He turned to me.
“Come on, Clayton. Let’s round up that Emperor of theirs. You all right?”
“Not a scratch, sir.”
He came closer, putting his hand on my shoulder for an instant. “You did the only thing, lad, I saw it all. Don’t look so down in the mouth about it. Any one would have done the same. Come on, let’s go!” and that was the only time the Chief and I discussed the death of Mrs. Fawcette.
The others had scattered in all directions, and in a moment the place was a bedlam with the crash of blows and the crack of splintering wood, as the men set themselves to break open locked doors.
One man found a staircase leading up from a small door in the main hall, and started up into the darkness to explore the floor above. But the Chief and I made for the corridor that led to the room of the voices, kicking or jemmying open the doors we passed, and making as sure as we could that we left no enemies behind us to take us in the rear.
Evidently the place was a regular labyrinth. But the most curious feature of it was the fact that we found no windows anywhere. The inhabitants must have lived eternally in an artificial light or in darkness.
The door opening into the room of the voices was closed but not locked, and I flung it open. The room was bare as I remembered it, and I strode across to the door beyond, followed by the Chief. This second door was locked, but the Chief set to work on it at once with his jemmy.
And then suddenly the tool slipped out of his hand and clattered on the floor, and he put out his hand to the wall for support. At the same moment he seemed to grow dim before my eyes, receding into a tiny figure.
With a yell of “Gas!” that was little more than a croak in my ears, I summoned every bit of strength I had left and jumped for the Chief, catching him about the shoulders and sending him spinning in the direction of the open door through which we had just passed. I followed him and we both fell to our knees in the middle of the room; but he must have realized the danger by now, for he managed somehow to drag himself on his hands and knees as far as the open door and through it. I also succeeded in rolling after him and out of the room, with one last effort kicking the door shut behind me. Then we lay motionless and panting until our wits and strength gradually returned and we were able to sit up and stare at each other.