Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-08-07

caught the curtain IN the doorway. up
which little serpents Of IRE began to
in a panic of fear whipped to horror BY
the red darkness and the cracking expio-
sions, which snapped and spluttered on
every side. The excitable italians chat
tered and struggled with ono another in
the dark. the new Polish waiter ran here
and there like a frightened chicken that
sees the ak: the two negroes were almost
in commissions. and Tony Kidd called vain
ly on the Hungarian brothers and de
Rocheverte for help in bringing order out
of confusion.
The thought that flashed through the
minds of all was an anarchist plot-a
dynamite bomb. For one terrible second
everybody remembered the bearded
him with the deadly mischief-every one.
perhaps. except Loveland and Tony Kidd.
Into their heads the same thought
sprang at the same moment. Tor each. 1t
happened, had in his memory some such
scene as this
At the time Of the first explosion Love
land had been quietly setting q plate Of
fried chicken before Tony, and ~ the
journalist leaped from his seat the two
young men were close together.
"Short circuiting-escape from q fused
gas. pipe" Loveland yelled through the
noise.
Yes, that's it," the reporter shouted
back mechanically. as II to q friend.
Then, for a few seconds. Tony was over
whelmed by wild rush Of frightened
through the burning curtain he saw a
crowd fighting to reach the window ana
the closed front door Of the restaurant.
Upon his incredulous eyes flashed q
off Elinor Coolidge. who chung to him.
crying. Save me-save met As the
Frenchman blindly flung her away and
dashed toward the door. the girl would
have fallen on her knees, to be trampled
under foot by the two Hungarians. had
aside and caught Elinor in. his arms.
Keep her-keep all the ladies In this
corner out of the crush" he cried to
Tony. Pm going to turn of the gas at
fainting. to Tony Kidd. who firmly called
Mrs. Milton, Miss Turner and Miss Wood
by name. The sound Of the two calm
voices in the midst OF shouts. smashing
glass. falling chairs and foreign exclana-
tons, rallied the women's courage. AS
Tony held Elinor the three others passed
near him, deserted by the foreigners Of
their party; and in the blood-shot haze
all saw Loveland's tall figure apparently
plunge into the flame. He made q dash
across his eyes, to shield them from the
fire; and ten seconds later the loud roar
ing ceased as suddenly as 1t had begun.
The cracklings had ceased, too. for the
short circuiting was over. and the stream
Of gas burnt itself out an instant after
Loveland seized the handle of the main.
But the curtain still blazed; the stairway
in the passage, the door frames in the
kitchen and restaurant were on fire, and
the panic ragged as wildly as ever among
the fallen chairs and tables.
The doorhandle had been broken by Leo
Cohen as he f1ercely disputed with Milton
the right to get out first. and none could
now escape that way. although men bat
tered the panels and strove to break them
in. Some one had smashed q hole in the
thick plate glass window, big enough to
create dangerous draught. but not large
enough to give a means of retreat for any
of the men and women who. with cut and
bleeding hands, struggled to squeeze
through the Jagged opening.
One hand badly burnt, face and hair
singed. Loveland was back in q minute
from his errand at the gas main He
had snatched up huge kettle OF water
from the stove and dashed 1t on to the
stairs. quenching the small flames which
had begun to curl and writhe. Then,
tearing down the curtain. ne trampled out
the fire. and as the flames died into shoot
ing sparks and feebly pufflng smoke. he
urged Tony to bring the ladies that way.
"Upstairs-we'n get them upstairs. out
of the crowd" he shouted: but instAntly
the whole throng would have turned to
stream in that direction. had not Tony
Kidd kept the way clear by making an
obstacle or his own broad shoulders.
He got fierce blow or two, but held
the pass until the four ladies Of his party
and Isidora had reached shelter with
Loveland.
The women safe. Tony tore OF his coat
and began beating down the fiery snakes
which crawled up the door frame toward
the ceiling. Loveland, meanwhile. having
refuged the four ladies with Isidora, hur-
ried back to stand by Tony Kidd. To-
gether they collected all the Italian wom-
en-, whom they lifted bodily over a barri-
cade of tables and grouped in a corner be-
yond the reach of fire Or crowd.
1t was left for Blinkey to give the
alarm Being the thinnest and smallest.
he contrived to squeeze his lean body
through the broken window and shout
for the police. Three minutes later two
big men in blue sent the door crashing
Off it's hinges into the restaurant, and by
the time the fire engines swept changing
and snorting into the street the flames
were stifled, and Alexander had found
few candles to light up the smoky dark
ness.
The whole drama in one act had played
itself out from beginning to end in less
than ten minutes: but 1t had come close
to tragedy, as none realized more fully
than the two whom it had very strangely
brought together-Lord Loveland and
Tony Kidd.
CTo be coptinued tomorrow