"Yes, yes. Great Heaven! it is terrible?"
Catherine sprang from her bed.
"Arise, my child," she cried; "dress quickly."
The shots redoubled and the windows were lit up as if by constant flashes of lightning.
"Attention!" shouted the voice of Materne.
They heard the neighing of a horse without, and the rush of many feet below in the passage, the yard, and in front of the house, which shook to its foundations.
Suddenly shots were fired from the hall on the ground floor. A heavy step sounded on the stairs; the door opened, and Hullin, pale, his hair disordered and his lips quivering, appeared, bearing a lantern.
"Hasten," he cried, "we have not a moment to lose."
"What has happened?" asked Catherine.
The firing became louder and louder.