Page:The Prime Minister by Hall Caine.djvu/45

Rh  [At window, in a toneless voice.] Yes?  Can you see the clock of St. Stephen's from there?  [Without turning.] No.  When it strikes can you hear it?  Yes.  [As before.] It is just as if the whole world were on tip-toe—waiting for the thunder-stroke of fate.  If the telephone rings even now, it may still be peace.  But if not——  [Listening, raising his hand.] Hush! [''Through the awful stillness comes the deep booming of "Big Ben," striking eleven. Boom! Boom! Boom!'' [No one moves until the last of the eleven strokes has gone reverberating through the silence of the night.

[Then returns to the head of the table. All rise.