houses which were then standing on the bridge
got into boats, and, without heeding the awful heat and the showers of
smuts, rowed away up the river to a safer place.

The churches began to go soon, and when one was fairly caught its high
spire was seen to quiver for a moment as if it were in pain, and then
topple right over with a crash. The dangers were increased by the
falling of such great masses of stone. The whole of that night the
flames roared on, and devoured everything in their course. Even those
whose houses were at the west end began to tremble. King Charles II.
himself had now come back to London, and when he was told of the great
danger that threatened his city, he was the first to go to help and to
suggest that houses must be pulled down to stop the flames. This was
very difficult, because the houses to be pulled down had to be a long
way in front of the fire, or there would not have been time to get them
down before the fire reached them. And when the people to whom they
belonged were told that they must come out because their houses were to
be destroyed, they very naturally objected, and said they were quite
sure the fire would never get so far as that; and, anyway, why should
their houses be pulled down and not others?

The fire had begun first in a poor quarter, but it soon came on to the
houses of wealthy merchants, and then a strange sight was seen: these
men, hastily gathering up their gold and silver, their rich bales of
stuff and merchandise, hurried westward, and the streets were filled
with carts and men laden with goods jostling, pushing, and hurrying in
both directions. At the end of that day the fire still burned as if it
would never stop; surely never before had there been such a bonfire. Not
a single person in London could go to bed. How did he know that he might
not be awakened by the flames leaping in at his windows? No, everyone
was in the streets, either watching or talking or shouting, and very few
did any good or knew what to do; they mostly got in the way of others
who were trying to stop the flames.

When that second awful night was past, the day dawned; but there was
little light, for a great cloud of black smoke hung over everything,
blotting out the sun. On the river were boats and barges and vessels of
all sorts laden with goods; in the streets the same weary, excited
crowd.

Out in the fields there were tents put up for the people whose houses
had been destroyed, and number