He crawled through with a tongue of flame darting down and almost licking his cheek. It was necessary that he should get the woman to go out ahead of him, so that he could encourage her as they crept along.
“Steady yourself, madam,” he called out as he felt her hands come in contact with his arm, “it’s all right—your boy is safe, and you will be too if you get a grip on your nerve and do what I tell you.”
She was evidently badly shaken as might be expected—he could see how she trembled and seemed so weak, which was why he spoke as he did, in the hope of putting a little new confidence in her almost fainting heart.
“You must crawl out ahead of me,” he told her. “Don’t look down—keep your eyes on the window where my pal waits for you—just keep saying to yourself that your boy is over there waiting for you—he needs you, and you must be brave now. There is no other way by which you can be saved to join him again. Can you make the venture, lady?”
He used that last word almost inadvertently, yet already had he decided that she was indeed a lady, though poorly dressed and evidently under financial difficulties.
He must have inspired his charge with some of his own valor, for he saw her cease trembling and knew full well it had been his mention of a reunion with her child that had effected this change.
“Yes, oh yes, I will be brave—for Adrian’s sake, my baby boy!” he heard her cry as she started to creep out of the window amidst all that smoke and the devilish tongues of fire that darted after her as if in rage at being cheated of their intended prey.
Carefully did Jack follow after her, ready to throw out a helping hand should she make the slightest slip and be in danger of falling. But to his surprise and delight as well, she seemed to be supported by some miraculous power for she made the short passage without a single mishap.
Perk made no effort to drag her through the opening—to do so he would have had to take his hands from his job of holding the ends of the planks and this might lead to a sudden shift that would bring about the very disaster he had been dreading. His one thought now was the safety of his pal—the woman was capable of passing over the sill of the window without any assistance.
When, therefore, Jack came over the bridgehead and landed on the floor, the impulsive and thrilled Perk threw his arms about him, words failing him just then.