the man tied to the railings and escape through the
house.

With a promptitude that was wholly admirable, one of the women drew a
pair of scissors from her pocket and cut the cords that bound the man to
the fence. With a cry of joy the poor fellow staggered to his feet. But,
stiffened by his bonds or exhausted by the cruel treatment he had
received, he could barely stand, and had to be half supported and half
dragged by two of the women back into the house.

"Tell them to be off, Dale," cried Max rapidly. "I will hold back these
men for a minute. Take them right through into the street beyond and get
them out of sight. I will follow in a moment."

Dale obeyed, and under his guidance the whole party made their way
rapidly through the house, into the gardens, and through the houses
opposite into the road beyond. At the disappearance of their prey the
soldiers set up a howl of rage, and made a concerted rush for their
weapons. But Max redoubled his efforts, and, his supply of quartz
exhausted, rained down upon them jugs, mirrors, pictures, and everything
movable he could lay hands upon, holding them in check for a few
precious moments. Then, after one final fling, he bolted from the room
into the bedroom at the back and leapt out of the window. Landing in a
flower-bed unhurt, he rushed without a pause at the low garden fence in
front of him, cleared it at a bound, and dashed through the house
opposite in the wake of Dale and the fugitive people.

Meanwhile, out in the roadway, the soldiers had seized their weapons,
and, hardly knowing what to expect, poured two or three volleys into the
empty house. Then they cautiously reconnoitred, and by the time they had
come to the conclusion that the house was indeed empty, the fugitives
were completely beyond their reach. Characteristically enough, they
vented their rage and disappointment on the inanimate objects within
their reach. The crash of furniture soon rose above their shouts of
fury, and in the end smoke rolled from the windows and poured upwards to
the sky as a silent witness to the new spirit that had come to dominate
the land.

Max and Dale hurried the people they had rescued away from the scene of
the outbreak, and would not allow them to slacken speed until they had
put a mile of streets between them and their savage foes. It was then,
Max judged, high time to find a haven of refuge of some sort, for, with
one exception, the women were half crazed with fear and t