"There are only two!" roared Tokalji. "Pull them down!"
"Run!" I heard Nikka shout.
We pelted for the house on our left, the House of the Married, as Kara had called it. Despite Toutou's warning, a second bullet spattered on the stones between Nikka and me; but we were poor marks in the half-light, with people running in every direction, many of them uncertain who were friends or foes. I turned as I ran, and fired into the ground in front of Kara, who was the closest of our pursuers; but she refused to be frightened and actually plunged through the doorway on our heels.
"I'll tend to her," panted Nikka. "You fasten the door, Jack."
There was a wooden bar, which I dropped into place, and the next minute the framework groaned under a weight of bodies.
"No shooting," yelled Tokalji. "You fools, you'll have the Frank police in here!"
"One hundred Napoleons a head for them," barked Toutou. "Dead or alive."
The uproar redoubled, and then Tokalji evidently invaded the throng hammering at the door.
"Leave that door alone," he snapped. "You're wasting time. Go through the windows."
"Come on, Nikka," I urged. "We can't guard every point. We must run for it."