A SEND-OFF WITH FIREWORKS
When Lily Pearl fled from Stella's room leaving the overturned fairy
lamp to bring about the climax of that evening, her one thought was to
get to bed, and hardly had she tumbled into it than sleep brought
oblivion of all else. Lily Pearl was a somnolent soul in many senses.
Mrs. Vincent was busy in her study at the other end of the house. Miss
Sturgis was dining with friends. Fräulein, who was a romantic creature,
was seated under a huge copper beech tree entertaining a Herr Professor
straight from the Vaterland. The other teachers were either out or in
their rooms in other parts of the building, and the servants had drifted
out through the rear grounds. Consequently, the fairy lamp had things
pretty much its own way and it embraced its opportunity.
What prompted Polly to go upstairs just at that crisis she could never
have told, but she did, and a second later Peggy followed her. The
moment the girls reached their corridor the odor of smoke assailed
their nostrils. For an instant they stopped and looked at each other,
then Peggy cried:
"Polly, something's afire. Quick, the bugle call!" Polly bounded forward
and, as upon another occasion back in Montgentian she had roused the
neighborhood and saved the situation, now she sounded her bugle call,
but this time it was "fire call," not "warning." Clear, high and sharp
the notes rang through the house. Mrs. Vincent down in her study sprang
to her feet. The teachers rushed to their posts, the girls ran in from
the terrace. Well for Columbia Heights School that Polly had taught them
the different calls and that she and Peggy had begged Mrs. Vincent to
let the girls learn the fire drill as the boys in Bancroft did it.
Not far off was a fire engine house and the members of the company had
more than once come to see the two girls put their schoolmates through
their drill. It was all a grand frolic then, for none believed it would
ever be put to practical use. But the fire chief had nodded wisely and
said to Mrs. Vincent:
"Those two young girls have long heads. It may all be a pretty show-down
now, but some day you may find it come in handy."
It came in very handy this time. In two minutes an alarm was turned in
and the engines were tearing toward Columbia Heights. The girls had
rushed to their rooms, scrambled what they could into blankets, and ran
downstairs with their burdens. At least many of them had. All the fire
drills in the world will not keep some people's heads upon their
shoulders in a crisis.
Roused from sleep by the bugle, Lily Pearl, uttering shriek upon shriek,
plunged her feet into a pair of pink satin slippers newly bought for
commencement, caught up and pinned upon her head the new hat, of which
Rosalie had said: "Well, of all the lids! Lily, did the milliner put the
trimming on the box and forget to send home the hat?" Then grabbing her
fur coat from the closet she ran screaming down to the lawn, certainly
somewhat promiscuous as to raiment, for her nightie was an airy affair
and she carried her coat over her arm.
But the stately Juno was one of the most amusing objects. She carefully
put on a pair of evening gloves and took a lace pocket handkerchief from
her bureau drawer. That was all she even attempted to save.
It was well for the school that Polly and Peggy had kept their wits. All
were soon out of the building and the firemen battling bravely to
confine the fire to the west wing, but poor Stella's room was surely
doomed, for what smoke and flames might possibly spare water would
certainly ruin.
In the midst of the uproar Shelby, Bolivar, Nelly and Helen came upon
the scene.
"Good Lord Almighty! Look out for the girls, Bolivar. Guess they'll have
no trouble gettin' in unnoticed now," cried Shelby, and sent Shashai
speeding to the stables.
Bolivar paused only long enough to hand cabby a ten-dollar bill and cry:
"Clear out quick and keep your mouth shut too!" Then he hurried the
terrified girls to the lawn where dozens of other girls were huddled,
and nobody asked any questions about the suitcase. Nor did anyone think
to ask how Bolivar and Shelby happened to be there when they were
supposed to be miles away. Many details were quite overlooked that
night, which was a fortunate circumstance for Miss Helen Doolittle, and
her hard-hit midshipman, who had "frenched" out of Bancroft not only
with mamma's knowledge, but with her coöperation. To have formed an
alliance with Foxy Grandpa's niece and clinched that end of the scheme
of things would have been one step in the direction of securing an ample
income, and once that lover's knot was tied, Helen was to be whisked
back to the school and the secret kept. Mamma was at the Willard waiting
for "those darling children" to come, and when, much later than he was
expected, "dear Paul" arrived alone and in a greatly perturbed state of
mind, mother and son had considerable food for thought until the
midnight car carried them back to Annapolis, where Paul "clomb" the wall
at the water's edge and "snoke" into quarters (in Bancroft's vernacular)
in the wee, sma' hours, a weary, disgusted and unamiable youth. Perhaps
had he suspected what was happening back at Columbia Heights his prompt
oblivion in slumber would not have taken place, though Paul was a
philosopher in his way. Helen was with friends and "she'd knock off
crying when she found she had to; all girls did." Selah!
But during all this time things had not been moving so tranquilly at
Columbia Heights. Given over a hundred girls, and a seething furnace of
a building in which the belongings of a good many of them were being
rapidly reduced to ashes, for the whole west wing was certainly doomed,
and one is likely to witness some stirring scenes. The firemen worked
like gnomes in the murk and smoke, and Shelby and Bolivar seemed to be
everywhere, saving everything possible to save, with many willing hands
from the neighborhood to help them. And some funny enough rescues were
made. Sofa pillows were carried tenderly down two flights of stairs and
deposited in places of safety upon the lawn by some conscientious
mortal, while his co-worker heaved valuable cut glass from a third-story
window, or pitched one of the girls' writing desks into the upstretched
arms of a twelve-year-old boy who happened to stand beneath.
Mrs. Vincent was everywhere at once, keeping her girls from harm's way,
and the other teachers kept their heads and coöperated with her. At
least all but one did, and she was the one upon whom Mrs. Vincent would
have counted most surely. When the fire was raging most fiercely Miss
Sturgis returned from her visit and a moment later rushed away from the
group of girls supposed to be under her especial charge, and disappeared
within the house in spite of the firemen's orders that all should stand
clear. The girls screamed and called after her but their voices were
drowned in the uproar, and none knew that the incentive which spurred
the half-frantic woman on was the photograph of the professor with whom
she had gone automobiling the day of the fly-paper episode. Poor Miss
Sturgis. Her first and only hint of a romance came pretty near proving
her last.
Straight to her room in the west wing she rushed, stumbling over hose
lines, battling against the stifling clouds of smoke which rolled down
the corridor. The room was gained, the picture secured, and she turned
to make good her escape, all other valuables forgotten. But even in that
brief moment the smoke had become overpowering. Her room was dense. For
a moment she sought for the door, growing more and more confused and
stifled, then with a despairing moan she fell senseless. Luckily the
flames were eating their relentless way in the other direction, the
firemen fighting them inch by inch until they felt that they were
winning the battle.
Meantime, down upon the lawn, the girls had found Mrs. Vincent and told
her of Miss Sturgis' folly. She was beside herself with alarm. Men were
sent in every direction to find her, but none for a moment suspected her
of the utter fool-hardiness of returning to her own room in the blazing
wing. But there was one person who did think of that possibility and she
quickly imparted her fears to one other.
"She never would," cried Polly.
"She had something there she wanted to save. I don't know what, but she
was so excited that she acted just like a crazy person, wringing her
hands and crying just before she ran back; I saw her go. Wait! Tzaritza,
find Miss Sturgis," said Peggy into the ears of the splendid hound who
had never for a single moment left her side, and who had more than once
caught hold of her skirts to draw her backward when a sudden volume of
smoke or sparks shot upward.
For a moment the noble beast hesitated. Little had Miss Sturgis ever
done to win Tzaritza's love and in her dog mind duty lay here. But the
dear mistress' voice repeated the order and with a low bark of
intelligence Tzaritza tore away into the burning building.
"Oh, call her back! Call her back! She will be burned to death" cried a
dozen voices. Polly dropped upon the lawn and began to sob as though her
heart would break. Peggy never moved, but with hands clinched, lips set
and the look in her eyes of one who has sacrificed something
inexpressibly dear she stood listening and waiting. When she felt most
deeply Peggy became absolutely dumb.
Those minutes seemed like hours, then through an upper window giving on
the piazza roof scrambled a singed, smoke-begrimed, and uncanny figure,
dragging, tugging, and hauling with her a limp, unconscious woman. She
made the sill, hauled her burden over to safety, then lifting it bodily
carried it to the roof's edge, where putting it carefully beyond the
volume of smoke now pouring from the window, she threw up her head and
emitted howl upon howl for aid.
It was Shelby who heard and recognized that deep bay, who rushed with a
ladder to the spot, and scrambling up like a monkey, caught up Miss
Sturgis' seemingly lifeless form and carried her down the ladder, where
a dozen willing hands waited to receive her, while Tzaritza's barks
testified to her joy. Then back Shelby fled for the faithful creature,
but just as he reached the roof a sheet of flame darted out of the
window and enveloped her. In a second the exquisite silky coat was
a-blaze, and poor Tzaritza's joyous barks became cries of agony.
"Quick, somebody down there hand me one of those blankets!" shouted
Shelby.
Ere the words had left his lips a little figure scrambled up the ladder,
a blanket in her arms. Polly had seen all and had not waited for orders.
Gym work back in Annapolis stood in good stead at that moment. Shelby
flung the blanket about Tzaritza's sizzling fur, smothered out the
flame, then by some herculean mustering of strength, caught the huge dog
in his arms and crawled step by step down the ladder from which Polly
had quickly scrambled. A dozen hands lent aid and poor burned Tzaritza
was carried to the stables, Peggy and Polly close beside her. Others
could now care for Miss Sturgis, who, indeed, was little the worse for
her folly, while Tzaritza, the lovely coat quite gone, was moaning from
her burns.
"Hear, Jim, you stay here and don't you leave Miss Peggy or that dog for
a minute. Now mind what I tell you," he ordered.
Peggy knew exactly what to do. It was the Peggy Stewart of Severndale
who worked over the suffering dog, bandaging, bathing, soothing, and
Tzaritza's eyes spoke her gratitude.
Several of the girls ran out to offer help or sympathy, and their tears
testified to their love for Tzaritza.
It was dawn before the excitement subsided, and the firemen had
withdrawn, leaving one on guard against the possibility of a fresh
outbreak. And that west wing and its contents? Well, let us draw a
curtain, heavier even than the smoke which, so lately poured from it.
Some things were saved--yes--but the commencement gowns, essays, and all
which figures in Commencement Day were fluttering about in little black
flakes. There would be no Commencement for Columbia Heights School this
year!
A telephone message brought Mrs. Harold and Mrs. Howland upon the scene
before many hours, as well as a good many other interested parents.
True, a large insurance covered most of the valuables and the building
also, but a house after such a catastrophe is hardly prepared to hold a
function, so it was unanimously agreed that the girls should all go
quietly away as quickly as those whose belongings had been saved could
pack them.
Mrs. Harold and Mrs. Howland remained over night and on the
twenty-fourth instead of the twenty-eighth escorted a nondescript sort
of party up to Severndale, for wearing apparel had to be
indiscriminately borrowed and lent.
Helen's anxious mamma took her to Philadelphia, where June week's joys
were not. Lily Pearl's parents wired her to come home at once, and Lily
departed for the south-land, June week's joys lamented also. Stella's
father came in instant response to her telegram and though the one to
suffer the heaviest losses, made light of them and asked Stella if she
couldn't tear herself from Columbia Heights without such an expensive
celebration.
_Is_-a-bel, who had really lost very little, was inconsolable because
her "essay," to be read at Commencement, had been burned up, and
departed for the Hub, still lugubrious.
Mrs. Vincent asked Shelby to remain a few days longer, which he
willingly did. Bolivar had gone on to look up Junius and his charges as
soon as he could leave the school.
Peggy insisted upon Mrs. Vincent coming to Severndale for the month when
it was finally agreed that the earlier plans should hold, Juno and
Natalie extending their visit. So back went the merry party to Annapolis
to participate in all the delights of June week, and all which can crowd
into it.
So ho! for Severndale! Tzaritza conveyed there an interesting, though
shorn convalescent, the horses seeming to sniff Round Bay from afar,
Polly wild to see her old friends, and Peggy eager to greet those who
were so much a part of her life in her lovely home. And Nelly? Well, no
one has ever learned of her night ride, though Helen's peace of mind is
not quite complete.
Printed in the United States of America.