"Fire!" she shouted. "Fire! The school is on fire!"
If Miss May or Miss Davis had been in the building, it never would have happened. Miss May would have telephoned the fire department quietly at the first sign of smoke and Miss Davis would have picked up the brass fire extinguisher that stood in the hall and at least have tried to put the fire out. But Miss May and Miss Davis had gone down town, believing that the children were safe and happy, playing in the snow, and Maria was alone in the house. When she saw smoke creeping out around the door of Miss Davis' schoolroom, Maria lost her head entirely.
"Fire!" she screamed, rushing out on the porch and beckoning to the children. "The school's on fire!"
But when they came rushing toward her, pellmell, she seemed to remember what she ought to do.
[Illustration: They came rushing toward her, pellmell.]
"You can't come in," she told them, as they gathered at the bottom of the porch steps. "You can't come in, because you'll get burned! The school is on fire."
She opened the door behind her and, sure enough, out poured smoke.
"My coat!" wailed Jessie Smiley. "My lovely new coat. Santa Claus brought it to me for Christmas and it has real beaver fur on the collar! Oh, oh, I don't want my coat burned up! And my rubbers are brand new, too."