ade. He now pointed the branch at
the precise spot, and hit that part of the fire right in its heart. The
result was that clouds of steam mingled with the smoke. But Joe was
human after all. The atmosphere, or, rather, the want of atmosphere,
was too much for him. He was on the point of dropping the branch, and
rushing to the window for his life, when Ned Crashington, feeling his
way into the room, tumbled over him.

Speech was not required in the circumstances. Ned knew exactly what to
do, and Joe knew that he had been sent to relieve him. He therefore
delivered the branch to Ned, and at once sprang out on the escape, where
he encountered David Clazie.

"Go in, Davy, he can't stand it long," gasped Joe.

"No fears of 'im," replied Davy, with a smile, as he prepared to enter
the window; "Ned can stand hanythink a'most. But, I say, send up some
more 'ands. It takes two on us to 'old _that_ 'ere branch, you know."

The brass helmets of more hands coming up the escape were observed as he
spoke, for the foreman saw that this was a point of danger, and, like a
wise general, had his reserves up in time.

David Clazie found Ned standing manfully to the branch. Ned was noted
in the Red Brigade as a man who could "stand a'most anything," and who
appeared to cherish a martyr-like desire to die by roasting or
suffocation. This was the more surprising that he was not a boastful or
excitable fellow, but a silent, melancholy, and stern man, who, except
when in action, usually seemed to wish to avoid observation. Most of
his comrades were puzzled by this compound of character, but some of
them hinted that Crashington's wife could have thrown some light on the
subject. Be this as it may, whenever the chief or the foreman of the
Brigade wanted a man for any desperate work, they invariably turned to
Ned Crashington. Not that Ned was one whit more courageous or willing
to risk his life than any of the other men, _all_ of whom, it must be
remembered, were picked for courage and capacity for their special work;
but he combined the greatest amount of coolness with the utmost possible
recklessness, besides being unusually powerful, so that he could be
depended on for wise as well as desperate action. Joe Dashwood was
thought to be almost equal to Ned--indeed, in personal activity he was
superior; but there was nothing desperate in Joe's character. He was
ever ready to dare anything with a sort of jovial alacrity, but he di