other danger could there be? I lay and pondered over it all
through that hot, aching night; but I have learnt since then that there
are many things which may seem, oh, far, far harder than death to a
young, beautiful girl. I have never had a great dread of death, I am
thankful to say. Why should one fear it? If you really and truly are a
Christian, and believe what you pretend, it's unreasonable to dread
going to a life which is a thousand times better and happier; and as for
dying itself, I've talked to hospital nurses when I was ill at school,
and they say that most people know nothing about it, but are only very,
very tired, and fall asleep. Of course, there are exceptions. It would
have been dreadful to have been burnt alive!

I did sleep towards morning, and it was so odd waking up in that strange
room, which I had hardly noticed in the pain and confusion of the night
before. I smiled a little even then as I looked round. It was so
Racheley! Lots of nice things badly arranged, so different from my dear
little room! Oh, my dear little room; should I ever, ever see it again?
Someone was sitting behind the curtains, and as I moved he bent forward
and took hold of my hand. It was father, looking so white and old that
the tears came to my eyes to see him; but he was alive and safe, that
was the great thing, and able to tell me that all the servants had been
saved, and to give a good report of mother.

"Very weak and shaken, but nothing more than that, thank God! Good old
Mrs Rogers is very happy helping Terese to nurse her. She sent you her
love."

"And, oh, father, the house, the dear old home? Is it quite ruined, or
did you manage to put out the fire before it went too far? What
happened after we left?"

His face set, but he said calmly--

"The lower rooms are more or less destroyed, but the second storey is
little injured, except by smoke and, of course, water. The engines
worked well, and we had more help than we could use. The people turned
out nobly. The home itself can be saved, Babs; it will take months to
repair, but it can be done, and we shall be thankful to keep the old
roof above our heads."

"But it will never look the same. The ivy that has been growing for
hundreds of years will be dead, and all the beautiful creepers! I can't
imagine `The Moat' with bare walls. And inside--oh, poor father, all
your treasures gone! The silver and the china, and the cases of curios,
and the o