Would she dare traverse it, walking in mid-air at such a fearful height? Her brain grew dizzy with the thought. But there was no time for delay, or a weak yielding to fear, for to remain many minutes longer where she was would be certain death. It would be hazardous to try to cross, for a single misstep would send her to no less certain destruction; but there was no alternative. “Oh, I wish I could know if there is any one else in such a strait!” she cried, as she thought she could still detect muffled moans; but she knew it would be worse than useless for her to gain an entrance into any other of the rooms, through those waves of rolling fire in the hall, and so she tried to quell the sickening horror that was creeping over her, and give her mind entirely to her own condition. She darted to the bed and snatched her purse from beneath her pillow; then back again to the window, where she leaped upon a chair, and then stepped upon the board. Once, twice, thrice, she made an effort to move on, but terror held her paralyzed. She could not move her feet, each seemed to weigh a ton, and she could not lift them. She grew dizzy, faint, sick, at the thought of crossing even that little space at such a fearful height. But sure death was behind her, for, as she looked back into her room, she could see flames instead of smoke leaping up through the floor. “I must! I must!” she moaned; then, with one look above, and one cry for help, she took a step forward, another and yet another, when, as she found that she must let go her hold upon her window, she threw her other hand wildly toward the one opposite, and—kind Heaven! what a thrill of joy ran through her, arousing all her courage, energy, and hope!—her fingers suddenly came in contact with a wire! It was the lower wire of a line of telegraph that ran directly through the passage. She had noticed it often, but had not thought of it until that moment as a means of help to her. She clutched it eagerly, and steadying herself by it went on, gaining courage with every step, for the wire was not very taut and yielded to support her on her way. Half a dozen steps brought her close to the other building, and then the question arose—how was she to enter it? She had succeeded in breaking the window sufficiently to insert her board, but the aperture was far too small for her body to pass through, even if there had been no danger from the broken glass. For a moment despair again seized her; then, still retaining her hold upon the wire, she threw out one foot with all the force she dared to use in her precarious position, and detached as much of the glass as possible. This done, she reached out her left hand and firmly grasped the sash, at the same time releasing her hold upon the wire, which sprang away from her like a thing of life. Trembling in every limb, now that she was so nearly out of danger, she cautiously crept inside the window and let herself down.