“Are you there, Random?” asked Hope's voice.
“It's so infernally dark and foggy that I have missed him.”
“Missed who?”
“The man who was trying to murder Mrs. Jasher, He got her down when I entered and struck a match. Then he dashed through the window before I could catch him or even recognize him. He's vanished in the mist.”
“It's no use looking for him anyhow,” said Random, peering into the dense blackness, which was thick with damp. “We had better see after Mrs. Jasher.”
“Whom have you got there?”
“Jane—who seems to have lost her head.”
“It's a mercy I haven't lost my life, sir, with burglars and murderers all about the place,” sobbed the girl, dropping on to the veranda.
Random promptly hauled her to her feet.
“Go and get a candle, and keep calm if you can,” he said in an abrupt military voice. “This is no time to play the fool.”