Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-09

eO neT appearance on Il6 stage. 'SD6
got a reception" whispered Jimmy to
Laura. Then the little lady began to
recite a most comical recitation that
was interrupted repeatedly by sup
pressed laughter which her cleverness
called forth, when of a sudden a blaze
just over her head caused many to cry
out in alarm. One of the defective Ian
terms had caught on fire and was dan
gerously near to Marie.
Instantly the crowd was on it's feet,
men and women rushing toward the
stage where the surprised Marie stood
dumfounded, for she did not realize
that one of the lanterns was on fire
just over her, and wondered at the
commotion and loud outcries.
But almost at the very moment when
the flame shot out from the ignited
paper Of the lantern the flaming mass
fell and struck Marie's shoulder and
skirts as it went to the stage beside
her. And before the excited crowd
could reach her, aWe-stricken and mo-
tionless, her thin frock flaming about
her, Nita had leaped from a seat with
in few feet of the stage and had
thrown Marie to the stage, rolling her
in the rug on which she had been
standing.
A few minutes later it occurred to
every one that Nita had saved the life
of little Marie, for even the grownups
had been so confused that not one of
them had bethought himself of the
rug. Several men had begun to jerk off
their coats with which to smother out
the fire in Marie's frock, but not one
of them could have reached her in
time, for Nita was beside her just at
the moment her dress caught on fire,
and her bravery and thoughtfulness
saved the child from serious injury, if
not from death.
After the confusion attending the ac-
cident had subsided, and Marie was
found to be unhurt, save for a slight
scorching of one Of her wrists, the
crowd gave it's attention to the little
girl who had proved herself a heroine.
"I want you to come to my house to-
morrow, darling" whispered Mrs.
Smith, mother of Marie, to Nita. II
cannot tell you how deeply grateful
am for your brave service to my lit
tie girl tonight, but I hope to show
my gratitude in some way. Will you
come, dearie?"
"Oh, Mrs. Smith, you owe me moth
ing for having put out the fire which
had caught Maries dress" declared
Nita. "I love Marie, and my first
thought was to save her."
Eyes, and you exposed yourself to the
flames, dear" said Mrs. Smith. your
own frock is sheer and extremely in
flammable, and you might have been
fired from Marie's dress"
IT never thought of myself" said
Nita. But 1 did think of those bad
lanterns, and said to myself, No more
torn lanterns, even IL they are cheap.
You see, the wind blew in through one
of the torn places in the paper and
caused the candies flame to flare and
catch the paper Then all was up with
the lantern"
"And almost up with me, Nita,"
laughed Marie, who was now wrapped
up in a coat belonging to one of the
boys of the reception committee.
"Well, 1 shall have to take Marie
home, guess, and change her burntup
dress for a better one,' said Mrs.
Smith. "Oh, how thankful I am that
the dear child was not hurt"
ooh, I don't want to go home" de-
clared Marie. LET me finish my reci-
tation. And I haven't had any ice
cream yet, nor pickles. don't mind
being in this coat-if Jimmy doesn't
mind my wearing it."
And Mrs. Smith, being coaxed by all
the children, decided to remain at the
party with Marie, just as she was, and
to allow her to finish her recitation.
But before she went on with it she was
taken into Mrs. Powers house, where
her arm was wrapped in oiled cotton;
for. while the flame had only scorched
a small place on her wrist, her mother
feared it might pain her unless it was
attended to at once.
Then the entertainment resumed, and
everything passed off pleasantly, and
at $3.50 o'clock all wended their way
homeward. And if little Nita could
have overheard the many fine things
said in praise of her that night she
would have gone to bed with beat
ing heart Not that it would have
made her foolishly vain, for she was
made of finer metal than that, but the
many words of praise would have
added to her happiness, no doubt. And
for long time she was known as
"Nita; that little heroine