t? Every fresh step cut off her retreat, and put
another bar between herself and safety. Yet Mabel was there, solitary,
unaided, in the midst of awful peril. No, she could not abandon her,
come what might! She would face death with her friend, rather than leave
her to perish alone.

She never remembered quite how she dragged herself along; her nerves
were strung to the highest pitch, her brain felt bursting. The room she
was in search of was over the kitchen, where the fire had originally
broken out. Fortunately, it was a little clearer there, and Aldred was
able to stand up; and by groping her way along the walls, she found the
handle and flung open the door of the hospital.

"Mabel! Mabel!" she cried vehemently.

There was no reply. The room was filled with smoke, but the glare
outside made just enough light to distinguish objects.

"Mabel! Are you there? Mabel!"

Aldred was in an agony of apprehension. There were several beds in the
hospital, and she ran from one to the other, feeling in them with eager
hands. They were empty. Had she, after all, come on a vain quest? Mabel
must have heard the alarm bell, and have escaped and joined the others
in the garden! Aldred's heart almost stopped beating, as for a moment
the horror of the situation overcame her. Her search was quixotic,
fruitless--she had risked her life for nothing! She moved instinctively
to clutch a bedpost to steady herself, and as she did so her foot
touched something soft. With a cry she dropped upon her knees. Mabel was
lying on the floor just by the bedside, where she must have fallen,
overpowered by the smoke, in an effort to make her way to the door.

With frantic hands Aldred dragged her friend across the room, and by
sheer effort of will hoisted her up, so that her head might reach the
open window. It was a task far beyond her ordinary powers, but in such
moments a strength not our own is often given to us. The fresh air soon
restored consciousness, and Mabel, to Aldred's intense relief, opened
her eyes.

"What is it? Where am I?" she asked confusedly.

"The house is on fire, dear, and I don't know how we are to save
ourselves. Stay where you are, and go on getting the air; I'm going to
see if we can manage to get back down the passage."

Directly Aldred opened the door she realized that escape in that quarter
was impossible. A roaring sound and a glare at the end of the landing
told her only too plainly that the staircase had broken int