Random promptly hauled her to her feet.
"Go and get a candle, and keep calm if you can," he said in an
abrupt military voice. "This is no time to play the fool."
His sharpness had great effect on the girl, and she became much
more her usual self. Hope lighted another match, and the trio
proceeded through the passage towards the kitchen, where Jane had
left a lamp burning. Seizing this from its bracket, Sir Frank
retraced his way along the passage to the pink parlor, followed
closely by Hope and timorously by Jane. A dreadful scene
presented itself. The dainty little room was literally smashed
to pieces, as though a gigantic bull had been wallowing therein.
The lamp lay on the floor, surrounded by several extinguished
candles. It was a mercy that all the lights had been put out
when overturned, else the gim-crack cottage would have been long
since in a blaze. Chairs and tables and screens were also
overturned, and the one window had its rose-hued curtains torn
down and its glass broken, showing only too clearly the way in
which the murderer had escaped. And that the man who had
attacked Mrs. Jasher was a murderer could be seen from the stream
of blood that ran slowly from Mrs. Jasher's breast.
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