"It must have been in the big attic," someone said, "for it was the old brass bell that rang first."
"Who gave the alarm?" demanded the matron.
No one answered this, and the momentary pause was broken now by the wild rush of the fire department along the roadway.
First the hose cart, the "hook and ladder" jerked up to the porch where the girls waited, breathless but calmer now that men and means had come to their rescue.
"One side! One side!" shouted the chief, and to the credit of that department it must be said his men stretched their line of hose along from the hydrant and up those steps, even through the crowd of trembling students, in regular fire drill time. Jane stepped inside the hall and was sniffing audibly.
"Wait a minute!" she commanded. "We haven't located the fire yet and it may not be very much. The house is equipped with extinguishers," she informed the alert chief. "They may answer without water."
The rubber coated men held their hose high and were ready to shout in signal to the man at the hydrant, while Jane took the chief upstairs. He never spoke but tramped ahead as if a word would imperil the dignity of the Wide Awake Hose Company. Neither did Jane venture further remarks for she was "gunning" for the fire and thinking of ghosts!
Doors to right and left were promptly pushed open but no evidence of fire could be found.
"Try the attic," said the chief finally, "rubbish might catch from a flue."
At his order Jane turned into the narrow box stairway, lighted only by a flash in the hands of Chief Murry.