Where indeed? Up to this time there had been a constant arrival of men who were more like madmen than anything else, but there had not appeared the slightest sign of any appliances, either for putting out the fire or for rescuing those in peril. The strong panting men whom this beautiful young woman addressed in such quiet but earnest tones, hung their heads upon their breasts speechless and abashed. The truth was apparent. At the first sound of the alarm of fire in the woman’s quarters every man in the town, filled with a sickening fear, and torn with a mad anxiety lest woman should really be lost forever past all recovery, had rushed headlong to the spot, leaving prudence, caution and forethought utterly behind him. The one mad idea which controlled them all was to rush into the flames and tear their beloved away from them with their own powerful hands. They had left the means of staying the fire behind them. The woman saw it all in an instant, and in a voice which was both quiet and imperious, she said: “Go back at once and get the engines, and be quick.” The men did not need a second word. Seizing horses which were at hand they disappeared across the bridge in sufficient numbers to bring all the appliances for rescue and for putting out fire that were in the town. But in the meantime the flames had not stayed. They had broken out in a lower storey, and all the men who had reached the top storey in their frantic search for any woman who might be there, were imprisoned by the fire which enveloped the staircases. To add to the terror of the situation, it was discovered that a lame girl who had been a patient in the ward on the top floor of the building, had not been seen and could not be found. She must be in the building. This discovery was a signal for a fresh rush of heroic, reckless men into the flames in search for her at any peril. But the same magnificent woman who had sent for the engines stopped them with a command that they could not disobey. “You will only throw your lives away,” she said; “the men who are already in the building will take care of the lame girl if it is possible to save either.” As she said this a great sympathetic cry arose from the crowd who were gazing anxiously up at the burning building. The men who were imprisoned by the fire, about twenty in number, had gained the roof and were triumphantly holding up in their strong arms the lame girl. The flames had driven them to one end of the building and appeared to be surrounding them, leaving only one corner unexposed. Merciful Heavens, would the engines and scaling ladders never arrive! Steadily the flames advanced, but fortunately the night was perfectly still, so that their progress was slow. The men on the roof, falling back foot by foot, had at last placed the lame girl at the least exposed spot and formed a hollow square around her presenting only their own dauntless breasts to the destroyer that threatened her.