"
"No, you didn't! You mistook somebody else for him. Oh, my Lord! he is
in the burning house! he is in the house!"
"Oh, he is in the house! he is in the house!" echoed Henrietta, now
roused from her panic, and wringing her hands in the most acute
distress. "Oh! will nobody save him! will nobody save him!"
It was too late! Commodore Waugh was in the burning mansion, in his
bedchamber, near the top of the house, fast asleep!
"Good heaven! will no one attempt to save him?" screamed Henrietta,
running wildly from one to the other.
They all gazed on each other, and then in consternation upon the burning
building, every window of which was belching flame, while the sound of
some falling rafter, or the explosion of some combustible substance, was
continually heard! To venture into that blazing house, with its sinking
roof and falling rafters, seemed certain death.
"Oh! my God! my God! will none even try to save him?" cried Henrietta,
wringing her hands in extreme anguish.
Suddenly:
"Pray for me, aunty!" exclaimed Jacquelina, and she darted like a bird
toward the house, into the passage, and seemed lost in the smoke and
flame!
Wrapping her woolen shawl closely about her, and keeping near the floor,
she glided swiftly up the stairs, flight after flight, and through the
suffocating passages, until she reached her uncle's door.
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