‘The outer walls are stone,’ he said, and there was a curious note in his voice which sent a thrill of horror through everyone who heard it. ‘The outer walls are stone, but the rest of it is oak, old, well-seasoned oak. It will burn like kindling wood in a grate.’
CHAPTER XXII
The Darkest Hour
‘The time,’ said Mr Campion, ‘is nine o’clock.’
Chris Kennedy stretched himself wearily.
‘Six hours since that swine left us,’ he said. ‘Do you think we’ve got an earthly?’
There was a stir in the room after he had spoken, and almost everybody looked at the pale-haired bespectacled young man who sat squatting on his haunches in a corner. Jeanne and Prenderby were alone unconscious of what was going on. The little girl still supported the boy’s head in her lap, with her timid little figure crouched over him, her face hidden.
Albert Campion shook his head.
‘I don’t know,’ he said, but there was no hopefulness in his tone, and once again the little group relapsed into the silence that had settled over them after the first outburst which had followed von Faber’s departure.
Whatever their attitude had been before, they were all now very much alive to the real peril of their position.
Von Faber had not been wasting his time when he had spoken to them, and they had each been struck by the stark callousness which had been visible in him throughout the entire interview.