Suddenly the wind changed, and a dense cloud of smoke swirled downward from the burning orphanage. When it cleared Judy found, to her dismay, that she had lost sight of the matron and the man who had helped rescue the babies. She glanced back at Peter and saw that he was busy keeping people away from the fire. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her.
“Peter!” she called above the crackling and roaring of the fire. “I’m afraid there’s a man in there. He was trying to go back. Leave Danny there and help me find him.”
“We’ll find him, miss,” one of the firemen reassured her. “That is, if he’s in there.”
He started toward the orphanage. Judy hesitated a moment. Peter hadn’t heard her call. Should she follow the fireman? The smoke was so dense she could hardly see which way he had gone.
Suddenly she was startled by someone brushing past her. At the same moment she saw the matron. Two firemen were with her. Judy and the man who was trying to pass her were jerked back just in time. A heavy beam crashed in what would have been their path.
“See what would have happened if we’d let you go in there!” Meta Hanley pointed out. “Oh! There goes the roof!”
“Keep away!” the firemen warned as the flames roared upward, shooting sparks in every direction.
It was surprising how quickly people gathered to watch the fire. The crowd surged back, Judy along with them. Shaken by her narrow escape, she was glad to follow the advice of the firemen. Only the man resisted. It took all three firemen to hold him. The one who had gone ahead of Judy returned from another direction.
“Let me go!” the man shouted. “There’s a boy in there. He’ll burn to death if I don’t get him out.”
“You’re wrong, sir,” the fireman insisted. “There isn’t a living soul in that building. I counted heads, and everyone is out here.”