| Show M ua sin r 4 mr thompkins finished reading the article in the monthly magazine with great saUs satisfaction faction that s what should be done in ev ery family commented mr thomp hins king it its s a fine thing don dont t you want to hear the new records I 1 bought today to day for or the phonograph machine 9 said mrs thompkins ec enting trouble not now my dear replied her liege my my what a fine idea that Is why dont don t all families introduce it then there would be none of the terrible holocausts we hear about so much goodness said mrs thompkins suddenly we promised to go over and call on the smiths night tonight to well have to hurry but mr air thompkins was not to be dl averted this magazine mrs thomp kins king presents an article which to the ordinary mind would be a mere piece ot of pleasant summer reading but to the mind trained to think and ponder deeply it Is full of fruitful and practicable lessons did you match that ribbon I 1 gave you tou this morning asked mrs thomp king ah ali pursued mr air thompkins it would take me too long my dear to tell you all that there Is in this ar tide but briefly it Is this it relates how ships guard themselves against fre panics by requiring their crews to drill frequently and to go through aist the same maneuvers that they would were an actual conflagration raging on the vessel now mrs thompkins suppose flat dwellers should be so instructed then when a fire fro came they would fall into their stations at the tap of the gong and there would be no panic and likely no destruction of property I 1 should like to incorporate the system used on board ships in this flat building and the first step will require me to in my own immediate household mrs thompkins sighed and prepared her mind for the ordeal while thompkins stepped briskly about and took in the situation he summoned the cook from the kitchen and had her and the maid come into the library mary t said mr thompkins I 1 have called you in here to sure I 1 don dont t care if you do mary I 1 was going to quit to morry anyhow sure how anybody can live wid an old crank like you I 1 cud niver see mary mary expostulated mr air thompkins gently ou are quite wrong I 1 did not riot intend to discharge you I 1 merely wish to give you a les son in what may some day be of great value you will stand here by the door julie you will go into the par lor and take your station by the center table and mrs thompkins be he so good as to proceed to the dining room and wait walt there until I 1 give aou ou the word the dazed domestics obeyed and mrs airs thompkins sadly moved down the hall to the dining room the first thing to remember said mr air thompkins standing in the hall and speaking loud so that all ot of his pupils should hear him is that you must keep cool under all circum stances then proceed at once to the spot from which the alarm is given and investigate as to its character now then you are ready very well the bedroom back of the library is 19 all ablaze itis it Is burning fiercely ha fire fire murther shrieked the cook as she bounced down the hall knocking air wr thompkins over fire fire fire the maid was jumping up and down by the side of the center table in the parlor shrieking fire at the top of her lungs stop commanded mr thompkins Thomp kina I 1 sternly the first lesson Is to keep cool thompkins flat is on fire some one was shouting outside the door send for the fire department acl in the door rescue the women come in this way some one was bawling in the rear smash in the windows the cook came charging down the hall with a big cut glass punch bowl she tumbled over Thomp thompkins lins and he and the cook and the punch bowl mixed in a fierce scuffle on the floor mrs thompkins rushing wildly in tc to quiet the disturbance fell over the cook and mr air thompkins and the punch bowl and added to the merri ment the maid was still screaming wildly in the parlor and the hubbub outside increased the front door gave way with a it crash and the janito and half a dozen neighbors came pour ing in two of the men seized the maid and her in the most ap proved style unfortunately they slipped on the top landing and the three rolled down the stairway with many mamy pleasing crashes that added to the shrieks and cries that were now resounding through the building is as the frightened flatters hurried out or rushed back and forth carrying down their belongings some of the invaders thoughtfully saved vases and clocks by hurling them through the windows while two others fought with the piano and finally succeeded in getting it wedged in the hall outside and cutting off the escape of tour four women from the flat above who sat down on the floor and screamed shrilly that they were being roasted alive thompkins gained his feet as the firemen who had now arrived broke in the rear windows and led a hose into the building get out you tools fools roared thomp kins A man a bouse house is his castle get out or have you arrested he a nutty yelled some kind hearted neighbor seize him men and then put out the fire thompkins stood at bay with a chair but a fireman ran in under his guard and toppled him over and he was hustled down the back stairs where the janitor and a fat man sat on him and told him to be calm that the firemen had arrived and that the building would be saved and that mrs thompkins had not been injured the firemen and a big crowd of neighbors came hurrying down in a moment to say they couldn t find the fire and to ask who had given the alarm thompkins tried to tell how he had merely planned to give his household a fire drill when mrs Tb asked the fat man tomake to make her husband stop talking as the ex cit ement had upset him the fat man put a large greasy hand as big as a ham over thompkins mouth and then mrs thompkins said that her maid had become hysterical at seeing a mouse running about the room and had begun to shriek fire this had been heard on the outside and had caused all the excitement the neigh bors commenced carrying their belong ings back to their flats and mrs thompkins led her liege back to their wrecked apartments why didn dian t you let me a tell them the simple truth demanded mr thomp kins because replied mrs thompkins after the neighbors pick up their most valued furniture and brie brica a brae brac which they threw out of the windows in their excitement they would come in here and hang you to the chandelier and mr thompkins concluded that his wife was really a practical sort of a woman lie ile also decided to give up the matter of fire lire discipline drill for the time being at least |
