Having opened it. Jack clambered through, and lying flat on the roof extended his hands to his father, who, in turn, used Captain Andrews as a ladder. Then came Mr. Jesson, followed by the two sailors. Abner Jennings demurred to taking precedence of the Captain. But,—— “The skipper’s the last to leave the ship, my lad,” declared Captain Andrews, and Jennings, unwillingly enough, clambered on his back and was drawn up. Then came the Captain’s turn. Abner Jennings, as the strongest of the party, lay flat on his stomach and extended his arms down within the room. To his legs clung the others, acting as anchors. With a mighty heave Captain Andrews, no lightweight, was raised high enough for him to clutch the edge of the trap, after which he completed the operation of getting through for himself. As he gained the roof they heard a crash beneath them. “The floor of your jail has fallen through, I reckon. Professor,” grimly spoke the captain. As Jack heard the angry roar and crackle of the flames beneath them he could not repress a shudder. It was a drop of fifty feet or more to the ground, and they were by no means out of danger. “Let’s see if any of those black rascals are about,” said Captain Andrews, “if they are we may be able to induce them to get a ladder.” “Surely they wouldn’t be inhuman enough to let us remain here,” exclaimed the Professor. “I don’t know,” was the response, “like master, like man, you know; and this might strike Herrera as a very neat way of disposing of us.” Several forms could be seen flitting about below them. The flames were pouring through the windows of the lower story of the hemp-drying building, casting a ruddy glow in which near-by objects could be seen as plainly as if by daylight. But the negroes appeared to be giving no thought to the burning structure. Instead, they could be seen dragging piled bales of hemp out of danger of flying sparks. Nor did they pay the slightest attention to the frantic shouts of the party marooned on the top of the blazing building. “Great heavens! they mean to leave us here to roast to death,” groaned the Professor. As he spoke there came another crash below them, and the building trembled. “The floor of the second room has fallen!” cried Mr. Jesson, rightly guessing the cause of the crash. “In a few seconds this roof will become red-hot, and——” He stopped short. There are some things that cannot be put into words. The trap-door had been closed, but before long they could distinctly feel the roof under their feet becoming warmer and warmer. Suddenly Jack espied a great mass of green hemp piled off in one corner, ready to be raked out on the iron roof for drying when the sun arose. “We can put that under our feet,” he said, “and stick it out a while longer that way.” So tenacious is the instinct of clinging to life, that even though they knew it would only avert the end by a very short time,—unless a miracle came to aid them,—they adopted Jack’s idea.