"Stand still! Don't rush! Form in line!" Sharp and crisp came the words of the forewoman. The screaming of the girls ceased almost instantly. Clang! sounded a big gong through the room. Clang! Clang! "Fire drill!" called the efficient forewoman, and afterward Ruth and Alice felt what a blessing it was she kept her wits about her. "Fire drill! Form in line and march to the fire escapes!" "Oh! Oh, I know I'm going to faint!" cried Miss Pennington. "This is a regular fire trap! All shirt waist factories are. I am going to faint!" "Miss Dixon, just--slap her!" called Alice. "Oh, Alice!" remonstrated Ruth, looking about with frightened eyes. "It's the only way to bring her to her senses!" retorted the younger girl. And to the eternal credit of Miss Dixon be it said that she did slap her friend Miss Pennington, and she slapped her with sufficient energy to prevent the fainting fit, even as a sip of aromatic spirits of ammonia might have done. "Fire drill! Form lines! March!" again called the forewoman, with the coolness a veteran fireman might have envied. "Can't we get our wraps?" asked one of the workers. "No! You can come back for them," was the answer. "But it--it's a real fire!" someone cried. "Our things will be burned up!" "It isn't a fire at all--it's only a drill!" insisted the forewoman. "And, even if it were real, and your things were burned, the company would replace them for you. "To the fire escapes! March!" In spite of the forewoman's assertion that it was only a fire drill the pall of smoke in the corner of the room spread apace, and there was the smell of fire, as well as the crackle of flames. "This way, girls," called Mr. Pertell to his four actresses. "Here's a fire escape over here." "Excuse me," said the forewoman, firmly. "But please have your company follow my girls. They know just which way to go, and if your actresses make any change it may result in confusion, and----" "I understand," responded Mr. Pertell, at once. "Girls, consider yourselves shirt waist operatives, and do as the others do," he concluded. He stood aside, as a sailor might on a sinking ship, when the order "women and children first" is given. Paul took his place at the manager's side, waving his hand reassuringly to Ruth and Alice. "Oh--Oh, must we go with them? Can't we go to that fire escape?" faltered Miss Pennington, who seemed to have entirely recovered from her desire to faint. "That is for the operatives on the upper floor," explained the forewoman. "If you will follow my girls you will be all right. There are plenty of fire escapes for all." "Come on!" called Alice, as she marched behind the nearest shirt waist girls. "There is no danger--and plenty of time." "That's the way to talk!" declared the forewoman, admiringly. But, even as she spoke, there was a burst of flame through the cloud of smoke. Several girls screamed and those nearest the fire hung back. "Steady! Go on! There is no danger!" the forewoman called.