calamity, and was severely injured by the falling brickwork, but no
serious result is anticipated. A costermonger of the name of Rackstraw
also received some severe contusions, but if we may trust the report of
his son, an intelligent lad of thirteen, he is very little the worse by
his misadventure."

Although "no serious result was anticipated" in Mrs. Burr's case--in the
newspaper sense of the words, which referred to the Coroner--the results
were serious enough to Mrs. Burr. She was disabled from work
indefinitely, and was too much damaged to hope to leave the Hospital,
for weeks at any rate. A relative was found, ready to take charge of her
when that time should arrive, but apparently not ready to disclose her
own name. For, so far as can be ascertained, she was never spoken of at
Sapps Court otherwise than as "Mrs. Burr's married niece."

Mr. Bartlett was on the spot, within an hour, taking measures for the
immediate safety of the inmates, and his own ultimate pecuniary
advantage. He pointed out it was quite unnecessary for anyone to turn
out of the rooms below, although he admitted that the open air had got
through the top story. His immediate resources were quite equal to a
temporary arrangement practicable in a couple of hours or so. A
contrivance of inconceivable slightness, involving no drawbacks whatever
to families occupying the premises it was engendered in, was necessary
to hold the roof up tempory, for fear it should come with a run. It was
really a'most nothing in the manner of speaking. You just shoved a
len'th of quartering into each room, all down the house to the bottom,
with a short scaffold-board top and bottom to distribute out the weight,
and tapped 'em across with a 'ammer, and there you were! The top one
ketched the roof coming down, and you had no need to be apprehensive,
because it would take a tidy weight--double what Mr. Bartlett was going
to put upon it.

This was a security against a complete collapse of the roof and upper
floor, but if it come on heavy rain, what would keep Aunt M'riar's room
dry? She and Dolly could not sleep in a puddle. Mr. Bartlett, however,
pledged himself to make all that good with a few yards of tarpauling,
and Aunt M'riar and Dolly went to bed, with sore misgivings as to
whether they would wake alive next day. Dolly woke in the night and
screamed with terror at what she conceived was a spectre from the grave,
but which was really nothing but a short length of