THE STEADFAST HEART
or so, still attached, came tumbling down across the shoulders of Myrtle Cuyler, who leaped, terrified, to her feet, tossing the lanterns about so that one was fired by its candle, then another and another. Instantly the flames seized upon the girl’s filmy dress and leaped upward…. She shrieked….
The visitor missed Angus from her side; saw him leap to Myrtle Cuyler; saw no other form in motion, for the party seemed paralyzed with fright. Angus’s coat was already off. Roughly he seized Myrtle, hurling her to the ground, wrapping his coat about her face…. The rug upon which she fell he snatched, and in it he rolled her blazing body—rolled her to and fro, beating the yellow tongues of flame with his bare hands…. It was over in a matter of seconds; a dress was ruined, a girl frightened into hysterics but injured only negligibly…. That was all.
Angus stood coatless, looking about him, blinking from the smoke, the center which drew every eye. He realized how conspicuous he had made himself and was frightened by it, achingly embarrassed, and his eyes sought an avenue of escape.
Somebody was carrying Myrtle Cuyler into the house; the rest surged toward Angus, who
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