Everything indeed that could stimulate the fire
was employed; and every one was occupied in the service. They
ran to the water side and plundered the barges, and threw the
huge blocks of coal upon the enormous bonfire. Men, women,
and children were alike at work with the eagerness and energy
of fiends. The roof of the house caught fire: the dwelling
burned rapidly; you could see the flames like the tongues of
wild beasts, licking the bare and vanishing walls; a single
being was observed amid the fiery havoc, shrieking and
desperate he clung convulsively to a huge account book, It was
Master Joseph. His father had made his escape from the back
of the premises and had counselled his son instantly to follow
him, but Master Joseph wished to rescue the ledger as well as
their lives, and the delay ruined him.
"He has got the tommy book," cried Liza Gray.
The glare of the clear flame fell for a moment upon his
countenance of agony; the mob gave an infernal cheer; then
some part of the building falling in, there rose a vast cloud
of smoke and rubbish, and he was seen no more.
Book 6 Chapter 8
"Life's a tumbleabout thing of ups and downs," said Widow
Carey stirring her tea, "but I have been down this time longer
than I can ever remember.
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