Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-09-21

her dressing gown as she spoke, for Ely
abeth beckoned to her and disappeared.
a moment later and Sage joined the old
woman in the passage.
is any one ill.," she repeated anxious
ly.
NO, no, miss, but l doubt there's
something terribly amiss in the village.
1t Is fire; heaven send it mayn't be
the church! Come up to my room, miss"
Elizabeth and Matty occupied the two
small attics under the roof Matty's
overlooked the orchard, but the window
IN Elizabeth's room commanded q view
OF the lane and the high road and the
upper part of the village, nearly quarter
of mile away. As Sage entered she
uttered an involuntary exclamation, for
the sky in that direction was lighted up
by an enormous red glare.
Yes, it is a fire; but il is not in the
right direction for the church, she said.
Elizabeth opened the window, letting
IN a rush of cold, night air, and leant
out into the blackness.
No, miss, it can't be the church." she
remarked. Il believe-yes, I'm pretty
certain now, that guess where the mis-
chief is. That tall elm tree, standing
out so black against the glare, is exact
~ opposite the Bernessted Arms; the
fire will be there, Miss Sage-at the inn"
"WhatY
Sage pushed the astonished old woman
aside and leant out in her turn over the
sill. making rapid calculations
Yes, you are right" she said, draw
ing in her head at last. and by the flick
ering light of the candle that she had
lighted Elizabeth could see the dismay
and apprehension in her white face She
stood for an instant looking around
blankly. and then exclaimed, q must go
there! l must find out whether--wheth-
er he is safel"
Miss Sage! My dear, you're dream
ing! You can't go out alone-you'd do
no good!" Elizabeth lamented under her
breath as she followed her young mis-
tress downstairs. Sage took no notice of
her circumstances until she reached the
door of her room; then she turned round
with an air of quiet authority that
would not be Gainsaid.
Elizabeth, | am not dreaming; l
know what l am doing, and | must GO"
The old woman looked ON in helpless
dismay as Sage made her rapid toilet.
She let herself out into the night, and,
undeterred by the darkness, ran swiftly
down the lane in the direction of the
village.
Some intuition seemed to tell her that
Jim N1ilward was in danger, and it
seemed to her that it would be impossi-
BILE to go on living unless she could as
certain the truth
Tho inn stood away from the road in
its own courtyard, 1t was a quaint,
picturesque old building, with matched
roof and timbered bow windows, and it
was burning like finder, sending great
sheets of leaping flame into the inky sky.
Part of the roof had already fallen in,
and smoke was pouring out of the shat
tered easements. A futile attempt to
form a chain to the nearest pond had
failed, and, when Sage reached the spot,
strange, ominous silence had fallen
over the spectators, who stood huddled
together, with their white faces all
strained towards one of the upper win
dows.
Hes got himi He's got him." cried
a voice. The spell was broken, and a
woman's irrepressible sob was followed
by tho appearance of man at the win
uOWs Ills uGuIS thlQ tDS bGluCu LAh<lt AAI
supported in his arms we're thrown into
sudden relief by the flames that shot up
behind him. He looked down on little
group of men who were stretching out a
great carvas sheet just beneath, and
shouted out some direction. The light
fell fuD on his blackened, begrimed face,
and stifled cry broke from Sage's lips.
"Jiml"
He crept out on the ledge, still holding
his burden. The men held up the sheet.
Something fell into it, with the dead
weight of lifeless body, and was hasti-
" removed that Jim might make his
own leap for hfe.
A silence, only broken by the roar uf
the flames, held the spectators fast az he
sprang into the air.
An instant later a great shout of re-
lief went up. He was unhurt, the sheet
had broken the fall, and, save q shaking
and some bruises, he was practically
none the worse.
Sage listened to the comments around
her-half consciously at first,
strangers, both of 'ern-S
NAY. then. Mr.. Brownlow's no stFan-
ger. The gentleman as he soved was
only stopping the night"
@Savedi Twas bit too late for that,
reckon He was dead man before he
touched the sheet They do say as he
went to his bed hit the worse for
drink. poor chap. and that the fire began
in his room.-from the oveEsetting of a
candle most likely
Sage found herself pushed forward I'M
til. she scareerly knew how, abe was
standing beside a hastily improvised
stretcher over which the doctor was
bending.
Death from suffoeation. Must have
been dead JbefoEe he feILS DR.. Masters
stepped aside as he delivered his opinion,
and Sage caught glimpse Of the ghast-
". disfpured form, and knew that what
had once been Lucian Miles was lying
there. The horror of it all ogeEcame
her; she put out her hands helplessly,
and would have fallen had not a strong
arm held her up.
This is no place for you, Sage" said
Jirn's voice in her ear. He drew her
swiftly out Of the crowd, before they
had time 70 suspect her identity, and al
most carried her away into the shelter
ing darkness of the lane.