CHAPTER XXVI.
THE LAST STAND I had no time to answer, no opportunity to even realize what was meant.
There was a fiendish roar, a crash that shook the house to its very foundations, sending us staggering back against the walls.

I remember gripping Billie closely, and seeing her white face, even as I warded off with uplifted arm the falling plaster.

The soldier was on his knees, grovelling with face against the floor.

A great jagged hole appeared in the opposite wall, and I could see daylight through it.

My ears roared, my brain reeled.
"Lie down," I cried, forcing her to the floor.