Wet, worn and weary--with water squeaking in his boots, and a mixture of
charcoal and water streaking his face to such an extent that, as a
comrade asserted, his own mother would not have known him--a stout young
man walked smartly one morning through the streets of London towards his
own home.
He was tall and good-looking, as well as stout, and, although wet and
weary, had a spring in his step which proved beyond all question that he
was not worn-out. As the comrade above referred to would have said,
"there was plenty of go in him still." His blue and belted coat,
sailor's cap, and small hatchet, with the brass helmet swinging by its
chin strap on his left arm, betokened him a member of "The Red
Brigade,"--a London fireman--one of those dare-anything characters who
appear to hold their lives remarkably cheap, for they carry these lives
in their hands, as the saying goes, night and day; who seem to be able
to live in smoke as if it were their native element; who face the flames
as if their bodies were made of cast iron; and whose apparent delight in
fire is such that one is led to suspect they must be all more or less
distantly connected with the family of Salamander.
The young man's expression of countenance, as far as it could be
discerned through the charcoal and water, was hearty, and his name--
Dashwood--was in keeping with his profession. The comrade, whose
opinion we have already quoted, was wont to say that he ought to change
it to Dashwater, that being his chief occupation in life. We need
scarcely say that this comrade was rather fond of his joke.
Arrived at a small street, not far from the Regent Circus, young
Dashwood entered a fire-station there, and found the comrade above
referred to in the act of disposing himself on a narrow tressel-bed, on
which there was no bedding save one blanket. The comrade happened to be
on duty that night. It was his duty to repose on the tressel-bedstead,
booted and belted, ready at a moment's notice to respond to "calls."
Another fireman lay sleeping at his side, on another tressel-bed,
similarly clothed, for there were always two men on duty all night at
that station. The guard-room, or, as it was styled, the "lobby," in
which they lay, was a very small room, with a bright fire in the grate,
for it was winter; a plain wooden desk near the window; a plain deal
table near the door, on which stood four telegraphic instruments; and
having the walls ornamented with a row of Wellington boots on one side,
and a row of bright brass helmets on the other, each helmet having a
small hatchet suspended by a belt below it.
The comrade, who looked very sleepy, glanced at a small clock, whose
tick was the only sound that fell upon the ear, and whose hands
indicated the hour of half-past two.
On hearing the door open, the comrade, whose name was Bob Clazie, raised
himself on one elbow.
"Ah, Joe,--that you?" he said, with a somewhat violent yawn.
"All that's left of me, anyhow," replied Joe Dashwood, as he hung up his
helmet and axe on his own particular peg. "Bin much doin', Bob?"
"Not much," growled Bob; "but they don't give a poor fellow much chance
of a sleep with them telegraphs. Roused me four times already within
the last hour--stops for chimbleys."
"Ha! very inconsiderate of 'em," said Dashwood, turning towards the
door. "It's time I had a snooze now, so I'll bid 'ee good night, Bob."
Just as he spoke, one of the sharp little telegraphic bells rang
viciously. He waited to ascertain the result while Clazie rose--quickly
but not hurriedly--and went to read the instrument with sleepy eyes.
"Another stop for a chimbley," he muttered, with a remonstrative growl.
By this he meant that the head office in Watling Street had telegraphed
that a chimney had gone on fire in some part of London; that it was
being looked after, and that he and his comrades were to _stop_ where
they were and pay no attention to it, even although some one should rush
into the office like a maniac shouting that there was a fire in that
particular place. This use of the telegraph in thus _stopping_ the men
of the Brigade from going out in force to trifling fires, is of the
greatest service, because it not only prevents them from being harassed,
the engines from being horsed, and steam got up needlessly, but it
prevents rascals from running from station to station, and getting
several shillings, instead of the one shilling which is due to the first
intimator of any fire.
Having acknowledged the message, Bob Clazie lay down once more, gave
another expostulatory grunt, and drew his blanket over him; while Joe
Dashwood went home.
Joe's home consisted of a small apartment round the corner of the
street, within a few seconds' run of the station. Off the small
apartment there was a large closet. The small apartment was Dashwood's
drawing-room, dining-room, and kitchen; the large closet was his
bed-room.
Dashwood had a wife, "as tight a little craft, with as pretty a
figurehead," he was wont to say, "as you could find in a day's walk
through London." That was saying a good deal, but there was some truth
in it. When Joe entered, intending to go to bed for the night, he found
that Mary had just got up for the day. It was "washing-day," or
something of that sort, with Mary, which accounted for her getting up at
about three in the morning.
"Hallo, lass, up already!" exclaimed the strapping fireman as he entered
the room, which was a perfect marvel of tidiness, despite washing-day.
"Yes, Joe, there's plenty to do, an' little May don't give me much time
to do it," replied Mary, glancing at a crib where little May, their
first-born, lay coiled up in sheets like a rosebud in snow.
Joe, having rubbed the water and charcoal from his face with a huge
jack-towel, went to the wash-tub, and imprinted a hearty kiss on Mary's
rosy lips, which she considerately held up for the purpose of being
saluted. He was about to do the same to the rosebud, when Mary stopped
him with an energetic "Don't!"
"W'y not, Molly?" asked the obedient man.
"'Cause you'll wake her up."
Thus put down, Joe seated himself humbly on a sea-chest, and began to
pull off his wet boots.
"It's bin a bad fire, I think," said Mary, glancing at her husband.
"Rather. A beer-shop in Whitechapel. House of five rooms burnt out,
and the roof off."
"You look tired, Joe," said Mary.
"I _am_ a bit tired, but an hour's rest will put me all to rights.
That's the third fire I've bin called to to-night; not that I think much
about that, but the last one has bin a stiff one, an' I got a fall or
two that nigh shook the wind out o' me."
"Have something to eat, Joe," said Mary, in a sympathetic tone.
"No thankee, lass; I need sleep more than meat just now."
"A glass of beer, then," urged Mary, sweeping the soap suds off her
pretty arms and hands, and taking up a towel.
The fireman shook his head, as he divested himself of his coat and
neckcloth.
"Do, Joe," entreated Mary; "I'm sure it will do you good, and no one
could say that you broke through your principles, considerin' the
condition you're in."
Foolish Mary! she was young and inexperienced, and knew not the danger
of tempting her husband to drink. She only knew that hundreds of
first-rate, sober, good, trustworthy men took a glass of beer now and
then without any evil result following, and did not think that her Joe
ran the slightest risk in doing the same. But Joe knew his danger. His
father had died a drunkard. He had listened to earnest men while they
told of the bitter curse that drinking had been to thousands, that to
some extent the tendency to drink was hereditary, and that, however safe
some natures might be while moderately indulging, there were other
natures to which moderate drinking was equivalent to getting on those
rails which, running down a slight incline at first--almost a level--
gradually pass over a steep descent, where brakes become powerless, and
end at last in total destruction.
"I don't require beer, Molly," said Dashwood with a smile, as he retired
into the large closet; "at my time o' life a man must be a miserable,
half-alive sort o' critter, if he can't git along without Dutch courage.
The sight o' your face and May's there, is better than a stiff glass o'
grog to me any day. It makes me feel stronger than the stoutest man in
the brigade. Good night, lass, or good mornin'. I must make the most
o' my time. There's no sayin' how soon the next call may come. Seems
to me as if people was settin' their houses alight on purpose to worry
us."
The tones in which the last sentences were uttered, and the creaking of
the bedstead indicated that the fireman was composing his massive limbs
to rest, and scarcely had Mrs Dashwood resumed her washing, when his
regular heavy breathing proclaimed him to be already in the land of Nod.
Quietly but steadily did Mrs Dashwood pursue her work. Neat little
under-garments, and fairy-like little socks, and indescribable little
articles of Lilliputian clothing of various kinds, all telling of the
little rosebud in the crib, passed rapidly through Mary's nimble
fingers, and came out of the tub fair as the driven snow. Soon the
front of the fire-place became like a ship dressed with flags, with this
difference, that the flags instead of being gay and parti-coloured, were
white and suggestive of infancy and innocence. The gentle noise of
washing, and the soft breathing of the sleepers, and the tiny ticking of
the clock over the chimney-piece, were the only audible sounds, for
London had reached its deadest hour, four o'clock. Rioters had
exhausted their spirits, natural and artificial, and early risers had
not begun to move.
Presently to these sounds were added another very distant sound which
induced Mary to stop and listen. "A late cab," she whispered to
herself. The rumbling of the late cab became more distinct, and soon
proved it to be a hurried cab. To Mary's accustomed ear this raised
some disagreeable idea. She cast a look of anxiety into the closet,
wiped her hands quickly, and taking up a pair of dry boots which had
been standing near the fire, placed them beside her husband's coat.
This was barely accomplished when the hurried cab was heard to pull up
at the neighbouring fire-station. Only a few seconds elapsed when
racing footsteps were heard outside. Mary seized her husband's arm--
"Up, Joe, up," she cried and darted across the room, leaped on a chair,
and laid violent hands on the tongue of the door-bell, thereby
preventing a furious double ring from disturbing the rosebud!
At the first word "up," the bed in the closet groaned and creaked as the
fireman bounded from it, and the house shook as he alighted on the
floor. Next moment he appeared buttoning his braces, and winking like
an owl in sunshine. One moment sufficed to pull on the right boot,
another moment affixed the left. Catching up his half-dried coat with
one hand, and flinging on his sailor's cap with the other, he darted
from the house, thrust himself into his coat as he ran along and
appeared at the station just as four of his comrades drew the
fire-engine up to the door, while two others appeared with three horses,
which they harnessed thereto--two abreast, one in front--with marvellous
rapidity. The whole affair, from the "Up, Joe, up," of Mrs Dashwood,
to the harnessing of the steeds, was accomplished in less than five
minutes. By that time Joe and several of his mates stood ready belted,
and armed with brass helmets on their heads, which flashed back the rays
of the neighbouring street lamp and the engine lanterns.
There was wonderfully little noise or fuss, although there was so much
display of promptitude and energy; the reason being that all the men
were thoroughly drilled, and each had his particular duty to perform;
there was, therefore, no room for orders, counter-orders, or confusion.
The moment the call was given, Bob Clazie, having received no
telegraphic "stop," had at once run to ring up the men, who, like
Dashwood, had been sleeping close at hand. He rang up the driver of the
engine first. At the same moment his comrade on duty had run round to
the stable, where the horses stood ready harnessed, and brought them
out. Thus the thing was done without a moment's delay. The driver,
when roused, flung on his coat and helmet, and ran to the engine. It
was a steam fire-engine; that is, the pumps were worked by steam instead
of by hand. The firing was ready laid, and the water kept nearly at the
boiling point by means of a jet of gas. He had scarcely applied a light
to the fire and turned off the gas, when four comrades ran into the
shed, seized the red-painted engine, and dragged her out, as we have
seen.
Much shorter time did it take to do all this than is required to
describe it.
When the driver mounted his box, the others sprang on the engine.
Crack! went the whip, fire flew from the paving-stones, fire poured from
the furnace, the spirited steeds tore round the corner into Regent
Street, and off they went to the fire, in the dark winter morning, like
a monster rocket or a vision of Roman gladiators whirled away by a red
fiery dragon!
Mrs Dashwood heard them go, and turned with a little sigh to her
washing-tub. She was very proud of Joe, and she had good reason to be,
for he was one of the best men in the Red Brigade, and, what was of more
importance to her, he was one of the best husbands in the world.
Perhaps this was largely owing to the fact that she was one of the best
of wives! His career as a fireman had been short, but he had already
become known as one of the daring men, to whom their Chief looked when
some desperate service had to be performed. On several occasions he
had, while in charge of the fire-escape, been the means of saving life.
Upon the whole, therefore, it is not surprising that Mary was proud of
her husband--almost as proud of him as she was of the little rosebud;
but in regard to this she was never quite sure of the exact state of her
mind.
Meditating on Joe, and giving an occasional glance at May, whose sweet
upturned face seemed nothing short of angelic, Mrs Dashwood continued
energetically to scrub the fairy-like habiliments, and make the soapsuds
fly.
Meanwhile, the red engine whirled along its fiery course at full gallop,
like a horrible meteor, clattering loudly in the deserted streets of the
great city. So it would have sped in its wild career even if it had
been broad day, for the loss of a single moment in reaching a fire is
important; but in this case the men, instead of sitting like
brazen-headed statues, would have stood up and increased the din of
their progress by shouting continuously to clear the crowded
thoroughfares. As it was, they had it all to themselves. Sometimes the
corner of a window-blind was hastily lifted, showing that some wakeful
one had curiosity enough to leap out of bed to see them pass. Here and
there a policeman paused, and followed them with his eye as long as the
tail of sparks from the furnace was visible. Occasionally a belated
toper stopped in his staggering progress to gaze at them, with an
idiotical assumption of seriousness and demand, "Wash ey maki'n sh' a
'orrible row for?" Now and then a cat, with exploratory tendencies, put
up its back and greeted them with a glare and a fuff, or a shut-out cur
gave them a yelping salute; but the great mass of the London population
let them go by without notice, as they would have treated any other
passing thunderbolt with which they had nothing to do.
And yet they _had_ something to do with that engine, or, rather, it had
to do with them. But for it, and the rest of the Red Brigade, London
would have long ago been in ashes. It is only by unremitting vigilance
and incessant action that the London fires can be kept within bounds.
There are nearly two thousand fires in the year in the metropolis, and
the heroic little army which keeps these in check numbers only three
hundred and seventy-eight men. That this force is much too small for
the work to be done is proved by the fact, that the same men have
sometimes to turn out three, four or five times in a night, to work of
the most trying and dangerous nature. There is no occupation in which
the lives of the men employed are so frequently risked, and their
physical endurance so severely tried, as that of a London fireman. As
there are, on the average, five fires every night all the year round, it
follows that he is liable to be called out several times every night;
and, in point of fact, this actually takes place very often. Sometimes
he has barely returned from a fire, and put off his drenched garments,
when he receives another "call," and is obliged to put them on again,
and go forth weary--it may be fasting--to engage in another skirmish
with the flames. In all weathers and at all seasons--hot or cold, wet
or dry--he must turn out at a moment's notice, to find himself, almost
before he is well awake, in the midst of stifling smoke, obliged to face
and to endure the power of roasting flames, to stand under cataracts of
water, beside tottering walls and gables, or to plunge through smoke and
flames, in order to rescue human lives. Liability to be called
_occasionally_ to the exercise of such courage and endurance is severe
enough; it is what every soldier is liable to in time of war, and the
lifeboat-man in times of storm; but to be liable to such calls several
times every day and night all round the year is hard indeed, and proves
that the Red Brigade, although almost perfect in its organisation and
heroic in its elements, is far too small. Paris has about seven hundred
fires a year; New York somewhere about three hundred; yet these cities
have a far larger body of firemen than London, which with little short
of two thousand fires a year, does her work of extinction with only
three hundred and seventy-eight men!
She succeeds because every man in the little army is a hero, not one
whit behind the Spartans of old. The London fireman, Ford, who, in
1871, at one great fire rescued six lives from the flames, and perished
in accomplishing the noble deed, is a sample of the rest. All the men
of the Brigade are picked men--picked from among the strapping and
youthful tars of the navy, because such men are accustomed to strict
discipline; to being "turned out" at all hours and in all weathers, and
to climb with cool heads in trying circumstances, besides being, as a
class, pre-eminently noted for daring anything and sticking at nothing.
Such men are sure to do their work well, however hard; to do it without
complaining, and to die, if need be, in the doing of it. But ought they
to be asked to sacrifice so much? Surely Londoners would do well to
make that complaint, which the men will _never_ make, and insist on the
force being increased, not only for the sake of the men, but also for
the sake of themselves; for, although there _are_ three hundred and
seventy-eight heroes who hold the fiery foe so well in check, there are
limits to heroic powers of action, and it stands to reason that double
the number would do it better.
But we are wandering from our point. The engine has been tearing all
this time at racing speed along the Bayswater Road. It turns sharp
round a corner near Notting Hill Gate--so sharp that the feat is
performed on the two off wheels, and draws from Bob Clazie the quiet
remark, "Pretty nigh on our beam-ends that time, Joe." A light is now
seen glaring in the sky over the house-tops; another moment, and the
engine dashes into Ladbroke Square, where a splendid mansion is in a
blaze, with the flames spouting from the windows of the second floor.
The engine pulls up with a crash; the reeking horses are removed and led
aside. "Look alive, lads!" is the only word uttered, and the helmeted
heroes, knowing their work well, go into action with that cool
promptitude which is more than half the battle in attacking the most
desperate odds or the fiercest foe.