north of London, where the ground is very high, there
is a great tower rising many feet into the air, from which one can see
almost all over London, and here there is a man always on duty to watch
if fires break out. Of course, it would be a pretty big fire if he could
see it from there, but then he could communicate with the nearest
station and tell them to go to it. It must be a curious duty to stay all
night at that great height overlooking the vast city of London.
Sometimes a fire breaks out in some of the great warehouses down by the
river, and then there is a magnificent sight. One such warehouse was
full of paraffin oil, and you know paraffin burns more readily than
anything else. As the barrels were caught by the flames the oil streamed
out on to the water, and, floating on the top, seemed like a sea of
flame. It must have been wonderful to see. The heat was so great that
no one could go near, but on the opposite bank thousands of people
assembled and watched the flames. There were flames above and flames
below, fire shooting to the sky, and fire flowing down on the river's
tide. The water reflected the fire above, and the fire that floated on
its surface. It must have seemed like a burning world. That was a very
difficult task for the brigade.

Sometimes the brave men themselves are injured or killed in the
execution of their work, and at all times when engaged with a fire they
run some risk.

But we have got a long way from the street where we saw the engine
dashing down through the traffic, and we must come back again. All the
bustle and the fuss that we have been talking of is on the roadway. What
about the pavements? The pavement is often just as crowded, and though
policemen don't hold up their hands to prevent people walking there, yet
it is often quite a long time before you can get through, especially
outside a gay shop window, where all the women want to stand and stare.
In one place, where there are several big shops which stretch down one
side of the street, with very pretty windows full of beautiful things,
many nursemaids come to wheel babies in perambulators. This is not for
the sake of the children, who are too young to care about shop windows,
but it is for the sake of the nursemaids, who meet together and go
slowly along two together, talking of all the fine things they want to
buy, and staring with mouths and eyes round as saucers at the things
they see. Now two nursemaids with two perambulat