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. Mme. Estelle stood before him wringing her hands. “Be quick!” she said again. “Be quick! be quick! or you will be too late. That fiend Melun is at his work.” By the light of the candles which flickered on the mantelpiece Westerham made his way to the door. Seizing the handle, he turned it, but the lock held fast. He examined it swiftly, and to his joy saw that it opened outwards. He drew back a yard, and then sent the whole of his great weight crashing against the panels. And with good fortune the door of the room, although stoutly built, was partially rotten. It burst wide open before his weight and sent him sprawling on to his face in the passage. As he lay there half-stunned his pulses throbbed again as the noise which came from the main entrance told him that Lowther and Mendip were making good use of the gate. He dragged himself up to his knees, still clutching his revolver, and at the same moment the outer door gave up its resistance, and Lowther and Mendip came headlong into the hall-way. He heard them give a warning shout as he struggled to his feet, steadying himself by the pillars of the banisters. Looking up the stairs, he saw the brutal face of Crow on the landing, his strong, yellow teeth bared in a vicious snarl. Westerham heard the sound of a shot, and at the same time felt the hands of Mme. Estelle give him a push. Her intention was unselfish, almost heroic; she saved Westerham's life, but lost her own. She pitched forward with a little gasping sigh and lay still, huddled on the stairs. Westerham heard a second shot rap out from behind his back, and saw Crow stagger on the landing. The man reeled for a couple of paces and then fell heavily. Westerham had by this time fully got back his senses and his breath; and now he heard coming from somewhere high above him scream after scream of dreadful terror. He plunged up the staircase, and stepping across the body of Crow as it lay on the landing, raced up the second flight of stairs. For a moment he paused, in order to make doubly sure whence the dreadful screaming came. Then he had no doubt, and dashed on, up to the third flight, till he came to the topmost landing. Here he was confronted by a door, and he groaned within himself. He was living in some awful nightmare at which a door faced him at every turn. He emptied his revolver in the lock and hurled himself in frenzy against this further obstruction; it gave way, and he tottered into the room, the lights of which for a moment dazzled him. His half-blinded eyes were greeted by the sight which he had dreaded ever since he had come to the farm on the hill. Kathleen was fighting desperately, and for life, with Melun.