Alexis, who had been quick to see the necessity of instant action, was by this time firing back at the place from which the little spits of flame had come far above them. In the darkness he answered shot for shot. After the sound of the shots came a complete silence, and Paul, as he stood stock-still beside the gate, which was now swinging idly over the moat, could hear the patter of the water on the path as it dripped from his clothes. Andrieff, as soon as he had seen that Paul was safe, had run along the hedge, and now he gave a shout. "This is the gate we want," he cried. But a third spit of flame came from the darkness overhead, and Paul heard the overseer swearing softly under his breath. Whoever their unknown assailant might be, he was no mean marksman. Paul and Alexis ran to Andrieff's aid. "What's up?" asked Paul. "Nothing," answered Andrieff, and he got the gate opened. The three men dashed up the path and reached a small door; but it was made of stout oak, and securely fastened within. They thrust their shoulders against it without avail, and then stood looking at one another, panting, and for the moment baffled. It was then that Paul's quick ear caught a woman's voice. He whipped round and looked across the sheet of water. His eyes were now well accustomed to the gloom, and he saw the form of a woman leaning far out of a window and gesticulating wildly. He held up his hand to the others for silence, and then once more came a voice which he instantly recognized. It was the voice of the red-haired woman. "Be quick! Be quick!" she cried. "If you don't wish to be too late, you must swim the moat--the door is barred." Paul cast a quick glance behind him, and his eyes fell on the gate. "Use that as a battering ram," he ordered, and then his jaws closed over the butt of his revolver. Without hesitation he waded in, and a few strong strokes brought him beneath the window out of which Madame Estelle leant and waved. He knew instinctively by her accents that she was terrified beyond measure and that he need not expect treachery from her. With one hand he clutched the sill, with the other he reached up and shifting the safety-catch on with his thumb, let his revolver fall into the room. Soaked as he was with water, it was not an easy task to hoist himself up and clamber through the window, and when at last he stood within the room he leant against the wall partially exhausted and breathing hard. Madame Estelle stood before him wringing her hands. "Be quick!" she said again. "Be quick! be quick! or you will be too late. That fiend Boris is at his work." By the light of the candles which flickered on the mantelpiece Paul made his way to the door.