He slipped an arm like a steel cable round Colin's waist, and, preceded by Nancy carrying the candle, they staggered out into the corridor. "Don't you mind treadin' on 'er," continued Joe, as they approached the squirming figure on the floor. "She's one o' them wild cats that it don't pay to be perlite with." Colin himself was in no mood for superfluous courtesy, but a timely swerve enabled him to avoid the opposite extreme, and the next minute they had hobbled down the steps, and were standing on the pavement. Blowing out the candle, and placing it on the ground, Nancy closed the door behind them. Joe held out his free hand toward her. "Better let me 'ave the gun, miss," he remarked. "We might meet 'em before we gets to Flood Lane, and, seein' as they means mischief, the only thing to do is to shoot quick." Nancy handed it over without a word, and, crossing to the railings, took up her position on the farther side of Colin. The latter put his other arm round her shoulder, and in this somewhat huddled formation the three of them started off at a slow pace along the front of the warehouse. It was a painful journey as far as Colin was concerned, for with every step he took the blood began to circulate more freely through his numbed limbs, causing him such intense agony that at times he could hardly suppress a groan. In order to take his mind off his sufferings he began to tell them his story, jerking it out in broken and disconnected phrases as they limped their way slowly forward through the darkness. He described how he had been stunned in the passage by a blow from a sandbag, and how, on coming round, he had recognized "Spike" Cooper and the man who had led the attack on Marsden in the King's Road. He went on to give them an account of the way in which he had been thrust down into the cellar and left there to drown, and of how, after what seemed like hours of vain struggling, he had at last succeeded in getting on his feet, just before the water began to pour in through the opening. "I don't know why I took the trouble," he finished, "except that one doesn't like to go under without a last kick. I never dreamed that there was the faintest chance of my being rescued. When I heard you opening the trap I made certain that it was only Cooper and the others come back to watch me drown." As he spoke they reached the entrance to Flood Lane, and with a grunt of relief Joe slipped the revolver into his pocket. "Better not be seen carryin' a gun 'ere," he observed. "There might be a cop at the corner, and I reckon we want to get you back 'ome as soon as possible." "You needn't worry about me," said Colin encouragingly. "This little stroll has just saved my life." He was, as a matter of fact, already beginning to walk more easily, and by the time they came out at the top of the lane into the main road he found himself able to dispense with Nancy's assistance.