Lady Molly - The Endwondered if Lady Molly would have to commit bigamy before she could wrench from this
evildoer's hands the proofs that would set her own husband free from his martyrdom.
What she said I did not hear, what he meant to retort I never knew, for at that moment my
attention was attracted by the sound of running footsteps on the gravel, followed by a loud
knock at our front door. Instinctively I ran to open it. Our old gardener was standing there
hatless and breathless.
"Appledore Castle, miss," he stammered, "it's on fire. I thought you would like to know."
Before I had time to reply I heard a loud oath uttered close behind me, and the next moment
Felkin dashed out of the drawing-room into the hall.
"Is there a bicycle here that I can take?" he shouted to the gardener.
"Yes, sir," replied the old man; "my son has one. Just in that shed, sir, on your left."
In fewer seconds than it takes to relate Felkin had rushed to the shed, dragged out the
bicycle, mounted it, and I think that within two minutes of hearing the awful news he was
bowling along the road, and was soon out of sight.
IVOne wing of the stately mansion was ablaze when, a quarter of an hour later, my dear lady
and I arrived upon the scene. We had come on our bicycles not long after Mr. Felkin.
At the very moment that the weird spectacle burst fully upon our gaze a loud cry of horror had
just risen from the hundred or so people who stood watching the terrible conflagration, whilst
the local fire brigade, assisted by Mr. Baddock's men, were working with the hydrants. That
cry found echo in our own throats as we saw a man clambering, with the rapidity of a monkey,
up a long ladder which had been propped up against a second floor window of the flaming
portion of the building. The red glow illumined the large, shaggy head of Felkin, throwing for a
moment into bold relief his hooked nose and straggly beard. For the space of three seconds
perhaps he stood thus, outlined against what looked like a glowing furnace behind him, and
the next instant he had disappeared beyond the window embrasure.
"This is madness!" came in loud accents from out the crowd in the foreground, and before
one fully realized whence that voice had come, Mr. Philip Baddock was in his turn seen
clambering up that awful ladder. A dozen pairs of hands reached him just in time to drag him
back from the perilous ascent. He fought to free himself, but the firemen were determined
and soon succeeded in bringing him back to level ground, whilst two of them, helmeted and
well-equipped, took his place upon the ladder.
The foremost had hardly reached the level of the first story when Felkin's figure once more
appeared in the window embrasure above. He was staggering like a man drunk or fainting,