Those were awful experiences that Odensburg passed through that night. The wind-chased clouds, tinted blood-red by the aspiring flames, the waving masses of men rushing hither and thither, a commingling of dreadful sounds, shouts, cries, and the clattering of the engines--it was a dismal scene.
Then, all of a sudden, there arose a mighty column of smoke from the very center of the fire, that spread out farther and farther, while at the same time a peculiar hissing and roaring became audible. The flames no longer leaped up so high as before; they seemed to sink, to flee before some mysterious power, while the smoke and the roaring were ever on the increase. Those standing around could not explain the phenomenon: suppositions of all sorts were heard, but Dernburg was the first one to solve the problem. "The Radefeld aqueduct is open!" he cried. "The water has broken in. Perhaps the pipe has burst or the fire has sprung the lock. Never mind--it brings us deliverance!"
Breathlessly all watched the conflict between the two hostile elements, but soon the flood conquered, which evidently deluged the whole surface where the fire had found its chief nutriment. Different spots on the roof were still afire, it is true, but these could be put out, and were put out, when the sea of flame in the interior had disappeared for good. Again the engines played with renewed force and activity, and now a portion of the long tottering walls tumbled down, the main building caved in, its sides falling inwards. Thus was averted all danger to the neighboring houses and the fire restricted to its own hearth.
"That was help in time of need!" said Dernburg to the officers standing around. "And that the water broke loose at the critical moment was assuredly more than accident--the interposition of a Higher Hand."
"I am afraid that it was a human hand!" returned the upper-engineer, softly.
Dernburg turned to him in surprise. "What mean you to say?"
"Baron von Wildenrod is nowhere to be found," explained that official gravely. "He spoke with me awhile ago as to the possibility of opening the conduit, and at the same time made use of a singular expression that startled me at the time. A few minutes later I saw him hurrying in that direction and there vanish. There has been no accident in this case."
Dernburg turned pale: now all of a sudden Oscar's last speech became clear to him and he understood it all. "For God's sake!" he exclaimed, with a start, "then we must penetrate to the seat of the conflagration, must at least try----"
"Impossible!" interposed the director. "Beneath those glowing, smoking ruins no living thing yet breathes."
What he said was only too true, Dernburg was obliged himself to admit. Deeply shaken, he covered his eyes with his hand. For him there was no longer any doubt but that the man who had coveted Odensburg for his own, at any price, had sacrificed himself to save Odensburg!