The Spider by Fergus Hume — Read

While Vernon desperately tried to wrench open the front door Towton, with the quick foresight of an old soldier, ran back into the drawing-room and lifted the window sash. In less than two minutes he was outside and hastened to release his companion. Luckily, in his hurry Hest had been unable to extract the key from the lock, so a swift turn of the wrist soon removed the barrier. Vernon and the Colonel set off hot-footed in pursuit of the fugitives, and as they plunged into the fog caught a glimpse of Gail and his wife hurrying into the hall with scared faces, doubtless attracted by the ominous sound of the pistol-shot. But there was no time to explain as every moment was of value, and the two men put their hearts into the chase.

The sudden autumnal fog which had so unexpectedly descended had turned the atmosphere to thick wool, so that it was difficult to breathe, let alone to see. On all sides the gloomy mists shut in the prospect, and after racing vaguely for some minutes down the silent road, the pursuers halted by mutual consent to listen for possible flying footsteps. Not a sound struck on their ears; it might have been the middle of the night, so dense was the darkness and so silent the whole neighbourhood. They could not tell in which direction the two scoundrels had fled, and on the face of it pursuit was absolutely useless.