d snatched up as they ran, and they
kept dropping shoes and light things, so that the street was littered
with them and I was constantly stumbling over them; some had an armful
of books or papers; others carried pieces of china or silver; many had
satchels or suit-cases, and one or two were dragging trunks.

A great many people had children; some holding one and dragging one or
two others; more than one I saw carrying sick persons unable to walk.

It was curious to see the number of pets that were being carried;
birds, of course, many in cages, but some in the hands--such as
parrots. One woman had three cages of canaries, which she had the
greatest difficulty in holding; another had a birdcage in one hand and
a great cat in the other arm. There was no end to the small dogs in
arms--barking and howling, most of them; but the cats were struggling
as if scared out of their wits. Sometimes a bird or a cat would break
away and disappear at once in the crowd, and I wondered where the poor
things went. But many were carried safely, I am sure, for the park,
where we all--thousands of us--spent the day and night, seemed to have
almost as many animals as people.

In the park I found the baby. She was sitting on the ground, holding
in her arms a big cat. She was smiling and talking to "Kitty," and did
not seem at all frightened by the crowd and the confusion around her.
I thought her mother must have left her for a minute, and I sat down
beside her to keep watch that no harm came to her.

There I sat all that day and night, but no one came to claim her. She
could not tell me anything, of course, but she took kindly to me.
Indeed, she seemed to adopt me from the first minute, and she was so
sweet I couldn't bear to leave her. She never once cried except when
she got very hungry, and when she found, in the morning, that her cat
had gone.

[Illustration: In the park I found a baby ... and I sat down beside it.]

I had, after the first attempt, given up going about looking for my
sister. I knew she would be looking for me, and I could not bear to
leave the baby, as I said. Through that long night I sat watching the
city burn, holding in my arms the dear little thing, who slept through
it all. I was so excited that I almost forgot that I was not dressed.
Many people around me were in the same plight, but it was a warm
night, so that we did not suffer.

But how alone I did feel! I did not know whether Belle and Harry were
aliv