heard a word or two of all this, and the people down below none
at all. It was only by accident that Lally turned round and took a look
back at the house.

"Powers above us!" he shouted, "what's up there on the chimbley?"

"Chimbley's on fire!" somebody else shouted, having just caught the word
chimney, and everybody began to run back to the house.

"No, you idiots!" roared Lally; "but, by my sowl, if it isn't Turly's head
that's perked up on the chimbley as if it was Cromwell's head on Newgate!"

Screams followed. Nurse Nancy, who was of the party, dropped on the road,
and Walsh had to stop and hold her.

"Up the chimney!" she groaned. "Heavens! how are we to get him down? There
isn't a ladder long enough!"

"Aisy, ould woman!" said Lally. "We'll get him down the way he got up. It's
an inside job."

And away he trudged to the house with a goodly following, including Nancy
herself, who soon found her feet when she heard that there was a cure for
the catastrophe.

How the rescuing party blundered about the upper story, and at last found
the right room, need not be related.

The door was shaken, battered, assaulted in every possible manner, but the
rusty key had got stuck half-way across the lock and would not stir. In the
end the door had to be taken off the hinges, and when it was removed the
children made a very sooty appearance as the result of their struggle for
liberty.

Turly was like a real sweep from squeezing himself up and down the chimney,
and Terry had got her gold curls sprinkled with soot, the result of
putting them into the grate when she looked up the chimney after Turly.

The men laughed heartily when they heard the children's story of their
adventure, and Nurse, as usual, groaned and scolded at first, but
afterwards relented and gave them a good dinner, having prepared them for
it by a bath and clean clothing.

In spite of Nancy's good intentions, Granny heard the noise and asked what
it meant.

"Oh!" said Nurse, "it was only the children that shut themselves up in the
attic and couldn't get out again, so that Lally had to open the door for
them."

"Poor darlings!" said Granny; "a wet day is very trying for them. And they
have been so wonderfully well-behaved; now haven't they, Nancy?"

"Pretty well, madam, considering," said Nancy.

CHAPTER VIII

THE RUNAWAY BOAT

A week went past, during which there were no particular adventures. The
weather was fine, crisp with light fr