gh so thickly as to
make us cough and choke, and fill our smarting eyes with water. The heat
grew intense, and drops of perspiration rolled down our cheeks.

Crack! crack--crack--crack! The Indians suddenly began to fire at the
loopholes, which were now distinctly outlined against the flame-lit
wall. By twos and threes the guns went off, blending with a din of
whooping voices, and the bullets pattered like hail. Menzies spun around
and clutched at his right arm, which was bleeding above the elbow.
A ball whizzed by my ear and another struck Dr. Knapp just between
the eyes; he fell with a crash and lay quite still.

It was clear that the savages had the range of the loopholes, and with
one accord we fled from the room, taking the powder canisters with us.
In the hall a candle was burning on a shelf, and by the dim glow I saw
Mrs. Menzies and Flora coming hurriedly down the stairs.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE SECRET OF THE FACTOR'S DESK.

I shrank from the encounter. The sight of the fair girl whom I loved so
passionately made me a coward, and I felt that I could not speak the
words of her doom and mine. So I lurked to one side while Mrs. Menzies
rushed up to her husband and clutched him hysterically.

"The house is on fire!" she cried. "The smoke drove us downstairs,
and--Oh, you are shot!"

"A mere flesh wound," Menzies answered huskily. "Tie it up for me with a
strip of your skirt."

With trembling fingers she obeyed.

"The worse, Andrew!" she pleaded--"tell me the worst! I am a brave
woman; I can bear it."

I did not hear Menzies' reply, for he quickly led his wife into a
darkened room adjoining; but I had a glimpse of his face, and it seemed
to have aged years in the last minute.

"Denzil!"

I recognized Flora's voice, and turning, I found her at my elbow. Her
cheeks were white, except for a burning red spot in the middle of each.
Her lovely eyes gazed into mine with a look of deepest affection, of
heart-rending fear that she could not disguise.

"Come!" I whispered hoarsely.

I drew her past the little group of men to the far end of the hall,
where the staircase screened us from the light of the candle. How to
begin, what to say, I did not know. With one arm about her slender form,
I pressed kisses on her lips and forehead.

"My darling!" I cried. "Oh, the pity of it--the pity of it!"

"Then it is true, Denzil?" she asked in faltering tones. "Don't