The hinges rattled slightly as we shifted it. The next moment we peered through a yawning cavity, ears alert. Not a sound reached us, and we stole forward with the utmost care. Midway of the hall were the corkscrew stairs up which Kara had guided Nikka and me. I judged we were close to them when a door jarred beside us. There was a shout, and we were surrounded by a mob of half-seen figures. They poured from the head of the stairs as well as from the rooms opening off the hall in which they had lain concealed. They were all around us, but in the darkness they got in each other's way, and I thought we could beat them off.
A man seized me by the shoulder, and I drove my fist into his face. Two others leaped on me. I cracked the skull of one with my crowbar, and broke the arm of the second. Hugh in front of me was driving his opponents down the stairs. I heard Nikka exclaim once, then a gasp—and a light flashed, three lights flashed. Hugh had cleared a space, but went down as I looked, throttled from behind. Nikka was just rising from beside a man whose head was crushed in. Then the rush began again.
I reached for my pistol, but did not have time to draw it. The attackers surged in from all sides. I had a fleeting glimpse of Hilmi Bey. Serge Yassilievich ran up the stair. I heard somewhere the snarling voice of Toutou LaFitte.
"Jack, hold them for me!" cried Nikka. "Must warn—King!"
I swung my crowbar in a circle, and backed towards Nikka's voice. He had shaken himself clear.
"In that door—opposite—reach window!" he gasped.
We charged and split a path toward the door of one of the rooms. As we reached it, a pair of gorilla-like arms wound around my neck. I tried to hit over my shoulder with the crowbar, but somebody caught my wrist. As I fell I heard Nikka's cry:
"Run, Professor! Save Betty! We're—"
That was all. Toutou had me on the floor and was choking the life out of me. I lost consciousness.
When I came to I was lying on a very damp, hard floor. Several lights dazzled my aching eyes, and a number of people were talking in French.