FIRE!
One Saturday evening early in October the boys had been for a long
walk down among the marshes. They had told Mrs. Andrews they would be
late, and it was past eight o'clock when they came along past the
works.
"We shan't get home at this hour again for some time, I expect,"
George said, "for they say that we are going to begin to work overtime
on Monday, and that the orders are so heavy that it will very likely
have to be kept up all through the winter."
"I am glad it didn't begin earlier," Bill replied; "it would have been
horrid if we had lost all our walks while the weather was fine. How
dark the place looks how it's shut up, and how quiet and still it is
after the rattle we are accustomed to!"
"Stop a moment," George said, putting his hand on his arm.
"What is it, George?"
"I don't know. It seemed to me, for a moment, as if I saw the big
stack clearly and then it was dark again."
"How could that be, George?"
"I don't know; it looked to me as if it was a reflection of light
from one of the windows at the back there. There it is again."
"Yes, I saw it," Bill agreed. "What can it be?"
"I don't know, Bill; let's run around to the back. There might
be--it's awful to think of--but there might be a fire."
The boys ran down a narrow lane by the side of the works onto a piece
of waste ground behind.
"Look, Bill, look at the glare in the molding-room. There must be
fire. Here, help to put this bit of old timber against the wall."
The piece of wood was placed into position, the two lads climbed up it
onto the wall, and dropped into the yard within. Just as they did so
there was a clatter of falling glass, followed by a glare of light as
a body of flame burst out from one of the windows.
"Let's ring the dinner-bell, Bill; that will call people's attention,
and then we must do the best we can."
They ran along until they reached the front gate, and then, seizing
the bell-rope, rang it violently.
In a minute or two there was a clatter of feet outside, and shouts of
"What's the matter?"
"There is a fire in the molding-room," George shouted; "run for the
engines, someone, and break the gate open. Now come on, Bill."
The two boys ran towards that part of the building where the flames
had been seen, broke a window, and climbed in. There was an almost
stifling smell of burning wood and at a door at the end of the
planing-room they could see a light flame flickering through the
cracks of the door leading into the molding-room, which was next to
it.
"Quick, Bill, screw that leather pipe onto the hydrant. We must stop
it from getting through here till the engines come."
The hydrant communicated with the great tank at the top of the
building, and as soon as the hose was screwed on and Bill stood with
the nozzle directed towards the burning door, George turned the cock
and volumes of water flew out.
The first result seemed disastrous. The door was already nearly burned
through, and, as the powerful jet flew against it, it seemed to
crumble away and a mass of flame darted out from the molding-room. The
joists and timbers supporting the floor above the planing-room would
have caught at once, but the boys deluged them with water, as also the
framework of the door, and then, throwing the stream of water into the
blazing workshop, they kept down the flames near the door. The smoke
was stifling.
"We shall be choked, George!" Bill gasped.
"Lie down, Bill. I have heard the air is always better near the
ground."
This they found to be the case, and they were still able to direct the
jet of water. But three or four minutes had elapsed when the outer
door of the planing-house was unlocked and Bob Grimstone and several
other men rushed in, but were at once driven back by the smoke. George
had recognized Grimstone's voice, and shouted:
"This way, Bob, the fire hasn't got through yet. Come and lend a hand,
for it's gaining on us in spite of the water. You can breathe if you
kneel down."
Grimstone, with two or three of the men, crawled in and joined the
boys.
"What! is it you, George? How on earth did you get here?" Bob
exclaimed.
"We saw a light as we were passing, and got in from behind. When we
saw what it was we rang the alarm-bell, and then came on here to do
what we could till help came."
"You are good-plucked, you are," Grimstone said admiringly; "but I am
afraid it's not much good."
"You take the hose, Bob, and keep the rafters drenched there. Bill and
I will crawl forward and clear the shavings out of the way if we can.
They have caught half a dozen times already."
The two boys crawled forward, and although the heat was tremendous
they managed to clear away the shavings for a considerable distance.
The smoke and heat were so great that they were obliged to crawl back
into the outer air, where for a while they lay almost insensible.
There were crowds of men in the yard now, but most of them were round
at the back, powerless to aid at present, and only watching the
flames as they roared through the whole of the windows of the
molding-room.
Men were hurrying past with buckets of water, and one of them, seeing
the condition of the boys, dashed some over their heads and faces, and
they presently staggered to their feet. It was now a quarter of an
hour since they had first given the alarm, and they were just about to
re-enter the planing-shop to rejoin Bill when they met him and his
comrades coming out.
"All the water's gone," he said; "if the engines aint here in a minute
or two it will be too late."
But just at that moment there was a cheer outside, and immediately
afterwards a fire-engine dashed through the gate. Grimstone ran up to
the firemen as they leaped off.
"The great thing," he said, "is to prevent it spreading from that shop
into this. We have been keeping it back till now, but the tank has
just run dry."
While the other firemen were fitting the hose to the fire-plug just
outside the gates one of them made his way into the planing-room to
ascertain the exact position of affairs.
"Quick, lads," he said; "there's no time to be lost; the fire is
making its way through. Another five minutes and we should have been
too late to save any of this block. Is there any communication through
the upper floors?" he asked Grimstone.
"Yes, there is a door on each floor,"
"Have you got any empty sacks about the place?"
"Yes, there is a pile of them in there."
The fireman gave instructions to one of his comrades, while he himself
made his way into the planing-room with the hose; the other got out
the sacks, and assisted by Grimstone and some of the hands drenched
them with water, and then proceeding to the door on the first floor
piled them against it.
"It is hot already," he said as he laid his hand upon it. "Now, do you
men bring me buckets of water. Keep the sacks drenched till another
engine comes up."
George and Bill, finding they could be of no more use, made their way
out to the back and joined the crowd watching the flames, which had
already spread to the first floor. They were, however, with the rest
of the lookers-on, speedily turned out of the yard by the police, who,
having now arrived in sufficient strength, proceeded at once to clear
the premises of all save a score or two of men who were engaged in
assisting the firemen.
As the boys went out through the front gate another engine dashed up
at full speed, dropping lighted cinders on its way.
"Hurray!" Bill said; "this is a steamer. I expect they will do now."
Then the boys made their way round again to the back, and by means of
the pieces of timber established themselves on the wall, where they
were soon joined by a number of others, and watched the struggle with
the flames.
In half an hour six engines were on the spot; but even this force had
no visible effect upon the flames in that portion of the building in
which they had taken possession, and the firemen turned the whole of
their efforts to prevent it from spreading.
The party wall dividing it from the main building was a very strong
one; but so hot had it become that the floor boards touching it were
over and over again in flames.
A score of men with saws and axes cut away the flooring adjoining the
doors on the first and second stories. The planing-room was
fortunately not boarded. While a portion of the fire brigade worked
unceasingly in preventing the spread of the flames in this direction,
the rest turned their attention to the great wood piles, which were
repeatedly ignited by the fragments of burning wood.
Presently the roof fell in, and the flames shot up high into the air,
but grand as the sight was, the boys did not wait any longer looking
on. Their faces smarted severely from the heat to which they had been
exposed; their hands had been a good deal burned by the shavings;
their hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were singed, and the eyeballs
ached with the glare.
"I will run home now, Bill; mother will likely enough hear of the
fire, and as we said we should be back soon after eight she will be
getting anxious."
"I will go and tell her it's all right; you stop and see the end of it
here."
But this George would not hear of.
"Very well, then, I will go with you. I must get some grease or
something to put on my face and hands; they are smarting awfully."
Mrs. Andrews gave an exclamation of surprise and alarm as the boys
entered. The irritation of the wood smoke had so much inflamed their
eyes that they could scarcely see out of them, and their faces looked
like pieces of raw beef.
"Whatever has happened, boys?" she exclaimed.
"There's a great fire at Penrose's, mother; it broke out just as we
were passing, so we stopped to help for a bit, and then came home to
tell you, thinking that you might be anxious."
"A fire at the works!" Mrs. Andrews exclaimed; "that is dreadful.
Dreadful for Mr. Penrose, and for all of you who work there; more,
perhaps, for you than for him, for no doubt he is insured, and you may
be out of work for months. Thank God I have plenty of work, so I dare
say we shall be able to tide it over."
"It is not all burned, mother; only the molding-shop and the floors
above it are on fire at present, and as there are six fire-engines at
work, and they keep on arriving every minute, I hope they will save
the rest; and now, mother, what can we do to our faces and hands, they
are smarting awfully?"
"Dear me, George, are you burnt? I thought you were only dreadfully
hot."
"We feel hot, mother, just as if our faces were being roasted."
"I will get some oil, that will be the best thing," Mrs. Andrews said,
hurrying away to the kitchen, and coming back with a piece of
cotton-wool, and some olive-oil in a cup.
"You are burned, George. Why, child, your hair is all singed, and your
eyebrows and eyelashes. Why, what have you been doing to yourselves?
There could have been no occasion to put your heads into the flames
like that. Why, your hands are worse still; they are quite blistered.
I had better wrap them up in cotton-wool."
"It's the inside that's the worst, mother; perhaps if you put a bit of
cotton-wool there and tie it round the back it will do; we can't go
out with our hands all swaddled round like that. And now, please,
directly you have done we want to go down again to see the fire. Just
you go up to the road corner, mother. It's a grand sight, I can tell
you."
"We will have tea first," Mrs. Andrews said decidedly; "everything has
been ready except pouring the water in since eight o'clock, and it's a
quarter past nine now. After we have done I will put on my bonnet and
walk down with you as near as I can get. I am not going to lose you
out of my sight again."
So after their meal they went down together, but could not get
anywhere near the works, all the approaches now being guarded by the
police. It was a grand sight, but the worst was over, and there was a
general feeling of confidence in the crowd that it would spread no
further. A dozen engines were at work now. Some of the firemen were on
the roof, some on the stacks of timber, which looked red-hot from the
deep glow from the fire. The flames were intermittent now, sometimes
leaping up high above the shell of the burned-out buildings, then
dying down again.
"Thank God it's no worse!" Mrs. Andrews said fervently. "It would have
been a bad winter for a great many down here if the fire had spread;
as it is, not a quarter of the buildings are burned."
"No, nothing like that, mother; not above a tenth, I should say. It's
lucky that there was a strong wall between that and the next shops, or
it must all have gone. I have heard them say that part was added on
five or six years ago, so that the wall at the end of the planing-shop
was an outside wall before; that accounts for its being so thick."
After looking on for about half an hour they went back home. But
neither of the boys got much sleep that night, the excitement they had
gone through and the pain of their burns keeping them wide awake till
nearly morning. As Mrs. Andrews heard no movement in their
rooms--whereas they were usually up and about almost as early on
Sundays as on other days, being unable to sleep after their usual
hour for rising--she did not disturb them. George was the first to
awake, and looking out of the window felt sure by the light that it
was later than usual. He put his head out of the door and shouted:
"Bill, are you up?" There was no answer. "Mother, are you up; what
o'clock is it?"
"Up! hours ago, George. Why, it's past eleven!"
George gave an exclamation of astonishment and rushed into Bill's
room. The latter had woke at his shout.
"It's past eleven, Bill, and mother has been up for hours;" and he
dashed off again to his room to dress. It was but a few minutes before
they came downstairs just at the same moment.
"Why didn't you wake us, mother?"
"Because I thought it better to let you sleep on, George. I guessed
that your burns had kept you awake for some time."
"That they did. I thought I was never going to get to sleep," George
said; and Bill gave a similar account of himself. "Still, mother, a
short night does no harm for once, and you haven't been able to get to
church."
"It does not matter for once, George. What figures you both are!"
"We are figures," George said ruefully. "I hardly knew myself when I
looked in the glass. My eyes are almost shut up, and the skin is
peeling off my nose, and my hair is all rough and scrubby; and Bill
looks as bad as I do. You are a figure, Bill!" and George burst into a
fit of laughter.
"He's no worse than you, George; but come along, breakfast is
waiting."
"You haven't waited breakfast for us, I hope, mother?"
"I made myself a cup of tea the first thing, boys, and had a slice of
bread and butter, for I thought you might not be down for some time;
but I am quite ready to join you; we have got fish. I put them down
directly you called."
"Well, I am glad you are not starving, mother; and I am glad too you
didn't have your regular breakfast. It would have been horrid to sit
down on Sunday morning without you, when it's the only regular
breakfast we get in the week."
Just as they had finished their meal there was a knock at the door. It
was Bob Grimstone. Bill opened the door.
"Well, how are you to-day, lad? I thought I would just come round and
see. You look pretty badly burned; and so do you, George," he added,
as he followed Bill into the sitting room.
"Good-day, Mrs. Andrews."
"Good-morning, Mr. Grimstone," Mrs. Andrews said. Since her coming the
Grimstones had several times come in on Sunday afternoon to Laburnum
Villas. Mrs. Andrews would, indeed, have wished them to come in more
frequently, for she felt much indebted to them for their kindness to
George, and, moreover, liked them for themselves, for both were good
specimens of their class.
"I see you were busy last night too, Mr. Grimstone; your face looks
scorched; but you did not manage to get yourself burned as these silly
boys did. What a blessing it is for us all that the fire did not
spread!"
"Well, Mrs. Andrews, I don't think those two lads can have told you
what they did, for if they had you would hardly call them silly boys."
Mrs. Andrews looked surprised.
"They told me they lent a hand to put out the fire--I think those were
George's words--but they did not tell me anything else."
"They saved the building, ma'am. If it hadn't been for them there
would not have been a stick or stone of Penrose's standing now; the
shops and the wood piles would all have gone, and we should all have
been idle for six months to come; there is no doubt about that at
all."
"Why, how was that, Mr. Grimstone? How was it they did more than
anyone else?"
"In the first place they discovered it, ma'am, and rung the
alarm-bell; it mightn't have been found out for another five minutes,
and five minutes would have been enough for the fire. In the next
place, when they had given the alarm they did the only thing that
could have saved the place: they got into the planing-shop and turned
on the hose there, and fought the fire from spreading through the
door till we got in seven or eight minutes later. It was all we could
do to stop it then; but if they hadn't done what they did the
planing-shop would have been alight from end to end, and the floors
above it too, before the first engine arrived, and then nothing could
have saved the whole lot. I can tell you, Mrs. Andrews, that there
isn't a man on the works, nor the wife of a man, who doesn't feel that
they owe these two lads their living through the winter. I don't know
what Mr. Penrose will say about it, but I know what we all feel."
"Why, George," Mrs. Andrews said, while her eyes were filled with
happy tears at the praises of her son, "why did you not tell me about
it?"
"Why, mother, there was not anything to tell," George said, "and Bob
has made a great fuss about nothing. As I told you, we saw a light as
we came along and when we went round behind and got on the wall we saw
the place was on fire, so we rang the alarm-bell, and then turned on
the hose and flooded the place with water till Bob and some more came
to help us."
"It sounds very simple, Mrs. Andrews, but I can tell you it wasn't so.
When we opened the door of the planing-shop it was so full of smoke
that it didn't seem as if anyone could breathe there for a minute, and
as we could see the glare of the flames at the other end we thought
the place was gone. We should have gone out and waited for the engines
if we hadn't heard the boys sing out that they were there; and even
though we knelt down and crawled in, as they shouted to us to do, we
were pretty nearly stifled. When we took the hose they crawled forward
and got the shavings cleared away; that was how they burned their
hands, I expect; and I hear they tumbled down insensible when they got
out. Now, ma'am, they may make light of it, but if ever two young
chaps behaved like heroes they did, and you have every right to be
proud of them--I say of them, because although Bill's no son of yours
I know he is what you and your boy have made him. He was telling me
about it one day."
"Will work go on to-morrow as usual, Bob?" George asked, in order to
change the subject.
"In some of the shops it will, no doubt," Bob said; "but in our shop
and the floors above it it will take a day or two to clear up. I saw
the foreman just now, and he tells me that a strong gang of carpenters
will be put on, for both the floors are burned away at the end of the
wall and pretty near twenty feet of the roof are charred. Two
surveyors are coming down this afternoon to examine the wall and say
whether it is safe. The walls of the shops that are burned out must
come down, of course. The surveyor says that if the wall at the end of
the planing-room looks pretty strong they will build up another wall
against it as soon as it gets cold enough and the rubbish is cleared
away for men to work; that will make a strong job of it, and there
won't be any loss of time. Of course if the old one has to come down
there can't be much work done in the shops till it's finished. The
governor got down about ten o'clock last night. A messenger went up to
him almost directly after the fire broke out, but he was out at
dinner, and by the time he got down here all danger of it spreading
was over. He had a talk with the foreman and arranged about the wall
with him. He is as anxious as we are that there should be no delay,
for there are some heavy orders in, and, of course, he doesn't want
them taken anywhere else."
"Will you look at their hands, Mr. Grimstone. I don't know much about
it, but they seem to be badly burned."
"That they are, ma'am," Mr. Grimstone said when he had examined them;
"pretty nigh raw. If I might give an opinion, I should say as the
doctor had better see them; they are precious painful, aint they,
George?"
"They do feel as if they were on fire, Bob, but I don't see any use in
a doctor. I don't suppose he can do more than mother has."
"Perhaps not, George, but he had better see them for all that; he may
give you some cooling lotion for them, and I can tell you burns on the
hand are apt to be serious matters, for the muscles of the fingers may
get stiffened. I have known two or three cases like that. You had
better go at once to Dr. Maxwell; he always attends if there are any
accidents at the works. You know the house, George; it is about
halfway between this and the works."
"Yes, you had better go at once, boys," Mrs. Andrews said; "there, put
on your hats and be off."
"I will walk with them. I must be off anyway, for the missis will be
waiting dinner for me."
"Are we to pay, mother?"
"No, not till you have done, George. I dare say you will have to have
your hands dressed several times."
"There won't be any occasion to pay him, Mrs. Andrews. The firm always
pays the doctor in case of accidents, and you may be very sure that in
this case they will be only too glad."
"Well, in any case, George," Mrs. Andrews said, "you can tell the
doctor that you will pay when he says that you need not come to him
again. If Mr. Penrose hears about it and chooses to pay I should not
think of refusing, as you have been burned in his service; but
certainly I should not assume that he will do so."
"Shall I go in with you, boys?" Bob asked when they reached the door.
"I know the doctor; he attended me two years ago when I pretty nigh
had my finger taken off by one of the cutters."
"Yes, please, Bob, I wish you would."
They were shown into the surgery, where the doctor soon joined them.
"I've brought these two young chaps for you to look at their hands,
Dr. Maxwell. They got them burnt last night at the fire. Mrs.
Andrews, the mother of this lad, wished me to say that she would pay
the charges when you have done with them; but as if it hadn't been for
them the works would have been burnt down as sure as you are standing
there, I expect the firm will take the matter in their own hands."
"Yes, they are nasty burns," the doctor said, examining the boys'
hands. "Can you open and shut them, boy?"
"I think I could if tried, sir," George said, "but I shouldn't like to
try, for if I move my fingers at all it hurts them awfully."
"I see you have had oil and cotton-wool on your hands."
"Yes."
"The best thing you can do, boys, is to put on some soothing
poultices. Tell your mother to get some linseed and mix it with
olive-oil. I will give you a bottle of laudanum. Let her put about
twenty drops of that into the oil before she mixes it with the
linseed. Every four or five hours change the poultices. I think you
will find that will relieve the pain a good deal. I see your faces are
scorched too. You can do nothing better than keep them moistened with
sweet-oil. I should advise you to keep as quiet as possible for three
or four days."
"But we shall want to get to work, sir," George said.
"Nonsense! You will be very lucky if you can use your hands in
another fortnight. I will send in the usual certificate to the works."
"Will you tell the foreman, Bob," George said when they left the
doctor's, "how it is we can't come to work? You tell him we wanted to,
and that we hope to come back as soon as our hands are all right;
because, you see, the men and boys at the shops which have been burnt
down will be all out of work, and it would be awful if we found our
places filled up when we went to work again."
"Don't you be afraid, George; there is no fear of your being out of
work after what you have done."
"Well, what did the doctor say?" was Mrs. Andrews' first question when
they returned home.
"He didn't say much, mother, except that we must not think of going to
work for a fortnight anyhow, and we are to have poultices made with
linseed mixed with oil, and twenty drops of laudanum from this bottle,
and it must be put on fresh every three or four hours. I am afraid it
will be an awful trouble."
"The trouble won't matter," Mrs. Andrews said brightly. "Did he say
you were to go to bed?"
"No, mother; but we were to keep as quiet as we could."
"Then in that case, George, I think you had better go to bed."
"No; I am sure we had better not," George said. "I should toss and
fidget about there horridly. The best thing will be for us to sit
here, and then we shall be all together. And if you talk to us, and
perhaps read to us, we shan't feel it half so much. What are you going
to do, mother?" he asked five minutes afterwards, as Mrs. Andrews came
down with her bonnet on.
"I am going to get some linseed, George, of course. I haven't got any
in the house."
"But it's Sunday, mother, and the shops will be shut."
"I shall get it at the chemist's, George. They will always supply
things that are needed even on Sunday. People are ill on Sunday as
well as any other day, you know. I shan't be gone more than a quarter
of an hour. You must keep very quiet till I come back."
The boys found a good deal of relief from the effect of the poultices,
and were very much better after a good night's rest. At ten o'clock
the next morning, as Mrs. Andrews was sitting at her work, with the
boys both on the hearthrug in front of the fire, there was a knock at
the door. It was a loud double knock, quite unlike the ordinary
summons of the baker's boy, who was the only regular caller. The boys
jumped up in surprise.
"Who can that be, mother?"
"We shall soon see," Mrs. Andrews said quietly.
She was not surprised, on opening the door, to see a gentleman
standing there, whom, by the description the boys had given of him,
she guessed to be their employer. A little girl was standing by his
side.
"Is this Mrs. Andrews?" the gentleman asked.
"I am Mrs. Andrews," the lady answered quietly.
"My name is Penrose. I have called with my daughter to inquire after
the two lads--one of them your son, I believe--who so gallantly saved
my place from being burned down on Saturday evening. I only heard
about it late yesterday evening, when I came down to arrange about
some matters with the foreman. He did not know the facts of the case
on Saturday night, but had learned them yesterday, and there can be no
doubt whatever, from what he says, that had it not been for the
presence of mind and bravery of these two lads nothing could have
saved the entire works and all the wood piles from destruction. I told
my daughter this morning, and she insisted on coming down with me. You
know she is already indebted to your son for saving a locket which we
both greatly valued."
"Will you walk in, sir?" and Mrs. Andrews showed them into the sitting
room.
Mr. Penrose had been somewhat surprised by Mrs. Andrews' manner,
although the foreman, in telling him of the boys' conduct, had also
stated what he knew about them.
"They are out-of-the-way sort of boys, sir," he said. "There was quite
a talk about them in the shops in the spring. They lodged with
Grimstone, and it seems that after they had been here at work five
months Andrews' mother, who had been ill, was coming to them, and they
got Grimstone to take a house for them, and it turned out that ever
since they had been at work here they had been putting by half their
wages to furnish a place for her, so they must have lived on about
five shillings a week each and got clothes for themselves out of it.
Now, sir, boys as would do that aint ordinary boys, and there was
quite a talk among the men about it. I hear from Grimstone that Mrs.
Andrews is a superior sort of person, he says quite a lady. She does
work, I believe, for some London shop."
Mr. Penrose, therefore, was prepared to find the boys in a more
comfortable abode than usual, and their mother what the foreman called
a superior sort of woman; but he perceived at once by her address that
Grimstone's estimate had been a correct one, and that she was indeed a
lady. The prettiness of the little sitting room, with its comfortable
furniture, its snowy curtains and pretty belongings, heightened this
feeling.
"I have come to see you, boys," he said, "and to tell you how indebted
I feel to you for your exertions on Saturday. There is no doubt that
had it not been for you the place would have been entirely burned. It
was fully insured, but it would have been a serious matter for me, as
I should have lost four or five months' work, and it would have been
still more serious for the men to have been thrown out of employment
at this time of the year, so we all feel very much indebted to you. I
hope you are not much burned."
"Oh, no, sir! our hands are burned a bit, but they will be all right
in a few days. Bill and I are very glad, sir, that we happened to be
passing, and were able to give the alarm and do something to stop the
flames till the others came up; but we don't feel that it was anything
out of the way. It was just a piece of fun and excitement to us."
"They didn't say anything about it, Mr. Penrose, when they came home,
and it was only when one of the men came in next day to ask after them
that I heard that they had really been of use."
"It is all very well to say so, lads," Mr. Penrose replied; "but there
is no doubt you showed a great deal of courage, as well as presence of
mind, and you may be sure that I shall not forget it. And now, Mrs.
Andrews," he said, turning round to her, "I feel rather in a false
position. I came round to see the lads, who, when I last saw them,
were not in very flourishing circumstances, and I was going to make
them a present for the service they had done me, and my daughter has
brought them a basket with some wine, jelly, and other things such as
are good for sick boys. Finding them as I find them, in your care and
in such a home, you see I feel a difficulty about it altogether."
"Thank you, sir," Mrs. Andrews said, "for the kindness of your
intention; but my boys--for although one is in no way related to me I
feel towards him as if he were my own--would not like to take money
for doing their duty towards their employer."
"No, indeed!" George and Bill exclaimed simultaneously.
"As you see, sir, thanks to the work you were good enough to give the
boys and to my needle,"--and she glanced towards the articles on the
table,--"we are very comfortable; but I am sure the boys will be very
glad to accept the things which your daughter has been so kind as to
bring down for them, and will feel very much obliged for her
thoughtfulness."
"That is right," Mr. Penrose said, relieved. "Nelly, you may as well
leave the basket as it is. I am sure you don't want to carry it back
again?"
"No, papa," Nelly said; and indeed even the empty basket would have
been more than the child could well have carried. It had come on the
top of the carriage to the railway-station, and a porter had
accompanied Mr. Penrose with it to Laburnum Villas.
"You would have hardly known your young friend. Would you, Nelly?"
"I don't think I should," she said, shaking her head. "He looks
dreadfully burned, and his hair is all funny and frizzled."
"It will soon grow again," George said, smiling. "The doctor says our
faces will be all right when the skin is peeled off. Thank you very
much, Miss Penrose, for all the nice things. It was a fortunate day
indeed for us when I caught that boy stealing your locket."
"And it was a fortunate day for us too," Mr. Penrose responded. "Now,
Mrs. Andrews, we will say good-by. You will not mind my calling again
to see how the boys are getting on?"
"It will be very kind of you, sir, and we shall be glad to see you,"
Mrs. Andrews replied; "but I hope in a few days they will both be out
of the doctor's hands."
"I can't shake hands with you," Mr. Penrose said, patting the boys on
the shoulder, "but I hope next time I see you to be able to do so.
Good-morning, Mrs. Andrews."