e the stolen Rembrandt and one
of the copies which would serve as damaging evidence against Cron and
his confederates.

A fireman swiftly mounted the ladder to help the girl descend.

"You'll have to leave those pictures," he said tersely. "This wall is
about ready to fall and we have to work fast."

"I can't leave them behind," Penny wailed. "This one painting is worth
thousands of dollars!"

"Then give them to me," the fireman ordered tersely.

He helped Penny step from the ledge to the ladder.

"Don't look down," he commanded.

Penny gripped the sides of the ladder, descending very slowly, with the
fireman just below to steady her should she grow dizzy. She was not
afraid although the ladder weaved under her weight. Even when a cloud
of dense smoke caused her to choke and cough, she did not falter.

As the ground loomed up, she glanced back at the window ledge where she
had clung only a moment before. Flames were shooting out, licking
greedily at the top rungs of the ladder.

A great shout went up from the crowd as Penny stepped to the ground
uninjured.

"Here you are, Miss, safe and sound," the fireman said grimly. "And
just in time too!"

Scarcely had the ladders been removed from the building when the wall
fell inward. Penny did not speak for a minute. Now that it was all
over, she felt weak and shaken. Her escape had been such a narrow one.

"Are you all right?" the fireman asked, taking her arm.

"Quite," Penny smiled. "You needn't hold me. I'll not faint."

"You have pluck, Miss. And your wrists are cut too. I'll call the
doctor."

"No, don't bother. It's nothing," Penny protested. "Where are my
pictures?"

"Here." The fireman handed them over to her. "It was foolish going
back after them. You might have lost your life."

"I realize that now," Penny responded soberly, "but I just had to get
those pictures. Thank you for helping me save them."

Before she could add that she felt deeply grateful for her own rescue
as well, the fireman was called to another post.

With a policeman as a bodyguard, Penny pushed her way through the
crowd, the precious Rembrandt and the duplicate clutched under her arm.

"I'll send you to the hospital where you can have those wrists properly
dressed," the policeman said. "How did you cut them?"

"Trying to get out of the closet," Penny answered. "I was bound and
gagged and locked in."

Tersely, in response to the officer's questions, sh