smoke a couple
of female forms peeping from the topmost corridor.

He knew well enough by sight Mr. Blackett's little daughter of eleven
and her governess, a stately old lady, said to be an impoverished
relative of the Squire himself. The little pony chaise in which the
two were wont to drive about the neighbourhood was, indeed, familiar
to every soul in the district.

"We had forgotten them, we had forgotten them!" came a voice just
below him, and there stood old Reuben, who had pulled himself up the
steps a little way. "They are lost!" the aged servant moaned. "Oh
dear, oh dear!" And the poor old fellow blundered down the steps
again, weeping like a child.

"Is there any other staircase up to the top of the house?" the boy
called after him.

"Only that in the servants' wing," was the reply, "and that is gone
already. God help us all!"

"Any long ladders about? And the stablemen, where are they all?"

"Coachman with the Squire, the grooms gone off to the town for an hour
or two." Reuben shook his head sorrowfully.

George waited no longer. With a bound he darted up the stairs again,
and in a moment had reached the spot where the fire was fiercest.
Without hesitation he dashed on, watching his chance after a big gust
of smoke and flame had surged across the well. Through the fire he
rushed, protecting his face with his arms, and stumbling blindly on.
The worst was soon passed, and the next instant he had gained the top
of the staircase.

"Save her--_her_!" Mrs. Maynard cried piteously, "leave _me_, and see
to _her_, for mercy's sake!"

George caught the girl in his arms and prepared to make a dash down
the staircase. But he drew back in dismay. A big piece of the burning
banister below them fell with a crash and a shower of sparks to the
bottom of the well.

"It is impossible!" he cried. "Let us see what can be done from one of
the windows." And the three ran to the end of the corridor farthest
away from the fire. Into a room George dashed, and threw up the
window. It was Mary's playroom, and it was in this place that she and
her governess had been till now too much frightened by the flames and
smoke to make a dash for safety.

Alas! there was no way of escape. The height from the ground was too
great; to leap meant certain death. George gazed frantically down and
around, to see if any help was arriving. Not a soul was to be seen.
Smoke was pouring from almost every window. The ladies were speechless
wit