It was a live monster now,--in one swift instant, alive with fire,--quick, greedy fire, leaping like serpents' tongues out of its hundred jaws, hungry sheets of flame maddening and writhing towards her, and under all a dull and hollow roar that shook the night.

Did it call her to her death?
She turned to fly, and then----He was alone, dying! He had been so kind to her! She wrung her hands, standing there a moment.

It was a brave hope that was in her heart, and a prayer on her lips never left unanswered, as she hobbled, in her lame, slow way, up to the open black door, and, with one backward look, went in..