"Everyone got out, but oh! such a panic! Some are torn, and battered black and blue, from the stampede down through those front stairs and hall. I don't believe a single soul got out with a whole gown! They tell me it was all the fault of that 'Pool Club' on the second floor; they gave a 'smoker' to-night, and when the fire was discovered on their floor, they caused the dreadful block in the front halls."
"Gowns are of no account if everyone escaped with life," said Mrs. Ashby.
"But it is most unfortunate for me, just now. The story getting into the newspapers, will ruin my reputation as a school principal. Folks will ask, 'Why did she ever choose such a place for an entertainment;' but they will never know that I tried everywhere else, first, and found everything engaged for this week. I begged the girl who started the idea to postpone the play until the week after Thanksgiving holiday, but she stubbornly refused. So I took what I could get. I dare not tell the reporters that it was merely to _please_ Elizabeth Dalken, and because Elizabeth's father pays strictly in advance and has his daughter take all 'extras.'
"You have no idea what it means to me. I am paying off the mortgages on that house where the school is located, so that I might be able to take a deep breath before I am too old to work. But this unhappy accident will ruin my reputation as a careful superintendent."
"Elizabeth Dalken! I know her father very well, and we think he is one of the finest of men. We seldom meet Mrs. Dalken or the daughter, as we do not belong to the same set. Since Mr. Dalken separated from his wife, we have not seen her at all, but he was here and dined with us, this very evening," said Mrs. Ashby.
"If I could only explain to him just how this happened, he might not blame me for his daughter's injury."
"Was she hurt?" exclaimed Mrs. Ashby. Then James came in, followed by three girls, and the adults who had escaped over the roofs.
"Here we are, Polly--safe and sound," Mr. Maynard's cheery voice greeted the girl who jumped up at sight of them.
Excited cries, and hugs, and happy laughs now followed as each one found the others without a hurt, Elizabeth Dalken being the only one who had received an injury, and that was merely a flesh-wound cut by the edge of the door as her head struck it.