Under Lock and Key; or, Marion Marlowe's Last Role — page 17: what you’re looking at

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14 across the ward, and a poor, demented crea- ture came sidling toward Marion, singing: “Woe, woe! Weariness and woe! Hur- rah for liberty! For sunshine and freedom! There's a good time coming! It’s almost here! Hurrah! Here we go! All in a chariot of fire! Three cheers for the flag; we are going to glory!” Drawing a bottle of alcohol from her sleeve, which she had picked up from a table nearby, she dashed the contents on the bed- clothing at the foot of Marion’s bed. The next instant, before any one could stop her, she struck a match and threw it lighted on the bed. | , A cry of horror went up as a burst of flame was seen to spring from the flimsy covering. The queer creature bounded away, fairly screaming with shrill laughter. She still held the bottle in her hand, and she scattered what was left in it over cots and tables. The flames spread as if by magic. The instant Marion found her bed on fire, she raised herself to a sitting posture, and stared at the flames, well-nigh overcome with horror. ¢ Miss Thompson was already tearing at the blazing sheets. Then Marion sprang to the floor, and, without a word, she flew down the long corridor. CHAPTER VII. BAFFLED. As she reached the door, Marion glanced back over her shoulder. The flames had spread to the adjoining bed, and the curtains at three windows were blazing fiercely. Shrieks and cries, some of horror, and others of amusement, came from every cot, and for just a moment the young girl was undecided. Should she go back and attempt to rescue any of those wretched creatures? As she looked at them, her heart was thrilled with heroic pity, but the trembling of her limbs warned her that such an attempt would be sheer folly. She could hardly save herself; in fact, she did not even know how to find her way through the building. Every door was locked, and every window guarded. Miss Thompson had rushed from the ward to sound an alarm, and, as Marion glanced around eagerly, she saw her opportunity. Some one had opened the door of the room where the patients’ clothing was kept, and, at the first ery of fire, had darted out, leav- ing a bunch of keys dangling in the lock and on array. of garments strewn about in dis- order. As quick as a flash, the young girl slipped inside, drawing the key fror® the lock and then locked the door upon herself. . MY QUEEN. ~ She was her own jailer now, but she was surrounded by danger. The clothes-room was close to the ward, and the fire might reach it. - She sank down, helplessly, upon a pile of clothing. She had ores nd cab, and it had deserted her. | The screams of the patients reached her ears indistinctly now, and then came the tramp of heavy feet and the splashing and hissing of water. She could hear the»patients being hurried from thé ward, ind now and then the hoarse voices of the excited physicians and helpers penetrated the thick walls of her prison. Over and over again she attempted to rise, thinking that, after all, she might be able to help some one, but at last a faintness like death came over her and she sank down among the piles of clothing in absolute un- consciousness. Wihhen she came to her senses again, the room was as dark as midnight, and great puts of smoke were coming through the key- cle. , ‘She roused herself slowly and struggled hard to remember what hac happened; then, with a stifled cry, she sprang to her.feet, and . her first act was to finger the keys which she still held tenaciously. The fire was over, doubtless, and she had been spared. Neither the flames nor her enemies had been able to discover her. There was no way to light the place, so she sat down again in the darkness; then her brain seemed to grow suddenly keen and her wits began working. » ‘ Perhaps she could escape from this awful place! It was a thing which, even in her helplessness, she did not shrink from trying. As quickly as she could, she put on some of the garments about her, selecting them as best she could with only her sense of touch to euide her—then she carefully unlocked the door and peered out into the corridor. 4 Such a scene of desolation as met her eyes! The whole hall, which was dimly lighted, was scorched and blackened, and there was not a sien of attendant or patient. Water an inch deep lay on the floor in places, while piles of water-soaked rubbish were heaped here and there, showing how desperately they had worked to control the fire. The hospital ward was more or less iso- lated from the main building of the institu- tion, and, as Marion peered around, she could see that it alone had been injured. “Tt has been abandoned, [ am sure,” she whispered, delightedly ; “now, if I can only reach the yard, I may be able_to escape! Thank Heaven, it is night! How long I must have been unconscious !”’ Eomicbooks.co ~'