopped.  Craig leaped out and fired his last shot at the legs of Long Sin as he disappeared at the top of the flight of stairs to the roof.  He flung the revolver from him and followed.

Without a moment’s hesitation Kennedy threw himself at Long Sin.  They struggled with each other.  Finally Long Sin managed to wrench one arm lose and raise the Tong axe over Kennedy’s head.

Kennedy dodged back.  As he did so he tripped on the very edge of the roof and went sliding down the slates of the mansard.

Fortunately he was able to catch himself in the gutter.

It was the opportunity that Long Sin wanted.  He started across the rope, which he had stretched from this apartment house to the building across the court, with all the deftness of the most expert Chinese acrobat.

By this time I had reached the roof, followed by the janitor and the elevator boys.

Kennedy was now crawling up the mansard, helping himself as best he could by some of the ornamental ironwork.  I hurried over with the janitor, and together we pulled him out of danger.