And with a heart-pang beyond description he saw his brother Guillaume in his turn spring forward and rush into the mansion as though impelled to do so by some revelation, some sudden certainty.

He, Pierre, though he understood nothing clearly, could divine the approach of some frightful horror.

But when he would have run, when he would have shouted, he found himself as if nailed to the pavement, and felt his throat clutched as by a hand of lead.

Then suddenly came a thunderous roar, a formidable explosion, as if the earth was opening, and the lightning-struck mansion was being annihilated.

Every window-pane of the neighbouring houses was shivered, the glass raining down with the loud clatter of hail.