She moved to the steering-wheel and drove the car close under the wall a little higher up, to the right of the gateway. Then she piled the four cushions on the seat and stood on the top of them.
"Montfaucon!" she called.
The Captain understood. In half-a-dozen movements he climbed up Dorothy's back and stood upright on her shoulders. With that advantage his hands touched the top of the wall. Clinging to it, with Dorothy's help, he pulled himself up. When he was astride it, Raoul threw a rope to him. He tied one end round his waist, Dorothy held the other. In a few seconds the child touched the ground on the other side of the wall, and Raoul had barely got back to the gate before the key grated in the lock and the bolts were drawn.
Raoul did not get back to the car. He dashed across the orchard, followed by Dorothy and the Captain. As she ran she said to the child:
"Go round the house and if you see a ladder against it, pull it down!"
As they expected, they found Goliath on the steps scratching at the closed door. They made him stop barking and in the silence they heard above them outcries and the sound of a struggle.
Instantly, to frighten the assailant, Raoul fired off his revolver. Then with his latch-key he opened the door; and they ran up the stairs.
One of the rooms facing them was lighted by two lamps. On the floor, face downwards, Raoul's grandfather was writhing and uttering faint, hoarse cries.
Raoul dropped on his knees beside him. Dorothy seized one of the lamps and ran into the room on the opposite side of the corridor. She had noticed that the door of it was open.
The room was empty; through the open window stuck the top of a ladder.