reathing. She could plainly smell smoke.

Then suddenly, almost when she had given up hope, she was free. Her
wrists were bruised and bleeding but that was of no consequence. It
required only an instant to untie the cords which bound her ankles.

A new fear assailed her. The closet door might be locked!

She turned the knob and laughed aloud in hysterical relief. It had not
been locked. But as she darted out into the room she inhaled
smoke-laden air and began to cough and choke. Covering her face with
her dress, she groped her way to the door.

It did not give as she tried it. Then she remembered that Cron and his
confederates had locked it from the outside.

She threw herself against the wooden panels with all her strength, but
quickly comprehended that she could not break them. She ran to the
window and looked down.

Smoke was swirling upward in such large black clouds that she caught
only an indistinct view of the street below. The big red fire engine
had pulled up beside the building and rubber-coated men were squirting
streams of water on the roaring blaze.

Penny lifted the window sill and climbed out on the ledge. She clung
there, waving one hand to attract attention to her plight.

Below, when the smoke cleared a little, she could see a solid bank of
spectators, edged off neatly by a cordon of police. Others were trying
to push their way through the crowd. A great clanging of bells
announced the arrival of another fire company. It pulled in alongside
the one already on the job.

With the precision of a war machine, the newcomers drove into action.
A hydrant was quickly tapped and a long reel of hose swiftly unwound
and connected. A water tower arose from the ground as if by magic, and
soon a great stream was pouring from its peak into the blazing building.

Penny shouted for help, although she knew her voice would not carry
above the roar of the flames. Then as she was beginning to despair,
she was seen.

With quick discipline, the firemen placed a ladder directly beneath the
window. Slowly it arose, section on section.

Now that rescue was in sight, Penny suddenly vanished through the
window back into the room from which she had escaped. The crowd below
groaned in unison, fearing that the girl had lost her courage and was
afraid to descend the ladder from such a height.

But Penny quickly reappeared at the window, bearing two bulky objects
in her arms. She had determined to sav