Frank waited till he was sure the fellow was outside the building, and then said:
“I am going now. If you attempt to crowd me, I shall kill somebody with this bomb. Beware! Keep back!”
Then he retreated through the doorway and made a dash for freedom. He reached the street, but barely had he done so, when there was a frightful explosion behind him. He was cast upon his face, beaten upon and buried by débris. After some moments he struggled up and dragged himself from the mass. Then he saw that the building he had just left was in ruins.
CHAPTER XVII.
BY A HAIR’S BREADTH.
Just how that explosion came about will never be known. It is probable that, in springing after the escaping boy, one of the men overturned the table, casting the bombs upon the floor.
The building was entirely wrecked. Amid the ruins were found the bodies of several men and a woman. Some of the men were horribly mangled, and it was said that others had been blown to atoms, so their bodies could not be gathered.
The woman was not mangled, but she had been instantly killed. She was taken to the morgue, and Frank Merriwell saw her there upon a marble slab. She was still very beautiful, with a bit of color in her cheeks, and her parted lips showing her snowy teeth. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be sleeping.
No one seemed to know her; but she was not given a nameless grave. Frank saw that she was buried and that a headstone was placed above her, on which was inscribed, “Mlle. Mystere.” That was all.
Frank and Wynne had escaped from the vicinity of the explosion, and, having consulted together, decided not to tell the Paris police what they knew, as they might be detained and caused no end of trouble.