He
realized that instantly, and she heard him breaking out the sash
with a chair. At the sound the three figures broke into a run, and
she heard the sash give way. Almost instantly there was firing.
The first shot was close, and she knew it was Rudolph firing from
the window. Some wild design of braining him from behind with a
chair flashed into her desperate mind, but when she had felt her
way into Katie's room he had gone. The garden below was quiet,
but there was yelling and the crackling of underbrush from the
hill-side. Then a scattering of shots again, and silence. The
yard was empty.
The hill paid but moderate attention to shots. They were usually
merely pyrotechnic, and indicated rejoicing rather than death. But
here and there she heard a window raised, and then lowered again.
The hill had gone back to bed. Anna went into her room and dressed.
For the first time it had occurred to her that she might be held by
the police, and the thought was unbearable. It was when she was
making her escape that she found a prostrate figure in the yard,
and knew that one of Rudolph's shots had gone home.
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