(Mrs Denman shut her eyes and
shuddered) "an' so make yer escape. Then you should have a ladder fixed
to this trap-door so as it couldn't be took away, and ye should have
some dozen fathoms o' half-inch rope always handy, cause if ye was cut
off from the staircase by fire an' from the roof by smoke ye might have
to let yourself down from a windy. It's as well, too, to know how to
knot sheets and blankets together, so that the ties won't slip, for if
you have no rope they'd be better than nothin'. You should also have a
hand-pump, ma'am, and a bucket of water always handy, 'cause if you take
a fire at the beginnin' it's easy put out. An' it's as well to know
that you should go into a room on fire on your hands and knees, with
your nose close to the ground--just as a pinter-dog goes--'cause there's
more air there than overhead; an' it's better to go in wi' the hand-pump
the first thing. Don't wait to dress, ma'am."

"Stop, stop, Mr Corney!" cried Mrs Denman, holding up her hand.

The little lady was stunned with the rapid utterance of the enthusiastic
fireman, and with the dreadful suggestion that she, Mrs Denman, should,
in the dead of night, get upon the roof of her dwelling and scramble
over the tiles, or let herself down by a rope from a window into the
public street, or creep into a burning room on her hands and knees with
her nose to the ground like a pointer, and all this, too, in her
night-dress, so she begged of him to stop, and said:

"But you forget, fireman, it is impossible for _me_ to do any of these
dreadful things."

"Well, ma'am," returned Joe coolly, "it wouldn't be easy--though, for
the matter o' that, it's wonderful what people will do for their lives;
but I was tellin' ye, ma'am, what ought to be done, so as somebody else
in the house might do it, if you couldn't.

"But suppose, ma'am," continued Joe, without waiting for a reply;
"suppose that the house is alight. Well, the first thing you've got to
do, is not to get into a fluster. That can't do no good, you know, and
is sure to do mischief. Keep cool. That's the first thing, ma'am; and
be deliberate in all ye do. The second thing is, to wrap a blanket
round ye, an' get out of the house as fast as ye can without stoppin' to
dress. It's of no use lookin' put out, ma'am; for it's better to escape
without yer clo'es than to be burnt alive in 'em. Then be careful to
_shut all doors after ye_ as ye go. This keeps the air from gittin' at