in places doubtless he had received
burns more or less serious; but he paid no attention to such things.

"Here is your darling child, Mary; I saved her for you!"

Hardly had Mrs. Badger taken the unconscious girl in her arms when the
man sank down at her feet in a dead faint. He had held up through
everything until he was able to effect his purpose, and then Nature
could stand no more.

Jack bent over him and called for water. He sincerely hoped that it
might not be so serious as he feared. The experienced fire-fighter would
have known better than to have inhaled any of the flame as he passed
through; and apparently from the condition of his clothes he could not
have been very seriously burned.

No sooner had cold water been applied to his face and neck than he came
to, and persisted in sitting up. His gaze wandered wistfully over to
where his wife was bending over the crippled girl so solicitously. Jack
knew, however, that no matter if the rescue had been made too late, Mr.
Badger had undoubtedly earned a right to the forgiveness of the one whom
he had so cruelly wronged in the past.

But it seemed that everything was going to come out all right, for now
he saw that the women gathered about the mother and child were looking
less alarmed. Undoubtedly Lucy was responding to their efforts at
resuscitation. She must have fallen on the floor in such a position as
to keep her from inhaling much less smoke than would have been the case
had she remained on her feet. The air is always found to be purer near
the floor during a fire, as many a person trapped within a burning
building has discovered.

Now Mrs. Badger had started back toward the spot where the rescuer lay.
Perhaps some appealing word from Fred had caused her to remember what
she owed to the savior of her crippled child.

Mr. Badger saw her coming; trust his eager eyes for that. He managed to
struggle to his feet, and stood there waiting; but he need not have
feared concerning the result. What he had done this night had forever
washed out the bitterness of the past. All the former tenderness in her
heart toward him was renewed when she hurried up, and taking one
solicitous tearful look into his blackened face, threw herself into his
arms with a glad cry.

"Oh! Donald, we have lost our little home, but I am the happiest woman
on earth this night; for what does that matter when I have found
_you_ again?"

"Mary, my wife, can you find it in your gentle hear