Teal departed obediently, and Storm coolly reloaded. He was breathing evenly, and there was hardly a flush on his face. On an impulse he decided to reconnoitre upstairs, and thereby saved his life. He was half-way up when the door below him opened and a man appeared. In a moment the apparition had vanished again, but Storm had seen the round black object that had been flung towards the angle he had just quitted. He yelled a warning, and at the same time fired through the door. He heard a bellow of pain, and gathered that his random shot had found a billet. Then the bomb exploded. Lying flat on the stairs, he blazed between the banisters at the second mass which crowded out to attack, until his automatic clicked on an empty magazine. By this time a fresh contingent had arrived under Inspector Teal, and once again the onslaught was repulsed with losses on each side. But now, instead of retiring to their door, most of the party broke for the stairs, running the gauntlet of the police fire. Storm leapt up ahead of them, for there was no hope of resistance: there must have been fully eighty men in that solid pack. He had hoped for a single door which he could have held against them, but a long passage fronted him as he reached the top. A side door which was ajar showed a bare room, and he dodged into it, barring the door behind him, and heard the mob go pounding past. Reloading at speed, he opened the door again and fired low as the last of them disappeared through another opening, and two fell to his shooting. Then Teal and a number of men arrived, and he led them in a rush to the door and tried the handle. It was locked. "There may be another bomb coming, so look out!" he warned, and promptly disregarded his own advice. The lock burst out under the impact of a bullet, and they charged in. The place was beautifully empty. "This is annoying," said Teal with staggering restraint, and walked to the only window. Hanging out, he looked to his left and saw that the wall continued over to the next block, with an archway below at the street level. He pointed this fact out to Storm, thereby annoying that young man considerably. "The place is marked as an island site on the surveyor's plans," he said. "They must have sent me an old set. You can see the bridge is newer than either building. I suppose there's a secret panel somewhere, but we needn't waste time looking for it now. What about the birds who didn't get away?" "The boys have got 'em--thirteen. They were unlucky, all right." "And eighty-odd have slipped the cordon, you long-tailed land-ape!" snarled Storm with pardonable heat. "Your sense of proportion makes me want to scream!"