dous explosion threw a roof bodily into the air; a
shower of incandescent particles descended and drove directly at the
fugitives. Nanna felt herself lifted bodily off her feet and swept with
a rush down the wharf. One little gulp of regret for her lost
independence and she yielded--deliciously. The boat rocked from side to
side, then it shot out upon the open river.

Piers Minor had stopped rowing, for the sparks no longer fell about
them. The spectacle of the burning city was a magnificent one. The
inverted bowl of the sky shone as though it were made of copper, and the
gale had flattened out the flames horizontally so that they resembled
the flying masses of a woman's unbound hair.

Nanna's eyes filled with tears.

"It was my world," she said, softly, "the only one I knew."

"Nanna!" said Piers Minor. She let her hand rest in his, and the boat
floated on.

XXVIII

IN THE FULNESS OF TIME

The streets were as light as noonday, and Constans found no difficulty
in keeping the dying figure in sight. But, run as he would, he could not
gain a yard.

"Arcadia House," muttered Constans, under his breath, as he noticed the
direction taken by the runner. What more natural than that a man should
seek his own home at such a time? But Constans's brow was clouded as he
followed in Quinton Edge's footsteps.

Arcadia House, and why? There could be but one answer to that question
after Nanna's message, conveyed to him through Ulick's dying lips. Esmay
had disappeared, and yet had remained in Arcadia House. He, who knew
Quinton Edge, would understand.

Constans told himself grimly that he did understand. This insolent
wanted the girl, just as he had desired many another thing in life, and
it had always been his way to take what he coveted. But this
time--Constans set his teeth hard, and now, at last, Arcadia House was
in sight.

During this last quarter of an hour the progress of the conflagration
had been perceptibly slower, and the great sheaf of flame in the western
sky had almost disappeared. It was like the lull that so often takes
place in a storm, a period of sudden quiet in the element strife that
should warn the prudent that the worst is still to come. To Constans it
was the most fortunate of happenings, the comparative darkness enabling
him to keep close upon Quinton Edge without risk of discovery.

As though satisfied that he had arrived in time, Quinton Edge now
slackened his pace, making for the gat