My mistress is being murdered."
"Mr. Hope is looking after that, and the screams have ceased.
Who was with your mistress?"
"I don't know, sir," sobbed the servant. "I didn't know anyone
had called, and then I heard the screaming. I looked into the
parlor to see what was the matter, but the lamp had been thrown
over and had gone out, and there was a dreadful struggle going on
in the darkness, so I screamed and ran out and then I--oh--oh"
Jane showed symptoms of renewed hysteria, and clutched Random
tightly, as a man came cautiously round the corner.
"Are you there, Random?" asked Hope's voice.
"It's so infernally dark and foggy that I have missed him."
"Missed who?"
"The man who was trying to murder Mrs. Jasher, He got her down
when I entered and struck a match. Then he dashed through the
window before I could catch him or even recognize him. He's
vanished in the mist."
"It's no use looking for him anyhow," said Random, peering into
the dense blackness, which was thick with damp. "We had better
see after Mrs. Jasher."
"Whom have you got there?"
"Jane--who seems to have lost her head."
"It's a mercy I haven't lost my life, sir, with burglars and
murderers all about the place," sobbed the girl, dropping on to
the veranda.
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