themselves, by means of hansoms,
to Crosby Hall, there to have luncheon. Mrs. Pitt laughed heartily
when John said how glad he was to be able to eat amid ancient
surroundings. He declared that he had been spending the entire morning
so very far back in the Middle Ages, that it would have been too great
a shock had he been taken immediately to a vulgar, modern restaurant.

When they had finished their luncheon and were waiting on a street
corner for the arrival of a certain bus, suddenly a thrill of
excitement went through the crowd, all traffic was quickly drawn up at
the sides of the street where it halted, and a weird cry of
"Hi-yi-yi-yi-yi" was heard in the distance.

"It's the fire-brigade," cried Philip, whereupon he and John were
tense with anticipation.

Down the cleared street came the galloping horses with the
fire-engines, the men clinging to them wearing dark-blue uniforms with
red bindings, big brass helmets, which gleamed in the sunshine, and
hatchets in their belts.

It happened that the fire was very near where our friends were
standing, so at the eager solicitations of the two boys, Mrs. Pitt
consented to follow on and watch operations.

"So it really is a fire this time," she said to Betty, as they hurried
along. "We have very, very few in London, and when the brigade is out,
it is generally only for exercise or practice. But, it will interest
you and John to see how we fight a fire, and to observe whether the
methods differ from yours."

A building on Bishopsgate Street was really very much on fire when the
party reached the spot, and the firemen were hard at work. Although
the buildings are not high (or at least not according to American
standards), the men use very strong ladders, which can be pulled out
so that they will reach to great heights. But the queerest thing of
all in John's estimation was the way in which the people on the top
floor of the building were rescued.

A long canvas tube was carried up a ladder by a fireman, who attached
it to the frame of an upper window. The occupants of that floor were
then slid one by one to the ground through this tube, being caught at
the bottom by the firemen.

"Well, did you ever see anything like that!" cried John, amazed at the
funny sight. "It's great, I say! I'd like to try it!"

All the way up town, the talk was of fires. John had been tremendously
interested in the English methods, and was planning to introduce the
use of the canvas tu