Olga stumbled blindly forward. "Nick! Nick! Where are you? What has happened?" she cried, in an agony.
Instantly his voice came to her. "Here, child! Don't be scared! I'm holding the dog."
She groped her way to him, nearly falling over Cork, who was dragging against his hand.
The great dog turned to her, whining, and, reassured by her presence, ceased to resist.
"That's better," said Nick, with relief. "Can you hold him?"
She slipped her hand inside his collar! "Nick! What has happened?" she whispered, for her voice was gone.
Dimly she discerned figures in the inner hall, but there was no longer any sound of struggling. And then quite suddenly Max came back through the archway.
"Lend me a hand, Ratcliffe!" he said. "I'm bleeding like a pig."