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"!" gasped Gilbert; and for an instant he could say no more.

"Sa—save me!" panted the prisoner. "Don't let me bu—burn up!"

"I will do what I can for you," answered the young lieutenant.

He leaped to the window, and took hold of the bars. They were an inch thick, and resisted every effort he made to bend them. He examined the sockets, to find each solidly imbedded in the stones of the window frame.

"Break them—somehow!" pleaded Nuggy Polk. "O Pennington, please don't leave me!"

"I'll do what I can for you, Polk."

Again Gilbert glanced around the apartment. The smoke was so thick he could see but little, and it made the tears flow down his cheeks in a stream. At the opposite end of the prison the flames crackled fiercely, and they were swiftly coming closer.