But for answer he felt the two soft clinging arms round his neck, and a choking voice breathed two words in his ear: "Forever!" But the dread of the impending death seemed to give strength--the strength he had prayed for; and straggling a few inches at a time, with the red-hot embers gathering where they had lain but a few minutes before, and the flames crawling and dancing round the side of the house, Murray, now hardly aided by the fainting girl, contrived to reach the door, with one hand to thrust it back, so that a rush of air darted in, driving from them the smoke, as he uttered a loud cry for help. The cry was heard; and they were seen for an instant ere the cloud of smoke wrapped them again in its folds. Two men darted forward to seize the prize, one of them, however, being daunted by the threatening roof, which, ruddy and golden, seemed ready to fall; while the other seized Katie's dress in his hands to drag her out; but so tightly did she cling to Murray, that he was drawn forward and half raised before sinking back into the cloud of falling sparks and smoke. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ STORY THREE, CHAPTER NINE. CUTTING OFF THE RETREAT. Old Martin Lee saw with anxious solicitude Edward Murray rush after Bray; then the closing door hid them from his sight; and with renewed energy he clutched his gun, and struck fiercely at the first assailant that presented himself, shivering the stock to pieces, and laying the man motionless at his feet. But the barrel made no insignificant weapon; and he fought, as did Mr Meadows, fiercely, though in vain; the odds were too great, even though they were ably seconded by the shepherds. Through the beaten-down door the convicts rushed; and in a few moments the defenders were trampled under foot, and lay on the now deeply-crimsoned floor, the women being dragged out of the house into the front. Then followed the scene of ruin and confusion previously enacted in the next valley. Food was obtained, the shepherd's weeping wife being compelled to provide it, and then it was devoured by the red-handed crew. Wine, spirits, all were seized, and a mad debauch ensued; the ruffians, for the most part, having been deprived of such indulgences for years. But, soon satiated, the eager search for arms and ammunition was continued; men loading themselves, too, with much more plunder than they could bear away. As for the dead, they lay unnoticed, the wounded receiving but little better treatment, till at last the moon slowly dipped behind the western ridge of hills, causing a deep shadow to creep along the Gap, and up the opposite slope, when, with an oath at the coming darkness, one ruffian thrust a light against some curtains, which caught fire in an instant. The flame ran up to the dry, boarded ceiling, and in a few minutes it became plain that the settler's pleasant home must become a heap of ruins.