"Girls! follow me, the other stairs may be safe."
Clinging to each other they ran down the long passage, but at the other end they found quite as much smoke, for the narrow stairs seemed to act like two funnels.
"Let's go down, oh, let's go down!" cried the maids, "we must go before it's too late!"
"Miss Tonia said, 'the leads'—I think, girls, she's right. We can call for help from there. We might be suffocated in this smoke. Make for the trap-door on to the leads," and soon they were breathing pure air and exercising their lungs with screams. To their delight they saw that men were already running about below and were signalling to them that help was coming.
We must follow Toney on her dangerous exploration. She had one idea in her mind. The fire must have begun in her Aunt Dove's room or else in Miss Grossman's, a few doors off, or else in some flue close by. The dense smoke pointed unmistakably to this. Had they escaped? Their rooms were at the end of a passage, and they must go down it to reach the central staircase. The stairs down which she now forced her way were rather steep, and ended at the opposite end of the Hall to where was her aunt's passage, but Toney knew every step by heart. It was impossible to see even if there had been any light, the smoke was too thick. Should she meet the fire face to face and be driven back? Even here she felt the stairs were hot and the smoke was terrible. When she reached the bottom, however, she paused; by some strange freak for a few moments the smoke cleared, and she could breathe again! Oh, the relief! but this was only for a moment. She had to keep her mind clear; wrapping her wet towel still closer to her head, she made a dash along the central passage. Toney realised that this was passable, but dense smoke came rolling towards her from her aunt's passage. Oh, how could she pass it? She must, she must go on, for no one answered her smothered cry of "Aunt Dove! Aunt Dove! Miss Grossman!"
Again she paused to take what breath she could. Her eyes tingled, she felt choked, but as yet she saw no fire.
"I must, I must," she repeated and strangely enough came the words to her mind, "the Path of Perfection." Was this the Path? If only Aunt Dove were not locked in! If only Uncle Evas had been here! if only— "Now," she thought, feeling the towel was getting dry and smoke-laden, "Now!"
Never had Toney made such a desperate dart down the passage. Oh, the heat! and the roaring and the smoke!—the smoke, that was the most terrible part of it! She hurled herself, blindfolded as she was, against the door and it gave way, but how the smoke rolled in with her! So immediately she shut the door, then she loosed the towel and called out.
"Aunt Dove, Aunt Dove! where are you? Speak, I can't see, Aunt Dove!"
"Help! help!" was the feeble smothered answer, but it was Miss Grossman's voice.