I stuck my head out of the window to look at the other two down below, only to feel myself dragged unceremoniously back by Garrick.
"What's the use of taking that risk, Tom?" he expostulated. "One shot from them and you would be a dead one."
Fortunately they had not seen me, so intent were they on getting away. They had now seated themselves in the car and, as Garrick had suspected, could not resist delivering a parting shot at us, emptying the contents of an automatic blindly up at our window. Garrick and I were, as it happened, busy on the opposite side of the room.
All thought of Forbes was dropped for the present. Garrick said not a word but continued at work in the corner of the room by the other broken window.
"Either they must have succeeded in getting out after the first shot and so escaped the fumes," muttered Garrick finally, "and hid in the stable, or, perhaps, they were out there at work anyhow. Still that makes little difference now. They must have seen us go in, have followed us quietly, and then caught us here."
With a hasty final imprecation, the car below started forward with a jerk and was swallowed up in the darkness.
CHAPTER XXII
THE MAN HUNT
Here we were, locked in a little room on the top floor of the mysterious house. I looked out of both windows. There was no way to climb down and it was too far to jump, especially in the uncertain darkness. I threw myself at the door. It had been effectually braced by our captors.
Garrick, in the meantime, had lighted the light again, and placed it by the window.