he stranger sank wearily into a chair.

"Your house is going fast, madame. I fear nothing can be saved," said
Claire. "The upper floor is already gone."

The stranger smiled slightly, but never so much as glanced out at her
disappearing home.

"I hope my landlord is well insured," she said. "As for me, I have my
chiefest valuables here," drawing from underneath the cloak, which she
had only partially thrown off, a small casket, and a morocco case that
evidently contained papers. "I keep these always near me; as for the
rest, there is nothing lost that money cannot replace."

Claire looked a trifle surprised at her indifference to the
destruction of her elegant furniture, but made no answer. And the
stranger fell into thoughtful silence.

A rap sounded on the door, and a gentle voice outside said: "Claire,
dear, are you there?"

The girl turned upon the stranger a look of embarrassed inquiry. "That
is mamma," she said.

The lady smiled half sadly at her evident perturbation, and replied,
with a touch of dignity in her tone, "Admit your mother, my dear. I
was about to ask for her."

Claire drew a sigh of relief and opened the door.

"My child," began Mrs. Keith, as she hurriedly entered the room,
"James tells me that you--"

Here she broke off as her eyes fell upon the stranger, and Claire
hastened to say: "Mamma, this is the lady whose house is burning. I
ran over there as soon as I saw the first flame and asked her to come
here."

Mrs. Keith was not only a lady, but a woman of good sense, and she
turned courteously toward the intruder, saying, "You did quite right,
my dear. I trust you have not been too seriously a loser by this
misfortune, madame."

The lady had risen. Now she stepped forward and said, in her
unmistakably high-bred tones, "I have suffered no material injury, I
assure you. And your daughter has done me a great kindness. I was
about to ask if I might see you, as I felt that it was to you, as the
mistress of this house, that I owed some explanation regarding myself,
before accepting further hospitality from your daughter."

Mrs. Keith bowed gravely, and the stranger continued,

"My name is Mrs. Ralston. I have lived for nearly ten years a secluded
life, having been an invalid. Messrs. Allyne & Clive are my bankers,
and have been for years. Mr. Allyne is an old family friend. If you
will ask your husband to call upon him, you will be assured that I am
not a mysterious adventuress."

Mr