M. Roussillon reached his gun with one hand, with the other swung
a tremendous blow as he leaped against the intruders. Madame
Roussillon blew out the light. No cave in the depth of earth was
ever darker than that room. The patrolmen could not see one
another or know what to do; but M. Roussillon laid about him with
the strength of a giant. His blows sounded as if they smashed
bones. Men fell heavily thumping on the floor where he rushed
along. Some one fired a pistol and by its flash they all saw him;
but instantly the darkness closed again, and before they could get
their bearings he was out and gone, his great hulking form making
its way easily over familiar ground where his would-be captors
could have proceeded but slowly, even with a light to guide them.
There was furious cursing among the patrolmen as they tumbled
about in the room, the unhurt ones trampling their prostrate
companions and striking wildly at each other in their blindness
and confusion. At last one of them bethought him to open a dark
lantern with which the night guards were furnished. Its flame was
fluttering and gave forth a pale red light that danced weirdly on
the floors and walls.
Alice had snatched down one of her rapiers when the guards first
entered. They now saw her facing them with her slender blade
leveled, her back to the wall, her eyes shining dangerously.
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