nt; then it crept through the fringe of the
rugs, and a choking smell of burning wool showed that the blankets also
were beginning to burn. But the brave girl had no intention of giving
up the fight.

There were two other blankets left. Mollie started back to the cabin
for these, when to her terror she discovered that the skirt of her
cotton dress was in names. She tried to beat it out with her hands,
but it crept steadily up toward her head. She cried aloud, but she
could see no one coming to save her. The pain was more intense every
moment. She could not keep still. She ran toward the edge of the
deck. Before her the placid water lay cool and sweet. With a cry of
pain, Mollie threw herself over the side of the houseboat. She did not
realize how shallow the water was. She flung herself with all her
force. Her head struck against the bottom with a heavy thud. At least
the water was cool; the fire no longer burned her.

Miss Jones and Mr. Brown, who had joined Miss Jenny Ann on her way back
from the farmhouse, heard Mollie's first cry of alarm. The artist had
been coming down to the houseboat to make an evening call. Two
strangers, a man and his wife, were strolling along the top of the
small embankment. They also heard the call. The four of them started
down the hill almost at the same time. Before they reached the
houseboat, the odor of burning wood was borne to their nostrils. Miss
Jenny Ann cried out for Mollie, but Mollie did not answer. Mr. Brown
and the two strangers began beating out the fire on the boat. It had
not spread far; the blankets had covered the flames and kept them from
increasing. The overturned oil can gave the clue to the mystery. Mr.
Brown dashed into the kitchen for a bag of salt, because salt more
quickly puts out the flames from burning oil.

Miss Jenny Ann had, so far, been unable to find Mollie. Now she looked
over the side of the boat, and Mollie's body could be plainly seen
lying in the shallow water. Mr. Brown and the stranger together
brought the girl back to the houseboat. She was insensible. In her
plunge into the water she had struck her head with great force against
the bottom of the bay. She was stunned by the shock, and when she
returned to consciousness the pain from the burn and the blow made her
delirious. As she alone could tell what had transpired in that brief
hour, the cause of the fire remained a mystery.

CHAPTER XXII

THE EVIL GENIU