6
For one blessed instant I did nothing.
My sudden deliverance had come with such unexpected swiftness that I stood motionless upon the narrow roof, scarcely able to believe I had escaped the inferno behind me.
London lay spread beneath me in sombre magnificence, its countless lamps gleaming through the faint haze which hung above the rooftops.
Here and there the dark outline of some familiar church tower or public building rose above the surrounding streets, while far below the occasional rumble of a cab reminded me that the ordinary life of the metropolis continued in complete ignorance of the dreadful events unfolding high above.
The respite lasted no more than a heartbeat.
Behind me there came the sharp sound of glass breaking afresh.
I turned.
The members of that extraordinary society had reached the opening through which I had escaped.
Those nearest the breach were methodically striking away the remaining jagged fragments with chairs and walking sticks before climbing out upon the roof.
One after another they emerged through the widened opening.
The flames, already spreading rapidly through the conservatory, cast a fierce and flickering light over their faces, and I was struck at once by a singular alteration in their appearance.
The pleasant smiles had entirely disappeared.
Their features were now composed into an expression of cold and resolute purpose which, precisely because it remained so entirely free from passion, appeared infinitely more alarming than any display of rage could have been.
There was no hesitation in their movements.
As each gained the roof he or she immediately turned in my direction, and the whole company began advancing silently after me.
I needed no second warning.
Turning upon my heel, I hurried along the strip of lead roofing which surrounded the conservatory, hoping every instant to discover some staircase, ladder, or other means of descending to the street below.
None presented itself. The roof upon which I found myself was no proper roof at all, but merely a narrow ledge running around the outer edge of the great glass structure.
Upon my right the blazing conservatory rose in a wall of iron and crystal, while upon my left the ledge ended abruptly in a sheer drop to the pavement many storeys beneath.
I nevertheless pressed on with all the speed that prudence permitted, for the footing was by no means generous, and one false step would have proved as fatal as capture itself.
Yet every yard that I covered served only to confirm the dreadful truth.
There was no fire escape, no maintenance stair, no adjoining doorway, nor any means whatsoever by which I might descend from that perilous elevation.
I had escaped one trap only to find myself imprisoned within another.
I had almost abandoned hope when, upon rounding one of the farther corners of the conservatory, my eye fell upon a neighbouring building. Its roof lay upon much the same level as my own, being separated only by a narrow gulf which I judged to measure some six feet across.
Under ordinary circumstances I should never have entertained so desperate an expedient. The footing beneath me afforded scarcely sufficient space in which to gather any real momentum, whilst a single false movement would inevitably have precipitated me into the street many storeys below.
Yet the measured footsteps behind admitted of no further deliberation. Between the certain destruction which advanced steadily at my back and the doubtful chance before me, there was, in truth, no choice at all.
Retreating several paces along the narrow strip of lead — but not so far that I met my pursuers — and taking the utmost care lest my very haste should prove my undoing, I turned and fixed my eyes upon the edge of the opposite roof.
Then, summoning every reserve of nerve and strength that remained to me, I sprang forward with all the speed which the confined space permitted.
For one dreadful instant I seemed suspended over the sleeping city.
My feet struck the farther roof with such violence that I very nearly rebounded into the gulf itself, and only by flinging myself forward did I preserve my balance.
I had scarcely regained my feet, my heart still labouring violently from the exertion, when the next danger presented itself.
It flashed upon me in an instant that any person attempting the same leap must necessarily alight almost at my very feet.
There would be neither room nor time for them to recover themselves before I could reach them.
I had barely realised the fact when I saw the foremost of my pursuers already standing upon the opposite edge.
It was the gentleman who had first welcomed me from the lift.
His face retained that same grave composure which had characterised him throughout the evening, save that every vestige of his former smile had now disappeared.
Without a moment's hesitation he launched himself across the intervening space.
The leap was successful, but only just. His feet reached the farther roof, yet the violence of the landing threw him heavily forward, and he staggered several paces in a vain endeavour to recover his balance.
I had no leisure for either pity or reflection.
Acting solely upon the instinct of self-preservation, I sprang to meet him before he could regain his footing, and with all the force at my command drove my foot against his body.
The blow took him whilst he was still helpless from the leap.
He reeled backwards, his arms flung wildly into the air in one desperate effort to recover himself, but the attempt came too late.
With a terrible cry he disappeared over the edge, and a moment afterwards there rose from below the dreadful sound of a heavy body striking the pavement.
The effect upon the others was immediate.
Those who had been pressing eagerly forward as though to follow him — even the elderly members of the group — came abruptly to a halt upon the narrow strip of roof surrounding the conservatory.
For the first time since this terrible pursuit had begun there appeared amongst them something approaching hesitation.
It was then, and only then, that I became fully conscious of the extraordinary progress which the fire had made during those few brief moments.
What had begun as a blaze amongst the great chandelier had already spread throughout the conservatory with astonishing rapidity.
The lofty glass chamber glowed from end to end with a fierce crimson light.
Great tongues of flame darted amongst the tropical foliage, shattered panes crashed continually from the iron framework, and dense volumes of smoke rolled upwards beneath the vaulted roof until much of the structure was obscured from view.
The position of my pursuers had been transformed almost in an instant. Behind them the advancing fire rendered every moment spent upon that narrow ledge increasingly perilous, whilst before them yawned the gulf which they must cross if they hoped to escape.
The irony of the situation was too remarkable to escape me.
A few moments earlier I had been the hunted creature, driven steadily towards what appeared to be inevitable destruction.
Now the roles were entirely reversed. They themselves had become prisoners upon the very roof from which they had hoped to seize me, and the leap which I had so narrowly accomplished offered the only remaining avenue by which they could hope to preserve their own lives.