But the red-coat was first upon the ladder, and in a few seconds both young men were in the triangular tunnel between the ceiling and the roof; a space so confined that under the apex alone was it possible to walk upright; and that only for the few feet dividing them from the nearest flames. "Look out!" cried Tom Ivey from the top rung. "It wasn't made for a floor; get on your hands and knees, and the weight won't be all in one place." So they crept into the centre of the cross; and there they knelt upright to see over a fringe of fire that burnt their eyelids bare as they gazed. Roof and ceiling of chancel and of nave, both were in roaring flames to right and to left of them; through the flaming barrier in their faces, and the hole already burnt, they could see the pulpit and the chairs in the north transept thirty feet below; and across the gulf, Jasper Musk and Robert Carlton face to face. Carlton had made the leap; they could not; already the flames were driving them back and back. In the steady roar and crackle they could hear no words. Musk was crouching under a skylight all too narrow for his gigantic shoulders, a tell-tale oil-tin overturned at his feet. His face was livid, but fearless, and his light eyes gleamed with hate. Carlton's back was turned to the watchers, and for a second motionless; then he looked round, saw them through smoke and flame, and clapped a hand to his mouth. "Down, both of you," he shouted, "and round with the ladder to the outside here, and one of you fetch up an axe. The skylight's too small--we must make it bigger!" Musk's lips moved, and his eyes flashed their own fire; the others could almost see the words. "Well?" said Mellis. "Come on; it's our only chance." In an instant they were down the ladder, and had it horizontal in a minute. Then Ivey began to fume. "It'll take some time getting through the porch!" "Shove it through the broken window." "Good man! Stand by, out there, to haul out this ladder!" The red-coat ran round, his medal twinkling in the glare, while Ivey rushed for the axe. "Up with her, comrades! That's it--altogether--_now_!" The ladder was up outside. Ivey, axe in hand, had leapt upon the fourth rung at a bound, and was taking the rest two at a time. Below it was light as day; the naked trees stood brown and brittle in the glare; the upturned faces white as the curled moon. A whiter face peered through the skylight. "Look alive with that axe, Tom; he can't breathe, and he's being roasted!" "He deserve ut! Do you come through first, sir. There's room for you as 'tis. He can bide his turn." The white face flushed indignant dominion. "Unless you obey me, you are my murderer too!" A stifled curse came from under the tiles. "There, then! Would you save him after that? Leave him the axe and through you come, you that can, or else I'll pull you through!"