A bell pealed somewhere. Several men rushed by on the way to give the alarm.
Too stunned to be of service for the moment, Margaret and Louise crowded against a friendly fence.
Why were the men and women, the girls and boys inside the burning building not already streaming out into the streets?
Out of the downstairs windows a few people were jumping and pushing one another. From the front door a dozen women and men ran and then a little distance off stood still, gazing upward and calling to friends above the uproar.
A half dozen policemen appeared. Louise and Margaret found themselves thrust backward and not allowed beyond a certain line.
“What is the trouble? Why don’t they clear out?” the girls overheard one man ask the other.
“Something pretty bad is the trouble! The fire has started below and the stairs are choked with smoke. Too many people in there for the size of the building. I have been afraid of something like this.”
Down the street came the welcome noise of the first fire engine.
“Is there anything we can do to be useful, officer?” Margaret Hale asked.
She had regained her self-command and walked as close as possible to the dividing line, followed by Louise Miller.
The girls were wearing their Scout uniforms and now appeared calm and efficient.
“Yes, glad to have your help! See you are Scouts! In a few moments the children, whose mothers and fathers are locked in there, will be crowding the streets. Help to keep them back out of the danger line.”
Not a moment too soon had the order been given.
At this instant Margaret reached to clutch a little girl, pushing her way past, wild with terror.
She fought and screamed while Margaret held her fast.
“Be quiet, your mother will be here in a few moments. If you don’t stay with me, she will never know where to find you,” she found herself whispering reassuringly. And something in her voice and manner made the child obey.
The following moment she opened the gate of the fence against which she and Louise had sheltered themselves and drew the little girl inside.
It chanced that in this particular place an old building, erected many years ago and now used for storage, stood back from the sidewalk with a yard protected by a picket fence.