“There! there!--look there!” burst from a thousand throats, and as many hands pointed to a particular spot. The adjoining house to Wilton’s--now a burning mass--had a tall, irregular, but pointed roof, as though two rooms had been built above the old roof of much less dimensions than those beneath, at the smallest possible cost, and with an utter disregard of architectural rule. Up the jagged side of this slanting erection a human figure was observed climbing slowly, his arm encircling a form all in white. His position was terrifyingly dangerous--the least slip, and he, together with his burden, would be precipitated into the burning ruins, still roaring, spluttering, and flaming below him. He lay almost flat upon his face on the rough tiles, his right hand grasping the carved edge of the angle of the roof. Gradually he worked his hand upwards, and by a tremendous exertion of strength, he drew himself and his companion up a foot at each movement. It was desperate labour--a fearful struggle with death. It seemed to those who gazed upon him a mere impossibility that he could save himself and the girl whom he still clutched round the waist. On he went slowly, the bright flames lighting him in his task, but reducing his strength by the intense heat they threw out. He succeeded in getting one leg across the angle of the roof, but in doing so he slipped back at least two feet. A shriek of horror burst from the crowd, and rose up in the air like a death-wail. The youth did not yet despair, but with desperate exertion he arrested his descent with his knees. He paused but a moment, and renewed his efforts to ascend, using his knees now to enable him to maintain his position on the roof, while he elevated his body so as to extend his reach until he obtained a hold higher than before, that he might thus ultimately gain a place of comparative safety. It was Hal Vivian who was with Flora Wilton in this frightful situation. He had crawled in search of her into an adjoining apartment to that which he had entered from the street. She had hurried thither to save something to which she knew her father attached great importance, but, overpowered by the smoke, she had, after securing it, fallen senseless. Hal fortunately found her as soon as he got into the room, and the reflection from the fire below enabled him just to see the window. He tore it open, and saw that the parapet adjoined the roof of the next house. He sprang on to it, and commenced the perilous task of endeavouring to escape a horrible death, and of saving, with his own, a life he esteemed far more valuable.