gh spirits and the most beautiful and spotless of summer
gowns, and was considered quite a heroine by the other ladies as she
dwelt upon the terrible heat of her return journey. "Only I knew Mr.
Barker would be worried--and the poor man actually walked a mile down
the Divide road to meet me--I believe I should have stayed there all
day." She glanced round the other groups for Mrs. Horncastle, but that
lady had retired early. Possibly she alone had noticed the absence of
the two partners.

The guests sat up until quite late, for the heat seemed to grow still
more oppressive, and the strange smell of burning wood revived the
gossip about Mrs. Van Loo and her stupidity in setting fire to her
chimney. Some averred that it would be days before the smell could be
got out of the house; others referred it to the fires in the woods,
which were now dangerously near. One spoke of the isolated position
of the hotel as affording the greatest security, but was met by the
assertion of a famous mountaineer that the forest fires were wont to
leap from crest to crest mysteriously, without any apparent continuous
contact. This led to more or less light-hearted conjecture of present
danger and some amusing stories of hotel fires and their ludicrous
revelations. There were also some entertaining speculations as to what
they would do and what they would try to save in such an emergency.

"For myself," said Mrs. Barker audaciously, "I should certainly let Mr.
Barker look after Sta and confine myself entirely to getting away with
my diamonds. I know the wretch would never think of them."

It was still later when, exhausted by the heat and some reaction from
the excitement of the day, they at last deserted the veranda for their
rooms, and for a while the shadowy bulk of the whole building was picked
out with regularly spaced lights from its open windows, until now these
finally faded and went out one by one. An hour later the whole building
had sunk to rest. It was said that it was only four in the morning when
a yawning porter, having put out the light in a dark, upper corridor,
was amazed by a dull glow from the top of the wall, and awoke to the
fact that a red fire, as yet smokeless and flameless, was creeping along
the cornice. He ran to the office and gave the alarm; but on returning
with assistance was stopped in the corridor by an impenetrable wall of
smoke veined with murky flashes. The alarm was given in all the lower
floors, and the