5
As the silent semicircle continued to close about me, I experienced for one dreadful instant that paralysis of both mind and body which sometimes overtakes a man when destruction appears not merely probable but inevitable.
These extraordinary people had plainly enacted their ghastly ritual many times before.
Their quiet assurance, their complete absence of haste, spoke of a confidence born only of long experience.
Whatever had become of those unhappy strangers who had preceded me, I could no longer entertain the slightest doubt that I was intended to share their fate.
My eyes wandered rapidly about the conservatory in the desperate hope that some avenue of escape, hitherto overlooked, might suddenly present itself.
There was none. On every side the company advanced with measured steps, preserving the same courteous expressions with which they had welcomed me scarcely an hour before.
The broad gravel walks, the marble fountains, the dense masses of tropical foliage, all served only to emphasise the hopelessness of my position.
The lift stood immediately behind me, useless as though it had never existed.
Then my glance fell upon my doctor's bag.
In the very instant that I recognised it, I remembered the little bottle of ether which still lay amongst its contents.
The thought came with such suddenness that I acted almost before I had consciously formed any definite design.
Stooping, I threw open the bag, snatched out the bottle, and, rising again, hurled it with all the force at my command towards one of the magnificent crystal chandeliers suspended high above the conservatory.
There came the sharp crash of breaking glass.
For the briefest fraction of a second nothing followed. Then the escaping ether vapour drifted amongst the blazing gas-jets.
The effect was instantaneous.
With a deep, rushing whoomph, a great sheet of flame enveloped the chandelier.
Fire flashed round its glittering circle with astonishing rapidity, whilst burning ether sprayed in every direction.
The intense heat shattered scores of crystal pendants, which fell amidst a shower of blazing fragments upon the luxuriant foliage below.
Dry leaves shrivelled and blackened almost at once.
Here and there tongues of flame began to creep amongst the climbing plants, while dense smoke rolled upwards until it spread beneath the glass roof.
For the first time since my arrival the perfect composure of the assembly deserted them.
Ladies uttered cries of alarm. Gentlemen who had advanced upon me with such implacable tranquillity now turned instinctively towards the growing fire.
Several hurried towards the blazing chandelier in an obvious effort to master the outbreak before it gained a firmer hold, whilst others recoiled from the continual shower of burning crystal which descended amongst them.
The calm and orderly formation dissolved in an instant into confusion.
The opportunity, slender though it was, had come.
I darted away from the lift.
Close beside one of the marble tables stood a heavy wooden chair. I seized it by the back and, swinging it above my shoulder, brought it with all my strength against one of the immense panes of plate glass forming the outer wall of the conservatory.
The first blow splintered the glass into a thousand radiating cracks, but it still held.
With a cry born of desperation rather than anger, I struck again.
This time the great pane gave way with a deafening crash, and the shattered glass cascaded outwards into the darkness beyond.
Without pausing for so much as a backward glance, I flung the chair aside, climbed through the jagged opening, and found myself standing upon the narrow strip of lead roofing which surrounded the conservatory.
The cool night air struck my face like a blessing after the stifling heat within—for other chandeliers were now exploding behind me—while the flames, reflected a hundredfold in the remaining glass, transformed the great conservatory into a blazing lantern suspended above the sleeping city.