The Fire by M. Stuart Lane

4.9

Part I

A Stranger at the Window

One August afternoon in the year 1666, Betty Stapleton was sitting alone at the window of the sitting-room of her aunt’s house. She was sewing. The house stood in a narrow street not far from the Tower of London.

Betty looked out of the open window and saw that a man had stopped in front of their house. He was looking at the name over the door “Nicholas Stapleton, Saddler.”

When he turned and saw Betty at the window, he said, “Is Mr. Stapleton in, little miss?”

The girl shook her head.

“No, sir,” she said.

“My father died of the plague last year.”

“But his name is still over the door.”

“Yes, sir, my aunt doesn’t want to change that,” explained Betty.

“Shall I call my aunt?”

“Oh, no, no!” said the stranger.

“Thank you, little miss. Good-bye.” And he hurried down the street. Then Betty saw that he was lame.

Aunt Matilda was the mistress of the house since Betty’s mother died nine years ago. Then Betty’s father died of the plague. After his death Matilda Stapleton took up the business, three workmen helped her. One of these was Mr. Rudyard, a saddler, who worked with Mr. Stapleton for many years; the other two were apprentices.

In those days a tradesman’s shop and home were under the same roof. The shop and the work-room occupied a part of the ground floor; here the tradesman and apprentices worked. Apprentices were boys who wanted to learn the trade. They had to work without pay for seven years before they could become tradesmen.

Part II

The Celebration of Victory

On the day when the stranger spoke to Betty, the people of London went to Moorfields to celebrate a victory. Moorfields was a wide green field where people danced and played games on holidays. England was at war with Holland at that time, and the news of a victory came to London.

Betty’s friends — Meg and Peter Tappler — came and took Betty with them to see the celebrations in Moorfields. There was a great crowd there already when the children arrived.

Time passed quickly. Then suddenly a fight began in one part of the field. It was a fight between two groups of apprentices — the butchers and the weavers. Meg and Betty wanted to run away, but Peter wanted to see the fight. In the panic that followed Betty fell down. At the same moment a young man ran forward, picked her up and carried her out of the crowd.

“Are you hurt, little miss?” he asked Betty. The girl had no time to answer, for at that moment someone shouted, “The King’s sailors! The King’s sailors! Be careful, Sim!”

The young man looked round. But it was too late to run anywhere, a group of armed sailors surrounded him already. An officer came forward and said:

“The King wants you, you must come with us!” The next moment the young man was led away. At his side Betty saw the man who shouted, “Be careful, Sim!” It was the lame man who spoke to her through the window.

When Betty came home that evening, her dress was torn and dirty and she was scolded by her aunt. Betty cried a little as she went to bed. She was sorry for the young man who fell into the hands of the king’s sailors because of her. He was so kind to Betty and she was alone in the world. Her mother died when she was two. Her brother ran away from home five years ago and the plague carried away her father.

Part III

The King’s Sailors

A few days after the celebration of the victory, Betty again saw the lame man standing near their house.

“I hope you are well, little miss,” he said to her and smiled.

Betty told him that she was all right and wanted to know something about the kind young man who helped her in Moorfields on the day of the fight.

“He was taken to the king’s ship. Soon they’ll sail out and fight the Dutch.” Just then they heard Aunt Matilda’s voice and the man hurried away.

On the following Wednesday, Betty was invited to Meg Tappler's birthday party. Meg’s father took the children out on the river in his new boat. They spent the afternoon on the river and returned in the evening. Betty said good-bye to her friends and went home.

When she turned into her street, she suddenly stopped. There was a noise behind her. Just then a man ran past. Betty recognized him; he was the young man who helped her in Moorfields.

Betty saw him run to the Stapletons’ door and go into the house. There was nobody in the street except Betty.

The next moment Betty saw a group of armed sailors coming along the street.

“The King’s sailors!” said an old woman from her door.

Betty ran home. She went into the house. Where was the young man, she thought. Where was he hiding? Only the door to the shop was open, all the others were shut. She went into the shop and looked round. It was empty. In a dark corner of the work-room there was a low door which led to the yard. This door, Betty saw, was open a little. “He has gone into the yard,” she said to herself.

Suddenly she had an idea. She pulled some bags and boxes up to the door and covered it up, then she ran to the kitchen. Mistress Stapleton came downstairs and wanted to know why Betty made such a noise. Before the girl could answer the sailors were at the door.

Mistress Stapleton herself went to open the door. Four armed sailors came in and searched the house. They were looking for a sailor who ran away from the king’s ship. But they did not find him in the saddler's house. All the houses in the street were searched.

Betty was frightened very much while they were in the house. When she heard them go away, she ran to the work-room and opened the door. A few minutes later a loud noise was heard. Mistress Stapleton jumped to her feet and ran to the door. She saw a young man run round the corner.

Aunt Matilda came back to the kitchen and began to scold Betty. She was very angry.

“So you hid that man, that run-away sailor, in my house!” she said.

“No, Aunt, he — he hid himself,” Betty tried to explain.

On the following day Betty heard what Mr. Rudyard said to Aunt Matilda. “I think it is my duty to tell you that you scold Betty too often. You’ll drive the girl from her home as you drove her poor brother,” said the old man.

The saddler’s words made Betty think. So Aunt Matilda drove her brother from home. She never heard that before.

Part IV

The Fire

August was very hot and dry that year. On the night of the 2nd of September a strong east wind began to blow. In the middle of the night, Betty got up because she could not sleep; it was so hot in the bedroom. She went to the window. Looking out she saw that the sky was red, but she could not see far, the street was too narrow.

“It cannot be morning yet,” she thought. “There must be a house on fire somewhere.” Then she heard voices in the street and people running. She woke up Aunt Matilda and told her what she saw. But the old lady told Betty to go back to bed. Not long after that, Betty heard the two apprentices leave the house. Then she got up again and went downstairs. She opened the front door and saw some neighbors in the street.

“It’s a terrible fire,” they said. But nobody knew where it was. Some one said that the fire was down the river.

“Will it come here?” asked Betty, “No, child,” they said, “the east wind is driving it away from us.”

It was Sunday morning. Mistress Stapleton got up at seven o’clock and began to cook breakfast. While Betty was laying the table, the two apprentices rushed into the kitchen. They were dirty all over, their faces and hands were black with smoke.

“Mistress,” they cried in one voice, “there’s a big fire — the biggest fire that you ever saw. Hundreds of houses are burning!” Aunt Matilda did not believe them.

“It’s true, Mistress,” insisted the boys. “We’ve seen it — all down Fish Street. And London Bridge is burning.”

“If what you say is true,” said Aunt Matilda, “then what are the poor people doing who live in those houses?”

“They are rushing about,” said the elder boy. “I’ve never seen such a crowd in the streets.”

The boys hurried through their breakfast and ran out again.

Soon after that Mr. Tappler came in. “This is a terrible Sunday, Mistress Stapleton,” he said.

“I have come to tell you that we are safe till the wind is in the east.”Mr. Tappler took Betty to the river to see the fire.

On the way to the river, Betty saw the crowds that filled the streets. The fire was still far away. She saw many carts full of things; she saw mothers with babies in their arms, hurrying from place to place. She saw men fighting for a cart.

Meg and Peter were waiting near the boat. All four got in and soon they were in the middle of the Thames. From there they could see that the fire had spread a long way up the riverside. The wind was driving the flames on and on. The houses on London Bridge were burning and some buildings on the south side of the river were catching fire. Betty could see people running in and out among the burning houses, trying to save their things.

Then Mr. Tappler turned the boat round, saying that it was not safe to go on. “We must return home now.”

Mistress Stapleton did not let Betty go out again to see the fire. The fire was spreading, and nothing could stop it. Hundreds of houses were destroyed. All the open places, like Moorfields, were full of homeless people. On all the roads north of London there were crowds of people who were leaving the burning city.

When night came, the whole sky seemed to be on fire. Betty went to bed as usual, but she could not sleep.

Part V

In Great Danger

Next day Mr. Tappler came to see Mistress Stapleton.

“I advise you to go away,” he said.

“I shall take my wife and children to Highbury tonight, and I advise you to do the same.”

But Aunt Matilda did not believe that the danger was so great. “I shall stay here till I am driven away,” she said.

She sent the apprentices home to their parents. “I don’t want other people’s children in the house at such a time,” she said.

Next morning Mistress Stapleton began to pack her things into boxes. Betty helped her all the morning. When the girl opened the front door that afternoon, she saw that there was some smoke in their street already. All the neighbors went away. While she was standing at the door, she saw through the smoke that a man was coming towards her. She recognized him. It was the young man whom she saved from the king’s sailors.

“Why didn’t you go away?” he said. “Where is your aunt?”

“She is upstairs. She is packing her things,” said Betty. The young man entered the house and shouted:

“Mistress, you must go at once! You will burn alive!”

“I have one more box to pack,” answered Aunt Matilda. “Are you a carter? If so, I’ll pay ...” But the young man did not hear her; he ran out into the street.

Betty sat down and cried.

“Now, child, tears won’t help,” said her aunt, coming downstairs. “Run to Mr. Sawyer’s and tell him to send me a horse and a cart.”

Betty ran to the carter’s house, but there were no more carts there. There were no more carts in all London, she heard someone said. The girl went back, more frightened than before. On the way home she passed a horse and a cart. There were two men in the cart. Through the smoke she recognized the men; one was the lame man, the other was her friend, the young sailor. Betty turned into her street. Some of the houses were burning already.

“He’s coming! He’s coming!” she shouted to her aunt, who was waiting for her in front of the house.

A minute later the young man appeared. He tied a wet cloth round his head. In a moment he caught Betty up in his arms, in another moment she was handed to the lame man in the cart. Then the young man and Aunt Matilda hurried into the house to bring out the boxes. Through the smoke Betty could see the young man carry one box after another to the cart.

The smoke was thick, the heat was getting more and more terrible. Betty was very much frightened now because Aunt Matilda and the young man were still in the house. At last Betty saw the young man coming towards the cart; but this time he was not carrying a box, he had Mistress Stapleton in his arms. What happened to Aunt Matilda? Was she dead or alive? Betty did not know. The old lady was laid down in the cart and they drove away as fast as they could.

Part VI

Betty Finds Her Brother

They drove out of the burning city. They were in a long line of people in carts and on foot, who were leaving their homes which the terrible fire destroyed. They made camp in a wide open field many miles from London. Mistress Stapleton was very ill. She lay in great pain, and for two days did not recognize the people who were around her.

On the evening of the second day Betty told the young sailor that her aunt was a little better.

“Have you any friends here?” the young man asked Betty.

“Yes,” said the girl, “the Tapplers came here too.”

“Then I’ll go and find Mistress Tappler,” he said. “My ship sails tomorrow evening, and if I am not there, the King’s men will arrest me.”

“I am very sorry,” said Betty. “And shall I never see you again? I had a brother who ran away to sea when he was fourteen. Will you promise to look for him when you are sailing far away? And if you find him, tell him that his sister is waiting for him, and that it was all a mistake.”

“What was a mistake?” asked the sailor.

“My brother didn’t steal the silver box,”

Betty explained. “This is what happened. One day he had to take a new saddle to a gentleman’s house. The next day the gentleman told Aunt Matilda that Simon stole a silver box from his house. It’s a pity that Aunt Matilda believed the story and said very cruel things to Simon. The story wasn’t true. Somebody else stole the box. But we learned it too late: Simon sailed away on a ship.”Just then Aunt Matilda called Betty.

“I have been asleep,” said Mistress Stapleton. “Whose voice was that, Betty? Where is the young man who helped us? Bring him here. I want to thank him.”

When the young man came in, she looked at him for a long time and then suddenly cried, “I knew it! Simon, my poor boy, will you forgive me?”

“Simon!” said Betty. “Is it you, Simon?”

Suddenly it was all clear to Betty. Of course it was Simon. He knew where the little yard door was, he knew where to hide himself from the king’s sailors. She did not recognize him because he was so big and strong, and had a beard.

Simon had many things to explain to them. He went to sea that same night when he ran away from home. When he came back to London after five years, he sent his old friend, the lame man, to ask about his father and sister.

Betty was happy again: she had found her brother and now Aunt Matilda was much kinder to her than she had been for a long time.