Jeanette became aware that her stepmother had disappeared.
She looked despairingly about her.
At some distance she could see the outlines of dark figures and hear the pattering of a horse's hoofs. Lina's bell, which she continued ringing, was bringing friends to their aid at last.
Several minutes must elapse before they could reach the house.
In the meantime her stepmother and Via were amid the smoke and flames.
Would her stepmother alone be able to find and rescue Via?
Even as she felt the heat of the burning house Jeanette shivered. Her courage had deserted her. She had done her share. Had she not warned every member of her family and seen them safely out of doors?
No, there was Via. She had been warned, but something had occurred. Perhaps she had fainted or become stifled from the smoke.
Well, her stepmother was searching for her and the lodge was small, so by this time she must have been discovered. Her stepmother had not hesitated to go back into the house a second time. Everybody agreed she always had been singularly courageous and Jeanette never had made any such claim for herself.
"But Via—Via, of all persons! I must do what I can to save her!"