Nick bore with him for exactly ten seconds, and then, clean and
straight, with lightning swiftness, his one hand shot forward. It was a
single hard blow, delivered full on the jaw with a force that nearly
carried Nick with it, and it sent the offender staggering backwards on
his heels in bellowing astonishment. The opposite wall saved him from
falling headlong, but the impact was considerable, and tendered him
quite incapable of recovering his He subsided slowly onto the floor
with a flood of language that at least testified to the fact that his
injuries were not severe.

Nick's arm went round Olga in a flash. He almost lifted her over the
legs of the prostrate Briggs and hurried her down the passage. As they
emerged into the smoky sunlight, she heard him laugh, and marvelled that
he could.

"On second thoughts," he said, with the air of one resuming an
interrupted discussion, "I think we will go to the Priory. If she is not
there, she is probably on the way."

"She would go by the cliffs," Olga said.

"Yes, I know. But Mrs. Briggs is with her. We had better motor," said
Nick.

So they set off again along the glaring road.

It began to seem like a nightmare to Olga. She drove as one pursued by
horrors unspeakable. Once or twice Nick spoke to her, and she knew that
she obeyed his instructions, though what they were she could never
afterwards remember. On and on they went, flying like cloud-shadows on