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THE MYSTERY OF THE OLD MILL.
contents about the place, on the furniture, the floor, and the ladder leading to the upper room. Malcolm was the last to leave. He took up the paraffin lamp from the table, threw it across the room, and bolted. There was an explosion, and on the instant the room was filled with smoke and flame.
* * *
What with the pain of his wound and exhaustion Dick Steele lost consciousness for a time. When he came round he found rats running over him. He shook them off" with a shudder of disgust, sat up, and looked about him. He was in a cellar which had apparently not been used for a long time. It was a dank, loathsome place. jfThe clammy chill of it struck through to his very bones. At first he could not make out what had happened ; then the throbbing pain in his shoulder brought it all back with a rush. Somewhere in this crazy old building Kate was a prisoner. And what were those devils plotting 1
Well, the immediate need was to get his hands free. Fortunately when they had handcufi'ed him they had left the key in his pocket. There was no trick of his trade that Steele did not know, and to unlock the gyves from his wrists was not a long job, though a troublesome one. The smell of burning touched his nostrils, and as he threw up his head, startled, a tell-tale crackling sound came to him from above. Immediately he knew ! Malcolm had fired the mill. He meant that Kate and he should be burnt to death.
Suddenly he had an idea. All this time he had been half-conscious of some other sound. It seemed to come from below. He dropped on his knees on the stone floor,
and listened. Below there was running water. He was sure of it. With feverish haste he tore up one of the flags. The top of an iron ladder was disclosed. He groped about with his hand and grasped a chain. Then he lowered himself down into the water. The chain ran along by the wall, and when his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness he made out dimly a low archway. He worked his way towards it and began to swim. He came out into another stone chamber from which ascended an iron ladder. He clambered up, painfully, and came up through a well-head into broad daylight.
The first thing he saw was the mill. It was only a few yards away, and smoke was pouring from the lower windows. The sight spurred his energies afresh. He dashed at the door and burst it open. All one side of the room was ablaze, and the flames were already licking greedily at the ladder. It was plain that not an instant was to be lost. He sprang up the ladder. Kate was almost at her last gasp. She was half suffocated by the smoke, and had watched the flames eating through the floor and gradually coming nearer and nearer . . .
Steele removed the gag and unfastened her bonds. Escape was impossible by the ladder now. On the other side of the room a a small w i nd ow had been ?LJ\ boarded
up. With a violent wrench he pulled away one of the boards, then another and another. Thewindow had been rem o v e d, leaving an ape r tu re
' ' Tlie forger and the detective were sliding down the face of the cliff. ' '