t in the fire; she no
longer wanted to write poetry; she wished frantically to be back in the
security of her room. But she reached the ground safely; and although
she fell in a heap, she quickly pulled herself together and stood up,
holding her head higher than ever. And when she was on the sidewalk, in
disguise, unattended for the first time in her life, her very nerves
sang with exultation, and she was filled with a wild longing for a night
replete with adventure.

"'Lena!" whispered Helena, ecstatically. "Isn't this gorgeous?"

Magdalena nodded. Her brain and heart were throbbing too loud for
speech.

"I'm going to fires for the rest of my life," announced Helena, as they
turned the corner and walked swiftly down the hill. She was not of the
order which is content with one experience, even while that initial
experience is yet a matter of delightful anticipation.

When they reached the livery stable, Helena marched in, holding
Magdalena firmly by the hand. "I want a hack," she said peremptorily to
the man in charge. "And double quick, too." The man stared, but Helena
rattled the gold in her pocket, and he called to two men to hitch up.

"Upon my soul," he whispered to his associates, "it's those kids of Jack
Belmont's and old Yorba's, or I'm a dead man. But it ain't none of my
business, and I ain't one to peach. I like spirit."

"We're going to the fire, and I wish the hack to wait for us," said
Helena, as he signified that all was ready. "I'll pay you now. How much
is it?"

"Ten dollars," he replied unblushingly.

Helena paid the money like a blood, Magdalena horrified at the
extravagance. Her own allowance was five dollars a month. "Can you
really afford this, Helena?" she asked remonstrantly, as the hack slid
down the steep hill.

"I got fifty dollars out of Jack to-night. He's feeling awfully soft
over my going away. Poor old Jack, he'll feel so lonesome without me.
But we'll have a gay old time travelling together in Europe when I'm
through."

Magdalena did not speak of her conversation with her own parent. She did
not want to think of it. This night was to be one of uniform joy. They
were a quarter of an hour reaching the fire. As they turned into the
great central artery of the city, Market Street, they leaned forward and
gazed eagerly at the dense highly coloured mass of men and women, mostly
young, who promenaded the north sidewalk under a blaze of gas.

"What queer-looking girls!" said Magdale