OCTOBER 19: The Fire Bell
“In a big city school,” said daddy, “there were several thousand children. Pretty soon the school bell rang and all the children went to their different classrooms.
“They had not been there long when a great bell sounded through the school. It was different from the usual school bell which brought them to their lessons, and it filled them all with fear. The teachers looked frightened too, but they were all very quiet.
“‘March out, slowly, in single file,’ said the teacher of each classroom. ‘There! A little faster, but no shoving. We must all see how calm we can be. It is only when we become frightened that there is danger.’ And in this way every one tried to be calm, even though every one felt so nervous.
“For the bell had been a fire bell. And they had all known it. Soon every single one of the children was out in the big courtyard and they had at last reached the street. The teachers were all out too, for they had all ‘kept their heads’ as the saying is.”