"All right. But do hurry!" she pleaded. "I am so afraid that something will happen."
"Oh, Ruth! can we get out?" questioned the girl next to her.
"I don't know. I hope so," answered the girl addressed, and then began to cough slightly, for the smoke was steadily growing thicker.
It was no easy matter to reach the side entrance, for already half a hundred people were striving to get through a doorway not much over two feet wide. The air was filled with screams and exclamations of protest, and for the time being in the theater it was as if bedlam had broken loose.
"Are we all here?" came from Andy, as, with smarting eyes, he tried to pierce the gloom.
"I'm here," answered his twin.
"So am I," came simultaneously from Jack and Fred.
Then Jack turned to the girl who was now beside him.
"Are all your friends with you?"
"I—I think so," she faltered; and then she added: "Annie, are Alice and Jennie with you?"