Then, hurriedly pushing up a sliding door at the safest end of the hall and murmuring "Quicker this way," the Janitor unceremoniously lifted Mabel and dropped her down the big dust-chute.
What a place for a heroine! In spite of her surprise, Mabel felt deeply mortified. It was humiliating enough for a would-be rescuer to be rescued; but to be dropped down a horrid, stuffy dust-chute and to land with a queer, springy thud on a pile of sliding stuff—the contents of a dozen or more waste-baskets and the results of innumerable sweepings—was worse.
In a very few seconds, the hasty Janitor had opened the lower door of the chute and, with the firemen standing by, was calmly hauling her out by her feet—Oh! She could never tell that part of it.
And then, as if that were not bad enough, that inconsiderate Janitor seized her by the elbow and hurried her right into the coal bin, forced her to march over eighty tons of black, dusty, sliding coal and finally compelled her to crawl—yes, crawl—out of a small basement window on the safest side of the building. The only explanation that the rescuer vouchsafed was a gruff statement that the fire was "More to the other end" and that short-cuts saved time. Mabel tried to tell him what she thought about it, but the Janitor seemed too excited to listen.
Of course, by this time, the Bennetts, the Cottagers, the firemen, the Janitor's wife and most of the bystanders were in a perfectly dreadful state of mind; for the coal-hole window was not on their side of the building—Mabel was glad of that—so none of her friends witnessed her exit. The Cottagers, in particular, were clutching each other and fairly quaking with fear when a familiar voice behind them panted breathlessly:
"I saved it, girls."
Jean, Marjory and Bettie wheeled as one girl. It was certainly Mabel's voice, the shape and size were Mabel's, but the color——
"Oh!" cried Jean, in a horrified tone. "Are you burned? Are you all burned up to a crisp?"
But thoughtful Bettie, after one searching look to make certain that it really was Mabel, had not stopped to ask questions, nor to hear them answered. She remembered that the Bennetts were still anxious concerning their missing daughter, and straightway flew to relieve their minds.
"She's safe, Mabel's safe," she shouted, running to the Bennetts, to Mr. Black, to the Tuckers, to all Mabel's friends, and completely forgetting her own usual shyness. "Yes, she's all safe. No, not burned; just scorched, I guess."