Of the sixty odd pupils in Mrs. Wellington's school, at least fifteen of
them were to participate in the play. There was to be a Chorus of six
girls, and a Ballet, besides the principals who also acted the drama to
follow. Consequently the representative scholars not appearing on the
stage, had been asked to act as ushers, and general supervisors of
harmony.
Mr. Fabian and Mr. Maynard conducted Anne and her mother to the seats
reserved for them, and soon the friends and families of the scholars
filed in and took their seats. As the hall was generally used for other
purposes, the floor was not graded, and the seats were not attached to
the floor. They were ordinary wooden folding chairs to be piled up at
the end of the performance.
The pianist and other music teachers from school formed the orchestra,
and their opening number was rendered so well that an encore followed.
[Illustration: POLLY STAGGERED OUT OF THE DOOR CARRYING ELIZABETH ON
HER SHOULDER.]
Eleanor whispered comically to Polly, as they stood in the entrance
door: "Maybe the friends hope to postpone the acting a little longer."
When the curtain was drawn aside and the first act of the playlet began,
individuals in the audience became interested in watching their own
girls in the troupe. The Chorus did very well, and the Ballet danced as
gracefully as well-taught girls should, but once the actual acting
began, there was a slight disappointment felt by the spectators.
The leading lady (the programme said it was Miss Elizabeth Dalken) was
the whole show. She managed to keep in the lime-light even when she was
not speaking, or acting a part. And so much of one actress, whether good
or bad, was bound to pall on the audience.
"Polly, she's spoiling the whole play! I wonder the other girls stood
for it at the rehearsals," whispered Eleanor.
"She didn't act that way, before, I'm sure. Marion King told me all
about it. She's doing it now just to show off!"
"Not to her family! because not one of her folks are here. I heard her
tell Estelle that her mother was going to a fashionable ball, and, of
course, her father wouldn't come because he had no invitation from
Elizabeth."
"Well," persisted Polly, feeling sorry for the girl, "she must have
uncles or aunts or cousins, here."
"She hasn't any in New York. Her father comes from upstate and his folks
lived there. No one knows who her mother was, so she hasn't a soul,
here, but the chauffeur. He's downstairs having refreshments."
The second act ended and everyone sighed in relief because the play was
foolish and so poorly acted, even for amateurs. Mrs. Wellington felt
deeply hurt when she found how Elizabeth had chosen chums rather than
actors for the principal parts in the play.
The third act began, in which Elizabeth was dressed in a spangled green
ball-gown. It was very tight about the ankles and very low about the
neck. It was too daring, even for a young girl acting a part. The gown
had a long swishing tail at the back that could have been graceful on a
vampire, but not on this posing girl.
Mrs. Wellington shook her head disapprovingly at sight of Elizabeth, and
wished, more than once, that she had taken more time to review the
actors and their costumes, before they appeared in public.
The Assembly Hall building where the play was given, had four stories.
The first floor was used for refreshments, with a kitchen at the back.
The second was a billiard parlor for the use of private clubs. The third
floor was given over to the Hall, and the fourth floor was turned into
dressing-rooms, card-rooms, smoking-room, et cetera.
As no late arrivals were expected after the third act had opened the
ushers, placed at the doors, closed them to shut out the talking and
laughing in the billiard rooms. Then they sat down at either side of the
door, to watch the play.
The third act was progressing slowly, when the ushers heard sounds of
confusion coming from downstairs. But they merely exchanged glances and
thought some men were quarreling over a game of billiards.
Soon afterward, a faint odor and a haze of smoke penetrated through the
chinks of the doors, and Polly jumped up quickly to investigate. The
moment she opened a door, however, a thick cloud of smoke poured in. She
had to cough, but she remembered to instantly slam the door again.
The other girls saw the smoke and a panic might have followed, had not
Anne immediately jumped upon the stage and shouted:
"Remember--do not lose your heads! That is the only danger. We can all
get out safely if everyone will be calm and orderly."
Mr. Maynard took Mrs. Stewart with one arm, and caught Eleanor in his
other, then called to Mr. Fabian to do the same with Anne and Polly. But
there was such a dense mob at the only exit doors, that it was
impossible to force a way through there, and the heavy smoke was now
rapidly filling the hall.
To add to the scene of fear and confusion, the women in the assembly
cried, some screamed, the girls ran back and forth, and the men were
venting their fears in calling upon Deity,--some scarcely audible, and
others in shrill screams of excitement.
Outside, one could hear the mingled calls and shouts of onlookers, the
clanging of bells on the engines, and the yells of the people who had
escaped and wanted to help their friends out. There were four front
windows of the hall where the school entertainment was being given, but
these were now jammed with women who sought that way to gain a breath of
air, but were too timid to jump out to the street; and there were no
fire-escapes to be found. The hallways and several doors opening to
them, were a pitiful sight. The men, women, and children were crying,
jostling, and stampeding each other in their vain efforts to get out and
find the stairway in the dense smoke that kept pouring up from below.
Mr. Fabian saw the panic and realized that his friends must seek a rear
exit, or remain until the tardy firemen brought the ladders up to the
building to help them out. So he hurried to the door back of the stage.
It had escaped the frightened eyes of others. Having learned that this
door opened upon an entry that ran to a rear window, he next discovered
the usual fire-escape that ran down to the yard, and up to the roof. It
took him but a moment to assure himself that the escape was safe, then
he rushed back.
"This way! Follow me--everyone!" he shouted to his friends.
They all hurried to the window and Mr. Fabian went first, in order to
assist the ladies out to the iron-slatted platform, and then to start
them, sure-footed, on the upward climb of the narrow iron steps.
Mrs. Stewart went first, but she was so nervous that Mr. Fabian followed
closely behind her to steady her trembling form. Anne followed after her
mother in climbing through the window, and Mr. Maynard followed her. The
two girls were about to climb out on the platform when they heard a
moan, and then a shrill cry, from the small dressing-room back of the
stage.
Anne ordered the girls to come out, but Polly turned and ran back.
Eleanor followed, and Anne, distracted, climbed back, too.
"Nolla, tie something over your mouth and nose--use your chiffon scarf,"
commanded Polly, winding a wide silk sash about her own head.
The girls groped along the entry but could not distinguish a thing in
the thick, choking haze. Then Polly came to the dressing-room back of
the stage. This was comparatively clear from smoke, and there the girls
saw Elizabeth Dalken stretched upon the floor, a cut in her forehead
attesting to the cause of her sharp scream.
"Great Scott, Polly! What can we do now?" cried Eleanor, as the idea of
trying to carry the girl up the steep ladder-way flashed across her mind
only to be spurned. She had no idea of leaving her there to her fate,
however.
"If we only had a rope!" wailed Polly.
"But we haven't! If I only knew this house better I might find a
back-stairway. Most city houses have them and I should think this place
would have one."
"Of course! Nolla, close this door to keep out smoke. I'll look for the
stairs."
The few excited sentences were muttered through the mufflers tied over
the girls' mouths and noses. Then both girls began groping their way to
the rear, hunting for the back-stairs.
The mass of people that had surged from the Hall had made for the wide
front stairs, and but few remembered to seek for a back exit. And these
had speedily found a way down. Polly and Eleanor also found the narrow
back stairs, then Polly hastily commanded:
"Run and tell Anne--she can call to your Dad and explain. Then tell her
to come this way, with us. I'll lift Elizabeth over my shoulders and
start down with her--Anne and you follow, at once!"
In another moment, Polly was back in the dressing-room while Eleanor was
running for the rear window to advise Anne. But she found her already
inside tying a veil over her mouth and nose.
"Nolla--where's Polly?"
"All right--come on!"
"I told your father--they are safe on the roof--hurry now!"
Eleanor led Anne through the smoke, and just as they reached the entry,
Polly staggered out of the stage-door with the unconscious girl hanging
over her shoulder.
"Polly! Polly! You never can carry her!" cried Anne, in a smothered
voice through the veiling.
But Polly kept her mouth closed and struggled on to the back stairs.
Anne began to cough and choke as a reward for trying to speak, but she
reached the stairs first and rushed on down to see if there was a safe
passage below. Eleanor was close upon her heels, and Polly followed more
circumspectly.
They reached the kitchen of the house without trouble but the heat as
they passed by the second floor was terrific. Once down on the ground
floor they found the rear of the place quite free from smoke, but it
might only be because the fire overhead was blazing upward. At any
moment the wall or upper floors might crash down and fall upon them.
"Nolla--how can we get out of this pen?" cried Anne.
"If the house is anything like Chicago's, I'll show you. There must be
an area or cellar exit to the street."
The kitchen light was still burning but it looked weird in the
smoke-laden atmosphere. Eleanor tried different doors but found that
they opened into passages leading to closets or to the front rooms.
Finally she opened one and caught a whiff of fresh uncontaminated air.
"Thank heavens! Here it is, but I don't know where it ends."
Anne and she pushed out, with Polly behind them. They were in a dark
alley, now, and had to trust to good fortune to come out somewhere, in
safety. Down several stone steps, and along another dark, damp area they
went, and then Eleanor stumbled against a closed door.
"Oh, mercy! Are we locked in here?" she yelled desperately, beating the
door with her clenched fists.
"Nolla--let me feel for a handle--you are hysterical!" cried Anne,
swiftly passing her hands over the rough wood.
"Hurry, hurry! I can't carry this weight a minute longer!" breathed
Polly, hoarsely.
Just at that moment, Anne's hand struck an iron bolt. In a second she
had shot it backwards, and the heavy door swung open to give them an
exit to the side street.
All three girls ran frantically forward and Polly dropped her heavy
burden upon a grass strip which edged the curb. Eleanor sobbed with
relief and Anne fell upon her knees in silent thanksgiving.
"I'm off, girls, to see if I can help, in front. Have a care for
Elizabeth," cried Polly, and away she flew.
That silenced Eleanor's hysteria quicker than anything else, and in
another moment she was gone after her friend, leaving Anne to watch the
still unconscious girl on the grass.
The scene in front of the building was one of spectacular interest.
Seeing the crowds of fashionably-dressed people grouped opposite the
flaring house, it would seem that everyone of the guests had escaped.
But there was a deafening mixture of cries and shouts from every
direction. Some were crying for lost friends, some wailed for help
because of injuries inflicted by the stampede; firemen signaled their
associates; the old proprietor of the Hall ran madly to and fro shouting
and gesticulating wildly to everyone; in fact, it was a scene that
shocked Polly to witness because she thought city people had great
presence of mind.
Streams of water were pouring upon the flames that shot from the
second-story windows, but the scaling ladders had not yet arrived, and
the firemen were striving to enter the front door in order to carry the
hose nozzle to a more effectual spot.
The Chief had sent some men through adjacent houses to reach the roofs
and work downwards from that vantage spot. But they had not yet appeared
when Polly saw how she could assist.
Acting upon an impulse, and doing exactly as she would do if she was
witnessing a fire at Oak Creek, where the ranchers turn out and try to
subdue the flames, Polly hastily dropped the clinging skirt of her
evening dress. Having already removed the silk sash while in the Hall,
she now dipped it in the flood of water that poured from the hydrant on
the curb and tied it over her mouth and nose. Then she made a dash
across the street.
She caught a coil of rope from the hook where it hung on the back of the
engine, and pushed a way through the staring men. Before anyone dreamed
of her plan, or the firemen could restrain her she had reached the
corner of the building and was agilely climbing the height by holding to
the copper leader.
A chorus of breathless gasps and frightened screams came from the crowd
but Polly heard them not. She was too intent on her work. Being nimble
and so light-weight, and thoroughly accustomed to climb up almost
perpendicular cliffs, or along dizzy peaks, this ascent seemed like play
to the mountain girl. But the onlookers were thrilled to silence as they
watched her climb to the roof, and then safely crawl over the ledge.
Instantly there was such a wild cheer from the street, that Polly
wondered if something dreadful had happened. She never thought that the
acclamation was meant for her.
Without hesitation, she ran over to a nearby chimney and wound one end
of the long rope about it, then lowered the other end to the street. The
Chief saw the purpose, at once, and signaling back to the girl who was
leaning over the edge of the roof, he had his men tie the rope ladder to
the rope. Then Polly began hoisting it slowly, until its end came over
the cornice.
Meantime, when Eleanor found her friend halfway up the building,
clinging to the leader and finding foothold in the crevices between the
bricks, or on the steel bands that held the metal pipe to its moorings,
she also ran across the street, and attempted to break through the
cordon which had been formed to permit the men to hold out a life-net in
case the daring climber should fall.
"I want to help Polly--she is my best friend!" cried Eleanor, when the
fireman made her turn back.
Then she remembered the rear entrance from which they had escaped. She
turned to the Chief and called hurriedly: "Send some men with me--I'll
show them the cellar entrance where they can reach the roof and
different floors from the back!"
"Hallam! Colter! Take your equipment and follow this girl to a back
door. You know what to do!"
The men detailed for this duty, beckoned a few others, and all ran after
Eleanor who now made for the area door. She flew past Anne who was
holding Elizabeth's head upon her lap, but forgot to glance that way.
Having gained the cellar door, she was about to go in but Hallam stopped
her.
"No, Miss--we dare not permit anyone to enter a burning building, you
know."
"Oh, but I want to join Polly on the roof! The only reason I showed you
this way was to get through myself!"
"I'd lose my place in the contest for prize medals, Miss, if I broke
rules. You wouldn't want me to lose my promotion?"
Eleanor felt that he had the best of the argument, so she very
reluctantly turned and went back to the front of the house. There she
saw that the firemen had climbed the ladder and were stationed on the
roof and on window ledges, holding the hose from which the water poured
in torrents upon the fire inside.
Then the multitude now gathered on both streets and the corners of the
Parkway, were treated to another thrill. The strand of rope Polly had
taken with her, was now used by her for descent. Down the taut rope like
a trained monkey, came she, and safely jumped to the street.
Before she reached the ground however, a chorus of wild yells and
hurrahs went forth from everyone in the crowd. The Chief called
imperative orders to his men waiting with him, and the moment he had
caught Polly, he forced his way across the street, carrying her in his
arms as if she were a babe.
His men began climbing the rope ladder taking a hose with them. From the
vantage-points gained by Polly's courage, the firemen now kept steady
streams of water playing through the open windows upon the fire beneath,
and thus managed to subdue it before the hook-and-ladder truck wheeled
up beside the building.
The men, led by Eleanor to the back-stairs, directed their efforts from
that side, and soon the whole second and third floors became a bed of
wet smoldering embers. The rest of the structure was saved.
It was learned, later, that the club members giving the "smoker" to
friends, had been careless of butts and papers, and thus the fire must
have originated.
The family living in the beautiful house opposite the fire, took Polly
in charge, and kept away the mob of curious people who wished to see and
talk with the heroine.
Polly was all right, and wondered why she should be kept indoors when
others on the outside might need assistance. Suddenly she remembered her
discarded skirt!
"Oh, mercy me! Did I climb up that pipe looking like this?" she cried,
blushing furiously and burying her face in the cushions of the divan.
"My dear child! It was a wonderful sight! No one gave the slightest
thought to your bloomers. But now you shall have one of Ruth's skirts,"
returned the lady of the house, fervently.