“He said he’d come all the way from the north,” interposed O’Rane’s secretary. “I guessed then he was one of the hunger-marchers; and I . . . didn’t like the way he spoke. So, when he turned to call the others, I gave him a push and slammed the door behind him. Then . . . then . . . then . . .”
O’Rane patted the girl’s hand while the inspector resumed his narrative. Barred from one entrance, the rioters attacked the other and succeeded in wrenching the door down. Inside, their conduct at first was orderly: some stretched themselves on the floor, others collected round the fires; when the police arrived, however, one or two got out of hand: tables were overturned, drawers ransacked and the safe bombarded, ineffectually enough, with sticks and stones. Then two arrests were made; and the crowd settled down to fight in earnest. Those who were outside shattered the windows with every missile that came to hand; those within overturned the furniture, flung the books from their shelves and kicked burning coals into the midst of the wreckage. When the truncheons came into place, the attack collapsed; but, with half-a-dozen exceptions, the invaders had made good their escape.
“Which way did they go?,” asked O’Rane.
“Every way, sir, as far as we could see. They were lost in the fog before they were out of the garden.”
“I understand. Well, they’re not likely to come back, but I suppose you’ll leave some one to look after the place. I shall be here first thing to-morrow morning, but I’ve rather a lot to do now. Can you arrange for some one to take these ladies home? I don’t like them to wander about unprotected. George, I want you.”
As I followed him into the ruins of his private office, he asked me if Sonia had mentioned where she was going that afternoon.
“I imagine, to The Sanctuary,” I answered. “She had tickets for a private view, but I heard her say it was too dark to do anything except go to bed.”
“And the best place too. Will you get hold of the other telephone and tell her to bar the door and put the shutters up in the library? All the ground-floor rooms without shutters must be locked on the outside. She’s not to go to the door on any pretext; and there must be no lights in any window. If I want to get in, I’ll use the fire-escape; so she must leave the nursery-window open. Tell her—without frightening her, if possible—that I’m asking the police to draft some additional men into the neighbourhood . . .”
“You think this gang has gone back?,” I interrupted.
This was the first time that I had engaged in any adventure with O’Rane; and I began to appreciate some of his qualities of leadership. Always knowing what he wanted, he made his followers want it with equal intensity; fearless himself, he subdued fear in others. I felt that he would stand back to back with me against an army corps; and it was only natural that I should wish to stand back to back with him.