I peered cautiously around the corner.
“There's a gentleman in a billycock hat who's rather anxious to have them lead the way,” I said; “but they seem to prefer listening to fighting.”
The gentleman whose voice was for war I discovered to be my snake-eyed friend. He seemed to be having difficulty with the language, and was eking out his Pidgin-English with pantomime.
“There!” cried Luella with a start; “what's that?”
A heavy blow shook the walls of the building and sounded through the passage.
“Good!” I said. “If our friends yonder are going to make trouble they must do it at once. Corson's got an ax, and the door will be down first they know.”
“Thank Heaven!” whispered Luella. And then she began to tremble.
The blows followed fast upon each other, but suddenly they were drowned in a chorus of yells, and a volley of revolver shots sent the bullets spatting against the door.
“Look out, Miss Knapp,” I said. “They're coming. Stand close behind me, and crouch down if they get this far.”
I could feel her straighten and brace herself once more behind me as I bent cautiously around the corner.