piece,
too, and pretty music."

Field laid himself out for enjoyment for the next quarter of an hour.
The heroine of the piece in the form of Miss Adela Vane was late in
appearing. The thing was dragging, too, or so it seemed to Field. All at
once there were voices at the back of the stage as if somebody was
quarrelling. Suddenly the bright tuneful chorus broke off altogether and
a female voice screamed. A little puff of smoke came from the stage.

In the twinkling of an eye the whole house rose and shuddered. There was
a sharp crack-crackle, followed by smoke, and forked tongues of flame
licked the imitation forest, and with a swish all the chorus fled from
the stage. Far away up in the gallery somebody was roaring "Fire!" A
rush to the doors was already taking place.

From the stalls rose a tall man with a military air, who commanded
everybody to wait. There was no danger, he cried, if the audience only
kept their heads. On the stage a manager, with a white face and a
perspiring forehead, announced the fact that the appliances for dealing
with the fire were of the finest possible description, and that there
was no danger at all.

But it was all too late. The panic had already gripped the audience, and
a yelling, frightened crowd pressed to the exits. The smoke was getting
thicker and blacker; the flames were making the place unpleasantly
warm. Field could feel the heat on his face. He had been close to the
stalls exit, and might have slipped away at once, but he had held his
ground. It was he who stood with his back to the door now.

"I'll knock down the first man who tries to pass me," he cried. "There
is plenty of time. For God's sake, control yourselves. Come quietly.
Don't you know that the whole theatre can be emptied in three minutes if
people will only go quietly? Now come along and don't press." The stern,
hard tones were not without their effect. Field looked so calm and
collected and confident himself, that the feeling spread quickly all
over the stalls. The fireproof curtain had not been dropped for the
simple reason that it would not work, as is often the case with
appliances of the kind. The stage was burning furiously.

But in the pit and dress circles and in the higher parts of the house
other cool and collected men had risen to the occasion. Women were
crying and sobbing, and more than one had fainted, but the mad panic was
over, and something like order had been restored. The stalls were moving