ught to warn her charges, but she vanished in a
second without waiting to see who followed.

"It will be folly to attempt to get out now," Faith cried distinctly.
"We would only be trampled to death! Wait a minute,--do, until the
aisles get clearer!"

"Remain at your posts and look after your goods!" cried a voice that
every one recognized as that of Mr. Gibson, the manager, "The fire
amounts to nothing. It was a false alarm! Don't one of you dare to leave
your counters!"

"Do you expect us to stay here and burn up?" cried a woman's voice.
"Well, I, for one, won't do it! Come on, Miss Jennings!"

"Not a step!" answered Miss Jennings in her shrill, weak voice. "You are
a fool to trust your life in that howling mob, Kate! Wait a minute;
we'll get out all right if we keep our wits about us."

"That's right," called Faith, standing erect at her desk. "Keep cool,
girls; we are perfectly safe as long as we keep behind the counters."

"You are a nervy one, miss," said a voice at her ear.

Faith turned and saw that young Denton was standing close behind her.

"It is the only thing to do," she said with perfect composure. "Those
people are all crazy. See how they trample on each other!"

She was gazing over the store in a perfectly natural way. There was not
a trace of fear or excitement upon her features.

"The floor managers are getting them under control, I think," said the
young man, who, like Faith, was as cool and composed as possible. "There
they go--the very last of them--and the floor is deserted. Ten to one
there's no fire at all. I'll go up and investigate."

He sprang off the counter and bounded up the stairs. Faith could not
help noticing that he was really a very manly fellow. She began to think
that she had been mistaken regarding his insulting actions.

"There is no fire, I tell you!" called Mr. Gibson again. "It was only a
puff of smoke on the second floor! Will people never learn to keep their
heads at such times, I wonder!"

The most of the clerks were still behind the counters, and as the
manager made this remark one of the oldest men in the store raised his
head and answered him.

"Our customers probably know our facilities for fighting a fire," he
said sneeringly. "The place is a regular death-trap. No wonder they ran
from it!"

"Keep your news to yourself, Block, if you please!" said Mr. Gibson
quickly.

Some one called him at that instant or his reprimand would probably have
been sharp