She held her breath and closed her eyes during the fearful descent.
When she had passed through the flames and found herself comparatively uninjured, a sudden hope arose in her breast that she might come out all right yet.
This thought no sooner entered her mind than she struck the water with a splash and sank below its surface.
Down, down, the girl went, for many feet.
When she struggled to the surface again she was at least two hundred yards from the place where she had fallen in.
Blinded and half choked, she kept her head above the water, and in a few seconds she was beyond the limits of the roaring fire and smoke.
The girl did not offer to struggle in the least, but allowed the merciless current to carry her along at its will.
This was the wisest thing she could do, for it left her what strength she possessed to be used later on.
On she whirled, the current running so strong that she kept on top of the water without the least effort on her part.
In a few more seconds the falls will be reached.