a
fender. Three of the enemy were in the room--one senseless on the
floor, one in the grip of Sime, whose single hand was tightly clenched
on his throat, and one engaged with Dougal in a corner. The Die-Hard
leader was sore pressed, and to his help Sir Archie went. The fresh
assault made the seaman duck his head, and Dougal seized the occasion
to smite him hard with something which caused him to roll over. It was
Leon's life-preserver which he had annexed that afternoon.

Alexis at the window seemed to have for a moment daunted the attack.
"Bring that table," he cried, and the thing was jammed into the gap.
"Now you"--this to Sime--"get the man from the back door to hold this
place with his gun. There's no attack there. It's about time for
shooting now, or we'll have them in our rear. What in heaven is that?"

It was McGuffog whose great bellow resounded down the corridor. Sir
Archie turned and shuffled back, to be met by a distressing spectacle.
The lamp, burning as peacefully as it might have burned on an old
lady's tea-table, revealed the window of the garden-room driven bodily
inward, shutters and all, and now forming an inclined bridge over
Dougal's ineffectual tubs. In front of it stood McGuffog, swinging his
gun by the barrel and yelling curses, which, being mainly couched in
the vernacular, were happily meaningless to Saskia. She herself stood
at the hall door, plucking at something hidden in her breast. He saw
that it was a little ivory-handled pistol.

The enemy's feint had succeeded, for even as Sir Archie looked three
men leaped into the room. On the neck of one the butt of McGuffog's
gun crashed, but two scrambled to their feet and made for the girl. Sir
Archie met the first with his fist, a clean drive on the jaw, followed
by a damaging hook with his left that put him out of action. The other
hesitated for an instant and was lost, for McGuffog caught him by the
waist from behind and sent him through the broken frame to join his
comrades without.

"Up the stairs," Dougal was shouting, for the little room beyond the
hall was clearly impossible. "Our flank's turned. They're pourin'
through the other windy." Out of a corner of his eye Sir Archie caught
sight of Alexis, with Sime and Carfrae in support, being slowly forced
towards them along the corridor. "Upstairs," he shouted. "Come on,
McGuffog. Lead on, Princess." He dashed out the lamp, and the place
was in darkness.

With this retre