Again, almost before he became aware of the fact, his head came in contact with a stone wall. Half turning, he propped his burden against the barrier, and with his disengaged hand fumbled helplessly, pawing the rough masonry like a trapped animal.
A comparatively cool current of air wafted in, temporarily dispersing the noxious fumes. Eagerly he took in draughts of the life-giving air. His benumbed brain was just able to realise that not so very far distant was an opening communicating with the outside. But where, and how large?
He edged away to the right. His hand no longer encountered solid wall. There was a aperture torn by a shell. Beyond was comparatively pure air.
Setting the unconscious man upon the ground, Tressidar crept through the narrow opening. Then, gripping his charge by the ankles, he hauled the man, feet foremost, into comparative safety. Utterly exhausted, he dropped to the ground and waited, breathing stertorously as his sorely taxed strength returned.
The bombardment had now ceased, but overhead the roar of the flames and the continual crash of falling masonry and tiles proclaimed the fact that the fire was still maintaining a fierce grip upon the building. The trembling of the walls warned the sub. that his temporary shelter was no longer safe.
Dragging the unconscious man—for he no longer had the strength to lift him—Tressidar backed along a passage and up a short flight of stone steps. Even as he did so, the roof of the cellar in which he had been so nearly trapped collapsed under the weight of hundreds of tons of rubble.
Just aware that people were hastening to his assistance as he emerged into the open air, Tressidar relinquished his burden. But for the support of two stalwart bluejackets the sub. would have fallen.
Then came the anti-climax. He burst into a roar of laughter as he surveyed his borrowed mess uniform, now a collection of scorched rags that would ill-become a scare-crow.
"Dash it all!" he ejaculated. "Poor old Jimmy's mess-kit."
"Never mind," said a low voice. "After what you've done, Ronald, I don't suppose he will."