THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF 'TOM' 149 



One seemed no more marvellous than the other, the 

 hail was bigger and more dangerous, that was all. Full 

 of this idea he looked at his barometer, which stood at 

 ' Eain. Very stormy.' At that moment a clap of thunder 

 was heard, and a vivid flash of lightning lit up the room. 



The ground-floor tenant felt that not a moment must 

 be lost. More bears might fall, and he must protect him- 

 self against all emergencies. So he at once despatched 

 his valet for the Commissioner of Police, and his cook for 

 a corporal and nine men, so as to place himself under the 

 protection of both the civil and military authorities. 



The passers-by, seeing the valet and cook run off in 

 haste, began to gather round the hall door, and to suggest 

 all sorts of improbable reasons for this excitement. They 

 questioned the hall porter, but he knew no more than 

 they did. The only apparent fact was that the alarm 

 came from that part of the house which lay between the 

 courtyard and the garden. 



At this moment the ground-floor tenant appeared at 

 the front door, pale, trembling, and calling for help. Tom 

 had spied him through the glass doors, and, accustomed 

 to the society of men, had trotted up to make acquaint- 

 ance. But the ground-floor tenant, mistaking his inten- 

 tions, looked- on these friendly overtures as a declaration 

 of war, and hurriedly beat a retreat. As he reached 

 the front door he heard the panes of the garden door 

 crack. 



Eetreat became flight, and he appeared, as I have 

 already said, before the idle crowd, with every sign of 

 distress, and calling for help at the top of his voice. 



As usual on such occasions, the crowd, instead of 

 coming to the rescue, dispersed hurriedly, but a municipal 

 guard who was standing near held firm, and approaching 

 the ground-floor tenant asked how he could help him. 



The poor man had neither voice nor words under 

 control, but pointed, speechless, to the door he had just 

 opened and the steps he had come down. 



