Then Jack reached the side of the house. It felt warm to his touch, a
fact that gave him a sudden fear that the worst might have happened to
the crippled boy beyond the window.

One effort he made to raise the sash, but it seemed stuck, or else was
locked. There was no time for halfway measures, and accordingly Jack,
tearing loose a broken section of a wooden bar that formed part of the
top of the trellis, smashed the window with several blows, after
warning those below to get from under.

He took pains to clear the sash from any projecting fingers of glass
that might have given him trouble in the shape of severe cuts. Then
without another glance at the spectators gathered below the boy
proceeded to crawl swiftly through the opening, heedless alike of the
smoke that was oozing forth in thick volumes, or the possibility of
his striking the fire itself, once he had entered the house.

They saw his heels vanish through the gap. Something like a gasp arose
from some of the gathered crowd, constantly augmented as fresh
arrivals came running up, to ask what had happened, and who it was
they saw entering through that window.

Some seemed to consider it a rash thing to do. These for the most part
were women who had not yet grasped the fact that Jack was not risking
his life out of sheer bravado, but that it was believed the poor
little cripple had been abandoned in his room through mistake, and it
was Jack's intention to save him if he could.

Then their opinions changed like magic, for their hearts filled with
sympathy. Even the sobbing old man became an object of pity, though up