Page 79 - A Hero of Liége

"They didn't come into the house?"

"No; the fellow who brought the cask into the lobby didn't seem at all
curious. Ah!"

He was interrupted by the ticking of an instrument on a table at the far end
of the room. There was silence for a moment as he read the message.

"The bridge is to be blown up," said the man, returning. "At last!"

"Give me a few minutes to finish my meal," said Hellwig. "I've had nothing
to eat for twelve hours. A quarter of an hour, say; that won't make any

difference. I wish your cook would hurry up."

Kenneth turned to go back, anticipating a possible visit to the kitchen. At
the same moment the kitchen door opened, and an old woman bearing a
tray came into the passage. The light from the lamp behind her fell on an

unfamiliar figure at the door of the dining-room-- a bootless man with a
revolver in his hand. The woman screamed; the tray fell from her hand, and

a pool of soup spread over the floor. There was an outcry in the
dining-room; the man nearest the door flung it fully open, to find the
muzzle of a revolver within a few inches of his head.

In the moment allowed him for thought, Kenneth had realised that he could

not escape if he dashed past the old woman with armed men at his back.
With an inward tremor he made up his mind to the bold course.

"Hands up!" he cried, as the startled man recoiled.

The German instantly flung up his hands. But his companions realised the
position. One of them sprang across the room to an electric push in the
wall. Another, covered by the man who had flinched, whipped out his

revolver, and took a snapshot at Kenneth. But a slight movement of the
man between them brought him in the line of fire, and he fell with a bullet

through his head.