danger to the girl. He
seized the woollen hearthrug and tried to wrap it about her; but
with screams of pain and frantic struggles, Louise did her best to
thwart his purpose.

The window was open, and now a servant, rushing in to see what the
uproar meant, gave the blaze every benefit of draught.

'Bring water!' roared Cobb, who had just succeeded in extinguishing
Louise's dress, and was carrying her, still despite her struggles,
out of the room. 'Here, one of you take Miss Derrick to the next
house. Bring water, you!'

All three servants were scampering and screeching about the hall.
Cobb caught hold of one of them and all but twisted her arm out of
its socket. At his fierce command, the woman supported Louise into
the garden, and thence, after a minute or two of faintness on the
sufferer's part, led her to the gate of the neighbouring house. The
people who lived there chanced to be taking the air on their front
lawn. Without delay, Louise was conveyed beneath the roof, and her
host, a man of energy, sped towards the fire to be of what
assistance he could.

The lamp-shade, the screen, the little table and the diminutive
chair blazed gallantly, and with such a volleying of poisonous fumes
that Cobb could scarce hold his ground to do battle. Louise out of
the way, he at once became cool and resourceful. Before a flame
could reach the window he had rent down the flimsy curtains and
flung them outside. Bellowing for the water which was so long in
coming, he used the hearthrug to some purpose on the outskirts of
the bonfire, but had to keep falling back for fresh air. Then
appeared a pail and a can, which he emptied effectively, and next
moment sounded the voice of the gentleman from next door.

'Have you a garden hose? Set it on to the tap, and bring it in
here.'

The hose was brought into play, and in no great time the last flame
had flickered out amid a deluge. When all danger was at an end, one
of the servants, the nurse-girl, uttered a sudden shriek; it merely
signified that she had now thought for the first time of the little
child asleep upstairs. Aided by the housemaid, she rushed to the
nursery, snatched her charge from bed, and carried the unhappy
youngster into the breezes of the night, where he screamed at the
top of his gamut.

Cobb, when he no longer feared that the house would be burnt down,
hurried to inquire after Louise. She lay on a couch, wrapped in a
dressing-gown; for the side and one sleev