The door had been smashed in and hung dangling from one hinge.

Another step, now with a pistol gripped in my hand, enabled me to obtain a glimpse within.

Across the puncheon threshold, his feet even protruding without, lay a man's body; beyond him, half concealed by the shadows of the interior, appeared the outlines of another, with face upturned to the roof, plainly distinguishable because of a snow-white beard..