"Is that you, Mrs. Jones?" she called.
"Yes," came back the response; "keep up your heart, Melina! Please God the ladder will soon be here!"
"The smoke's stifling me!" cried Melina in accents of terror; "the room's full of it!"
"They—my husband and some others—are breaking into the house from the back. Ah, here comes the ladder, and—yes, the fire-engine at last!"
Two minutes later, just as the fire-engine arrived on the scene, a ladder was placed against the window, and Melina, with assistance, descended it in safety. Mrs. Jones caught her in her arms as she reached the ground; and the little girl, who was feeling sick and dizzy, was glad to lean against her for support.
"Thank God, you're safe," Mrs. Jones said. Then, before she could add any more, William rushed up to them, crying excitedly:
"They've found her!—they've found Mrs. Berryman! She's awfully injured, and they've taken her to the hospital! She was lying at the foot of the stairs, and—"
"Now then, out of the way there!" broke in one of the firemen; "what are you thinking of, standing about in the way like this?"
"Let us go!" cried Melina; "oh, I don't know where we can go!" She was quite unnerved, and trembling in every limb.
"You aren't hurt, are you, Melina?" questioned William.