ble yard," was the
breathless reply, "and the men away. This is our only chance. Catch
hold."

As Matthew spoke, the end of the long swaying branches, swinging ever
lower, came down to the roof, and a good yard or more of the greenery
was within George's grasp. Matthew lay at full length on his
collection of boughs in order that his weight might keep the ends
down. It was a precarious position truly, but Matthew was very light,
and had absolutely no fear for himself.

"Lash her well to three or four of the strongest of the boughs," he
said hurriedly; "give the rope half a dozen good turns about her waist
and the boughs. They are yew and very tough. Quick!"

Hardly knowing what he was doing, George obeyed. He was a bit of a
sailor, and in a couple of minutes he had bound the child to the
branches in a way to satisfy even Matthew, who still lay amongst the
foliage, some three yards away.

"Now cling for your life to the rest of the branches you've got,
Fairburn, till I go down to the long thick arm there below. Can you
hold?"

"Yes!" cried the other cheerfully, light beginning to dawn upon him.
"I can hold on; you go down."

Matthew moved down, and the branches, relieved of their burden, began
to exert a considerable upward pull. But the weight of the boy and the
girl held down the ends, and they awaited Matthew's call. It soon
came, though the interval of waiting seemed an age.

"Now then!" came the shout, and George could see his quondam enemy
firmly seated on a stout branch that had been cut shorter, its foliage
having interfered with the light of one of the windows of the library.
Matthew was sitting astride, his legs firmly gripping the branch. "Now
drop yourselves over," he went on. "You'll fall right on the top of
me, and I'll grab you. Throw one arm round Mary's waist, and then
seize the branches with both hands and stick tight."

"I'll stick like a leech," George replied, "but it's a fearful drop."

"There's no other way, none! See! the blaze has caught the library
roof behind you! It will be upon you in another minute. Drop over, for
pity's sake!"

George set his teeth, placed one arm round the child's slender form,
gripped hard a handful of the pliant boughs, and dropped over the
parapet, Mary closing her eyes in her mortal fright. With a huge swing
the branches bent, and in an instant the two were swaying a good
fifteen feet below, George almost jerked from his hold. The boughs
creaked but did no