wered. "Something exploded in the operating
room."

"Oh, let us get out!" came from one of the other girls.

"Yes, yes! I don't want to be burnt up!" wailed a third.

"Don't get excited," warned Jack. "I don't believe there is any great
danger. There is no fire down here, and there seem to be plenty of
doors."

"The fellow upstairs said to keep cool," put in Randy. "Maybe it won't
amount to much after all."

Most of the lights had gone out, leaving the theater in almost total
darkness.

"Come on for the side door," said Jack. "That's the nearest way out."

The smoke from above was now settling, and this caused many to cough,
while it made seeing more difficult than ever. Jack pushed Fred ahead
of him, holding one hand on his cousin's shoulder, while with the other
hand he reached out and grasped the wrist of the girl who had been
sitting beside him.

"You had better come this way," he said; "and bring your friends
along."

"All right. But do hurry!" she pleaded. "I am so afraid that something
will happen."

"Oh, Ruth! can we get out?" questioned the girl next to her.

"I don't know. I hope so," answered the girl addressed, and then began
to cough slightly, for the smoke was steadily growing thicker.

It was no easy matter to reach the side entrance, for already half a
hundred people were striving to get through a doorway not much over two
feet wide. The air was filled with screams and exclamations of protest,
and for the time being in the theater it was as if bedlam had broken
loose.

"Are we all here?" came from Andy, as, with smarting eyes, he tried to
pierce the gloom.

"I'm here," answered his twin.

"So am I," came simultaneously from Jack and Fred.

Then Jack turned to the girl who was now beside him.

"Are all your friends with you?"

"I--I think so," she faltered; and then she added: "Annie, are Alice
and Jennie with you?"

"Yes. We're all here," came from somebody in the rear. "But, oh, do let
us get out! I can scarcely breathe!"

"I've lost my hat!" wailed another.

"Oh, never mind your hat, Alice, as long as we get out," came from the
girl who was next to Jack.

At last the crowd at the doorway thinned out, and a moment later the
four Rovers, pushing the girls ahead of them, managed to get outside.
They found themselves in a narrow alleyway, and from this hurried to
the street beyond.

"Oh, how glad I am that we are out of there!" exclaimed the girl who
had been sitting beside