The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-03-17

of this morning s eScapade. L nave warned
Susan already"
And for once Mrs. Enderby assented
meekly.
The doctor thinks Dolly will be all the
better for change of air. and that you will
be none the worse for it, she said TO Jose
as naturally as she could later in the day.
You won't mind such short notice, will
you? He is like all men. you know, If he
takes a thing into his head il must be done
that minute, and going to the Cottage
well, is like going from one room into an
ether. / was so glad when Frank took
it for us, Not having the house quite TO
ourselves, it is nice to have it to fall back
upon, and the old body who takes care of
it is thankful to live rent free
No doubt it was an excellent arrange
ment, Mademoiselle Dupuis replied sweetly.
If she did not participate in Dolly's costa
sizes at the prospect ii in nowise dismayed
or put her about. She seemed to know
intuitively exactly what would be wanted
for herself and the child, and displayed
a confidence in the stability of the English
climate which possibly it did not deserve,
but which at any rate minimized the
amount of luggage that was to
lltlu- oHt loNhNt tHtA eAhho sHoS
would not be wanted for use over night or
first thing i'm the morning and was busy
upon the blue hat when Enderby poked his
head into the schoolroom.
81 came to bid you goodbye for a few
days. he said. They've wired for me to
spend the night at Hazelby Manor and
you'll be off before 1 get back again. Mind
you get as much fresh air as possible and
enjoy yourself. Dolly is wide-awake with
excitement
''Yes?" smiled the girl. as she shook
hands. Her manner hal its usual gentle
cordiality, but his little daughter had the
excitement all TO herself. If a cold hand
meant a warm heart, Mademoiselle Dupuis's
should be up to fever heat: but certainly
her temperament seemed a bit phlegmatic.
He would have changed his opinion could
he have looked into her room, with the
moor nrd tie stars, awhile later, and seen
the sobs that shook her frame and the
tears that rained on her clasped hands as
the cry went UP from her bedside-"Not for
long. o Lord, not for long. l beseech
of Thee leave me not alone here upon
earth for long,
The child, sleeping in the other bed
moved restiessly. and the passionate out
burst of grief and despair was checked at
once BIT it had done the girl good. IL
only by inducing sleep-the deep, dreamless
sleep of exhaustion.
wake up. Mademoiselle! For heavens
sake wake up! The house is afire!"
She woke choking and gasping; Isaac's
words, beloved though they were into her
ear, conveying at first no meaning to her
brain, befogged, as it were, with slumber.
Then, as through the smoke which filled
the room and made her eyes smart cruelty
as she opened them, she recognized the
grimy. horror-stricken countenance peering
into her own, the cloud of sleep cleared
away and left her wide awake-keenly
alive to the situation and the deadly peril
which threatened her. which threatened
not her only but Dolly.
Where was the child? The beds were so
close together it woul be the easiest thing
in the world to stretch from one to the
other and so catch hold of her. but she
could see nothing for the smoke; she had
lost her bearings. She could feel the mans
arms round her, dragging her up. Why did
he bother about her? Why didn't he go to
Dolly, and why couldn't she tell him? Was
| ner voice gone forever. was sic ISdny
and truly sufocating? She struggled so in
her agony as to the child's fate that it was
almost in spite of herself she was borne out
OF the room and down the burning stair
case on to the lawn. whence Dolly and her
mother were already being hurried to the
shelter of a neighbours house.
Mrs. Enderby had beaten a retreat read
lily enough-too profoundly conscious of her
negligee to think for the moment even of
the destruction of her property; but for
Mile. Dupuis the sight of the flames, from
which she had so narrowly escaped, seemed
to have an irresistible fascination. Her
slender figure, swathed in the blanket
snatched from her bed, stood as If rooted to
the spot on which Isaac had deposited her,
needless of the advice rendered her, watch
ing with straining eyes first one window,
then another, emitting its tongue of flame.
Suddenly a cry rose from the little crowd
which had gathered in the garden. The fire
escape was on it's way, but ii was not that
which had evoked it. At the upper window
in the wing, the last part of the house 10
catch fire, and as yet comparatively intact,
appeared the figure of a man bearing in his
arms the helpless body of another. In an
Utter llOilSHl hC hoN AoAN ~" ~
finging the sash open, thust his head out
and leant over as though TO arrive at the
distance which separated him from the
ground.
Good heavens, it is the doctors patient!
1t is the mad captain!' somebody shrieked
in the ear of Mile. Dupuis. They must
have locked him in for the night and for
gotten hiln!"
mo, they hadn't, for that's the keeper he
has got hold Of. He'll throw him down d.
rectly and himself after him. There isn't a
bone in their bodies that won't be broken!
There was a scream from below-'Try the
staircase and an answering scream, Its
no good; the staircase is gone."
''The engine is coming. The escape will
be here Directly, Wait for the escape.'
.They can't wait. If they are to save
their lives they must risk them," rang out a
mans voice, dominating the rest.
IF we had anything to catch them in
"a blanket-anything, All, thank you,
mademoiselle."
The girl stood in her night dress, as
superbly unconscious of the scantiness
of her apparel and the exposure to which
IL subjected her as was the person to
whose appeal she had responded. To neither
the man nor the woman did anything Sig