AN EARTHQUAKE
269
‘ Can you see ? ’ asked Bender as he struck another match. The Gambs chair was in one of the dark corners. ‘ There stands our future, our present, and our past,’ said Bender as he hurried down to the stage again. ‘ Now, come along, keep on striking matches. Pussy, and I’ll rip it open.’ Bender fumbled in his pocket for a tool. ‘ Now,’ he said as he stretched out his hand to take hold of the chair, ‘ just one more match, if you please.’ The match flared up, and suddenly a strange thing happened. The chair was jerked to one side and fell through the floor under the very eyes of the two men. ‘ Mother ! ’ cried Hippolyte as he ran to the wall for protection. The theatre rocked, the panes feU out of the windows, and Bender lay on the floor almost crushed by scenery that had fallen on to him. It was midnight. It was the first tremors of the great Crimean earthquake of 1927. This shock that caused untold misery to the whole peninsula had wrenched the treasure out of the adven turers’ hands. . ' Comrade Bender ! ’ yelled Hippolyte in a terrified voice. ‘ What’s happening ? ’ Bender was beside himself with rage. The earthquake had played him a shabby trick, and it was the first time that such a thing had ever happened to him. ‘ What is it ? ’ wailed Hippolyte. Shouts and yells came from the street. People were rushing about outside. . ‘ We must get into the street before we are buried alive,’shouted Bender. ‘Be quick! Be quick! Come on ; give me your hand, you old fool! ’ They ran to one of the exits of the theatre and to their surprise the Gambs chair was lying intact near the door. With a screech of delight Hippolyte clutched at the chair.
