"Is it dangerous? What are we to do?" gasped Tony, next him. She was rather white. At the same moment the very distant but unmistakable reverberation of guns became audible. Trevellyan took instant advantage of the sudden cessation of sound in the room. "If there is a basement, it would be as well for everybody to go down there, please--just for precaution's sake. And then I'm going to put out these lights." His hand was on the nearest gas-jet as he spoke. "Nothing will induce me to _stir_ while there's any danger. I can answer for every woman here!" cried Lesbia, with a gesture of noble defiance. Grace Jones came into the middle of the room. "Hadn't we better obey orders?" she asked gently. "There is a basement beyond the kitchen." She held out her hand to Miss Anthony, and they went through the door into the kitchen. After an instant's hesitation, the other women followed. Trevellyan saw that they had lit a candle, and in a moment he heard them beginning to talk quietly amongst themselves. A few soldiers in the hall had congregated together, and were talking and laughing. The others made a dash for the door as the firing grew louder, and simultaneously exclaimed: "Here they are!" The sound of the huge machines far overhead was unmistakable. They could see the shrapnel bursting, and the guns on the hill boomed heavily and intermittently. "Look!" shrieked Lesbia, almost hurling herself out of the door. "They've got one of them! I can see it blazing!" Far away, a red spot began to glow, then suddenly revealed the cigar-shaped form in flames, dropping downwards. "They've got it!" echoed Trevellyan. "Look! it's coming down. Miles away, by this time. I wonder how many of ours are giving chase." The air was full of whirring, buzzing wings, and very far away a red light in the sky seemed to tell of fire. Occasional sparks and flashes told of the bursting of shrapnel, but the sounds were dying away rapidly. "It's over, and, by Jove, we've got him!" shouted Trevellyan, dashing back into the kitchen. Every one was talking at once, Mrs. Willoughby's voice dominating the rest. "I saw the whole thing _too_ perfectly! At _least_ five of the brutes, and two, if not three, of them in flames! I saw them with my own eyes!" she proclaimed, with more spirit than exactitude. "And where are those poor creatures hiding like rats in the cellar?" "The noise was awful!" said Tony, shuddering. "It felt as though it were right over our heads. But," she added valiantly, "I do wish we'd seen it all!" Trevellyan turned to her apologetically. "I'm so sorry. But I really couldn't help it. They sent me down on purpose to see that this place was warned. It was really perfectly splendid of you to go down like that and miss all the fun." "I was very frightened," she told him honestly, "though I do _awfully_ wish I'd seen it. They must have had a splendid view from the Hostel at the top of the street."