Mark ran up the staircase to the half landing where there was a window above the hall door, from which he could look out in the direction of the town. His sister Vera followed him.
"We're as safe here as anywhere else," she said in excuse for her presence. "Can you see anything?"
"I saw a flash just now," Mark answered. "I believe it was the Zeppelin's searchlight. Oo! did you hear that! It must have struck some building. What's that glow of light over there? They've set some place on fire!"
He afterwards learnt that an incendiary bomb, aimed at the naval signal station, had fallen in a timber yard and set the stacks of wood in flames.
Vera counted ten explosions in all. Then the bomb-dropping ceased.
"They haven't stopped long," she sighed in relief. "I do hope nobody has been hurt. What are you looking at? Can you see the airship?"
"Yes. It's like a big sausage high up in the air, just over St. Nicholas' Church. Have a look!"
Mark moved aside to make room for Vera.
"I see it! I see it!" she cried. "And, oh, Mark, it's chasing a motor-car!"
Mark peered out into the darkness and saw the brilliantly-lighted lamp of a motor flashing along the Buremouth road. The beam of the light was shed upward. The car was travelling at a tremendous pace.