shin' and go quiet you'll
all get out in a minute. It's jest a step to the doors."

She was only a little old woman--a figure of fun, if they could have
seen her clearly, with her old bonnet tilted rakishly over one ear and
her shawl trailing behind her--but through the smoke, in that tumult of
fear and dread, the dauntless spirit of her loomed large, and dominated
the lesser souls craven with terror.

A draught of air thinned the smoke for a moment, and as those in front
rushed out, the pressure in the main aisle lessened. Climbing over the
back of a seat, Lena caught the old woman's arm.

"Come," she shouted in her ear, "we can get through to the side aisle
now--that's almost clear. Come, Eva, buck up--buck up, I say, or we'll
never get out of this!" for Eva, terrified, bruised, and half fainting,
was now hanging limp and nerveless to Lena's arm.

"Don't you worry 'bout me. Go ahead an' I'll follow," Nancy Rextrew
said, and grabbing Eva's other arm, the two half pushed and half carried
her between them. Once outside, her blind terror suddenly left her, and
she declared herself all right.

"Well, then, let's get out of this," and Lena's sharp elbows forced a
passage through the crowd that was increasing every minute, as the
rumour of fire spread. She turned to old Nancy. "We'll get you on a
car--My goodness, Eva, catch hold of her _quick_! We must get her into
the drug store there on the corner," she ended as she saw the old
woman's face.

They got her into the drug store somehow, and then for the first time in
her life Nancy Rextrew fainted; and great was her mortification when she
came to herself and realised what had happened.

"My soul and body!" she muttered. "I always did despise women that
didn't know no better than to faint, an' now I'm one of 'em. Gi' me my
Injy shawl an' let me get away. Yes, I be well enough to go home, too!"
She struggled to her feet, and snatching her bonnet from Eva, crammed it
on her head anyhow, fumbling with the strings while she swayed dizzily.

"Here, let me tie them," Eva said gently. "You sit down so I can reach."
She tied the strings very slowly, pulled the old bonnet straight and
drew the India shawl over the thin shoulders, taking as much time as she
could, to give the old woman a chance to pull herself together.

"I'll take her home," Lena said.

"No, you won't--that's my job!" Eva spoke with unusual decision, and
Lena promptly yielded.

"Well--I guess you're right