A cloud of smoke was filling
the well, with no draft to carry it away, and the heat was already very
oppressive.
Crouching on the curb of the lighted passage three floors above him,
Cervera was laughing wildly, with her handsome face reflecting the
bitter hatred by which she was inspired, as she hurriedly set fire to a
third garment and dropped it down the well.
The smoke at the bottom had become so dense that Nick no longer could
see her, but he felt quite sure that he could put an end to her present
murderous game.
He drew his revolver and fired two quick shots in her direction. One
bullet crashed through the ceiling above her. The second clipped a lock
of hair from over the vixen's ear.
It brought a shriek of alarm to her lips, and she sprang quickly back
from the curb over which she was stooping.
"_Caramba!_" she yelled, excitedly. "That's your game, is it?"
"You'll find it is, if you approach that opening again!" cried Nick,
half choked with smoke, while he fiercely strove to extinguish the
blazing garments.
"Oh, I'll not give you another chance at me!" screamed Cervera. "I'll
push over something heavier, and crush out your life with--"
She suddenly stopped, then held her breath and listened.
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