She could just catch a
glimpse of her chum at work on the inside.

The wind was blowing so that the smoke poured into the house. The
danger was not so much from the fire as that Phil and Lieutenant Lawton
would be stifled by the thick smoke.

Jimmy Lawton could feel the waves of heat entering the house.

"Please clear out, young fellow," he urged Phyllis. The idea that she
was a girl had never dawned on him. In their few words of conversation
he had been too excited to think of the girlish tones of her voice. "I
am afraid you will be burnt in this place. You have done all you can
for me. Once this room is in flames I will fight my way out."

Phil's answer was to pick up the ax, which she had dragged into the
house with her. Lieutenant Lawton had made a hole in the door large
enough to thrust his hand through. Phil handed him the ax. The young
man pulled it through the door and gave a shout of triumph. "Now run
for your life, boy!" he commanded. "I'll be after you in a minute. We
haven't a minute to lose."

Jimmy Lawton's inside prison door was smoking; one end of it was in
flames. Phyllis recognized that there was no reason for her to wait any
longer. She realized that she was nearly choked with the smoke. Phyllis
turned to fight her way to the hole through which she had come into the
house.

A solid wall of smoke met her gaze. The small room at the front of the
house might have been any size or shape. It was impossible to see
anything in it except the leaping tongues of flame in front.

Outside, Madge called in terror, "Phil! Phil!"

Guided by the sound of her friend's voice, Phil groped her way. She
struck a chair in the way and fell on her knees.

There was a noise behind her, and Phyllis felt a man's hand grope for
hers. He pulled her quickly to her feet. "Close your eyes and keep your
mouth shut," he ordered. "We will both be out of this in a moment."

In one place the smoke was less dense and a faint breath of air
penetrated the room. Phil felt herself lifted off her feet and thrust
through this opening almost into Madge's arms. Her skirt was on fire,
but Madge had beaten out the flames before Jimmy Lawton joined them.

Even now the young man did not recognize his rescuers. He was dazed,
weak from his long confinement, and only anxious to be off.

"Let's get away from this place!" he cried. Blindly he reached out for
Phil's hand the second time. Madge seized hold of Miss Jenny Ann. They
started towar