Page:Daskam--The imp and the angel.djvu/59

The Imp and the Drum stepped out of the crowd to breathe, and took out her watch.

"Twenty minutes!" she said to little Olga, who followed her about like a puppy. "I 'll give them ten more, and then they must stop!"

Little Olga began to cough, and looked doubtfully at the old stove, which was given to smoking.

"It smells bad just the same, don't it?" she called. They had to raise their voices to be heard above the noise.

"No, child, it's the dust. Isn't it dreadful?" Miss Eleanor called back, coughing herself. "But it smells just like smoke. How horrid it is! And how hot!" she added after a moment. "With the windows open, too! We 'll all take cold when we go out. They must stop! Boys, boys! Hans, come here to me!"

She rang a little bell that was the signal for quiet, and raised her hand.

"Now I'm going to open the door, to get a thorough draft, and then we 'll quiet down," she said, and pushed through the crowd to the door.

As she opened it wide, a great cloud of brown, hot smoke poured into the room, a loud 39