"Tell her to jump--we'll catch her!" he added dully, knowing there was no time, for already ominous crackings rose from the flames that mounted higher and higher. But that familiar voice had reached the ears of the woman clinging her way for dear life, and tightened her hold upon the ridge-pole that was her only hope. No, she would not die yet! She would not die with that voice in her ears! A faint shudder came from the crowd below as, with a crash, the roof fell in. A fainter moan of relief followed, as the woman with her pack still showed standing on the crossway beam of a balcony that overhung the water. A great tongue of flame shot out at her, but at the instant she raised her joined hands above her head and dived--a flash of white lit up by the red flare--into deep water. "By heaven, what pluck!" muttered Marmaduke as, without a second's delay, he plunged from the wharf and swam, with quick overhand strokes, to where the woman had disappeared. He was just preparing to dive after her when she came up close beside him. One look was sufficient. "Marmie!" he cried. "God in heaven, am I dreaming? Marmie!" "Yes--yes," she gasped impatiently, for owing to the weight she carried her dive had been prolonged. "The child's head--see that it is out of water!" In a second he was cool, self-reliant. "Your hands on my shoulders, please. That will raise you--I must swim round--the burning wood." In truth every instant a fierce hiss, a cloud of steam close to them showed where some blazing fragment had fallen to be extinguished. "Are you all right?" he called over his shoulder, as with powerful strokes he made for a further wharf. "All right; but please be quick--the child----" How like Marmie--always the child--the child. He swam on, feeling bewildered but, he knew not why, desperately happy. "I don't understand," he began, when at last they stood dripping side by side, and the baby, being unloosed from its wrappings, was found to be none the worse. "I will tell you directly," she said. "I must just give the child back to its mother; it is quite a tiny thing. Then you can walk up to my house over yonder and get your clothes dried."