Carrington needed no second bidding. Together with Anstruther he raced down the stone staircase and into the street. Jack could hear his companion chuckling with triumph and delight.
"Rather a close thing that," he said coolly. "And now we had best look to ourselves. No chance of making a dash through those flames without being badly burned; besides, I have no doubt there is some other way out of it. Push those windows to, Mr. Masefield; there is no reason why we should be suffocated here."
By closing the windows leading to the smoking-room, which was now a roaring mass of flame, it was possible to cut off the heat and smoke for a moment, and perhaps gain sufficient time to discover another means of retreat.
But this was easier said than done. With the aid of a match or two, Seymour found the window at the back of the conservatory, which opened outwards. So far as he could see there was a drop of something like thirty feet into a kind of alley at the back of the flats. "We shall have to wait our chance," Seymour said. "There are several more flats in the building, and no doubt there will be plenty to do for the firemen later on. In all probability, Anstruther and Carrington are mixed up in the crowd which you may be quite sure has collected by this time. Shall we wait on events, or shall we open the window and yell for assistance? We can pretend that we were cut off by the fire."
On the whole, Jack thought it would be better to wait. They were quite safe for the next quarter of an hour, at any rate, and in that time much might happen.
"It is worth risking," he said. "What a great thing it would be if we could get away from here without those men knowing that anybody had been on the premises. Suppose we try our hands as amateur firemen. There is plenty of water here."
But Seymour did not think it would be worth while. A hose and pipe as small as that which they had at their disposal would not be likely to be of much use in dealing with the roaring tornado of flame behind the closed glass doors. The conservatory, too, was getting intolerably hot, but that discomfort was avoided by opening the window. There was just the outline of a leaded balcony to be seen above the arch of the conservatory; then, greatly to Jack's delight, he saw the movements of some figures below, and then a ladder was slowly raised until it rested against the leads of the balcony.
"That is for the benefit of the people up-stairs," Seymour suggested. "Possibly they cannot make the inhabitants of the upper flats hear what is going on. See, the ladder is quite clear by this time--I expect those firemen have got in through a window somewhere. Push this window back, and see if you can reach the ladder."
It was a comparatively easy matter to reach the ladder, as Jack found to his great delight. A moment later he and Seymour were upon it. They slid rapidly down, and found themselves at length in the alley without anybody being a penny the wiser.
"Well, of all the lucky chances," Jack exclaimed. "We are well out of that. Let us go round to the front and see what is going on there."