Again he heard the grating voice of the doctor. “I thought so. Well, there’s nothing for it but violence. Put your pistol to the lock and burst it.”
Crash! In the silence of the house the explosion seemed terrific. There was a splintering of wood and the lock was torn from its fixings. But the bolt still held, and though Castelli shook and hammered on the door it would not open. Again he heard the voice of Doctor Bergius.
“Brace yourself against the wall of the corridor. Come, we’ll both put our strength into it.”
Hugh heard the door strain, crack. It was stout and still held. But it could not last long. In another minute it would give way. He ran to the window and leaned out. Then he drew in sharply, for from the darkness two bullets shattered the pane. Golaz and Gamba were on watch down there. No escape that way.
He wheeled around, desperate. The door under the combined weight of Castelli and the doctor was beginning to bulge, to crack. In another minute they would be in the room. He was trapped, unarmed, helpless. He was lost.
Then suddenly the pressure on his door ceased. They had paused to listen to what was going on below. The inn-keeper had jumped out of bed and run into the kitchen.
Hugh heard him cry: “What’s wrong! Nom de Dieu! What’s the matter? Ho! there, you two fellows!... Why, they’re gone. Ah! the door’s open....”
Daring another shot Hugh leaned from the window. Golaz had taken up a position behind the door and as the inn-keeper came out, threw his arms around him. In that bear hug of a grip, Pascal was as helpless as a child. He gave one great, hoarse cry, then Gamba had him by the throat.
The three were locked in a silent, deadly struggle. All at once Hugh heard again the ominous crack of the breaking door. Now was his time, now or never. He would slip down the pipe and then ... leave the rest to luck. As he climbed out on the sill of the window he heard a cry of alarm. Golaz and Gamba had seen him. They still gripped the inn-keeper. When he slipped to the foot of the pipe he, too, would be seized and held. No, that way was madness. What to do then?
There was another way ... up! The eaves of the house were only a few feet above his window. That was it, the roof.