"That ceiling will come down," he said, hastily. "I'm sorry--but if you're insured you'll be all right."

Lyddy at that moment remembered that she had never taken out insurance on the poor sticks of furniture left from the wreck of their larger home. Yet, if everything was spoiled----

"What's the matter with him?" asked the young fellow, looking at the bed where Mr. Bray lay. He had wonderfully sharp eyes, it seemed.

"I don't know--I don't know," moaned Lyddy. "Do you think it is the smoke? He has been ill a long time--almost too sick to work----"

"Your father?"

"Yes, sir," said the girl.

"I'll get an ambulance, if you say so--and a doctor. Are you afraid to stay here now? Are you all alone but for him?"

"My sister--and my aunt," gasped Lyddy. "They're in the front room."

"Keep 'em there," said the young man. "Maybe they won't pour so much water into those front rooms. Look out for the ceilings. You might be hurt if they came down."

He found the key and unlocked and opened the door from the bedroom to the hall. The smoke cloud was much thinner. But a torrent of water was pouring down the stairs, and the shouting and stamping of the firemen above were louder. Two black, serpent-like lines of hose encumbered the stairs.

"Take care of yourself," called the young man. "I'll be back in a jiffy with the doctor," and, bareheaded, and in shirt-sleeves as he was, he dashed down the dark and smoky stairway.

Lyddy bent over her father again; he was breathing more peacefully, it seemed. But when she spoke to him he did not answer. 'Phemie ran in, crying. "What is the matter with father?" she demanded, as she noted his strange silence. Then, without waiting for an answer, she snapped:

"And Aunt Jane's got her head out of the window scolding at the firemen in the street because they do not come up and carry her downstairs again."

"Oh, the fire's nearly out, I guess," groaned Lyddy.

Then the girls clutched each other and were stricken speechless as a great crash sounded from the kitchen. As the young man from the laboratory had prophesied, the ceiling had fallen.

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