The Sign of the Red Cross: A Tale of Old London

  CHAPTER XVI. A FLAMING CITY.

  Many happy months passed away, and the great city began to forgetthe terrible calamity through which it had passed. There was alittle fear at first when the summer set in exceptionally hot anddry--very much as it had done the preceding year; but the plagueseemed to have wreaked its full vengeance upon the inhabitants, andthere was no fresh outbreak, although isolated cases were reported,as was usual, from time to time, and sometimes a slight passingscare would upset the minds of men in a certain locality, to beshortly laid at rest when no further ill followed.

  The two houses on the bridge, standing sociably side by side, werepleasant and flourishing places of business. Benjamin was nowapprenticed to his brother Reuben, his old master the carpenterhaving fallen a victim to the plague. Dorcas remained with LadyScrope, who was now reckoned as a kind friend and patroness to theHarmers, father and son. Rebecca fulfilled her old functions of theuseful daughter at home, though it was thought she would not longremain there, as she was being openly courted by a young mercer inSouthwark, who had bought a business left without head through theravages of the plague, and was rapidly working it up to somethingconsiderable and successful.

  The Master Builder, too, was getting on, although still doing avery small trade compared to what he had done before. Many of hispatrons were dead, others had been scared away altogether fromLondon for the present, and with so many vacant houses to fillnobody cared to think of building. Still he found employment of akind, and was never idle, although things were very different fromwhat they had been, and he thought rather of paying his way in aquiet fashion than of building up a great fortune. He lived in theold house with his daughter and son-in-law, and was happier than inthe old days, when his wife had always been trying to make him apethe ways of the gentry, and his son had been wearying his life outwith ceaseless importunities for money, which would only be wastedin drunkenness and rioting.

  Now the days passed happily and peacefully. Gertrude was a lovingwife and a loving daughter. Her father's comfort and welfare werestudied equally with that of her husband. She did her utmost not topermit him ever to feel lonely or neglected, and she considered hisneeds as his own fine-lady wife had never thought of doing.

  He had also his friends next door to visit, where he was alwayswelcome. There was now another door of communication opened betweenthe two houses, and almost every evening the Master Builder woulddrop in for an hour to smoke a pipe with his friend and exchangethe news of the day, leaving the young married couple tothemselves, for a happy interchange of affection and confidences.

  The Harmer household remained unchanged, save for the death of Danand the marriage of Reuben; but the sailor had been so little athome, that there was no great blank left by his absence, and Reubenwas too close at hand to be greatly missed. Janet had not returnedto service. Her mother had been rather horrified at the manner inwhich the poor girl had been treated by her mistress when theplague had appeared in the house. She did not care to send her backto Lady Howe, and Janet had become so accomplished a nurse, andtook such interest in the life, that she begged to be allowed tofollow the calling of her aunt Dinah, and to spend her time amongstthe sick, wherever she might be needed. So both she and Dinah Morselived at the house on the bridge, but went about amongst the sickin the neighbourhood, generally directed by Dr. Hooker, butsometimes called specially to urgent cases by neighbours orfriends. Sometimes they returned home at night to sleep, sometimesthey remained for several days or weeks at a time with theirpatients, according to their degree and the urgency of the case.Janet found herself very well content in her new life, and hermother liked it for her, since it brought her so much more to herhome.

  It began to be noted that when Dinah Morse was at the house on theoccasions of the visits of the Master Builder, he addressed a greatpart of his conversation to her, seemed never to weary hearing hertalk, and would sit looking reflectively at her when other peoplewere doing the talking. He had never forgotten how she had come tothem in their hour of dire need, when poor Frederick had sickenedof the fell disease which so soon carried him off. He alwaysdeclared that her tenderness to his wife and daughter at that timehad been beyond all price, and it seemed as though his sense ofobligation and gratitude did not lessen with time.

  Sometimes James Harmer would say smilingly to his wife:

  "Methinks our good neighbour hath a great fancy for Dinah. I alwaysdo say that such a woman as she ought to be the wife of some goodhonest man. They might do worse, both of them, than think ofmarriage. What think you of Dinah? Tends her fancy that way atall?"

  And at that question Rachel would shake her head wisely andrespond:

  "Dinah is not one to wear her heart upon her sleeve! A woman hidesher secret in her heart till the right time comes for giving ananswer. But we shall see! we shall see!"

  In this manner the spring and summer passed happily and quicklyaway.

  August had come and gone, and now the first days of September hadarrived. The heat still continued very great, and a parching eastwind had been blowing for many weeks, which had dried up thewoodwork of the houses till it was like tinder. Sometimes theMaster Builder, coming home from his work of repairing or alteringsome house either great or small, would say:

  "I would we could get rain. This long drought is something serious.I never knew the houses so dry and parched as they are now. If afire were to break out, it would be no small matter to extinguishit. The water supply is very low, and the whole city is liketinder."

  It was Saturday night. The sun had gone down like a great ball offire, and Gertrude had observed to her husband how it had dyed theriver a peculiarly blood-red hue. One of those wandering fortunetellers, who had paraded the city so often during the early days ofthe plague (till the poor wretches were themselves carried off ingreat numbers by it), had passed down the street once or twiceduring the day, and had been always chanting a rude song like adirge, in which many woes were said to be hanging over London town.

  These prognostications had been frequent since the appearance inthe sky of another comet, which had been seen on all clear nightsof late. It had considerably alarmed the citizens, who rememberedthe comet of the previous year, and the terrible visitation whichhad followed. This one was not very like the former; it was farmore bright, and burning, and red, and its motion appeared morerapid in the sky. The soothsayers and astrologers, of which therewere still plenty left, all averred that it bespoke some freshcalamity hanging over the city, and for a while there wasconsiderable alarm in many minds, and some families actually leftLondon, fearful that the plague would again break out there; but bythis time the panic had well nigh died down. The comet ceased to beseen in the sky, and even the mournful words of the fortune tellersdid not attract the notice they had done at first. The summer waswaning, and no sickness had appeared; and of any other kind ofcalamity the people did not appear to dream.

  The Master Builder had gone in as usual to the next house to have atalk with his neighbour. But tonight he looked in vain for Dinah.

  "She and Janet have both been summoned to a fine lady who is sickin a grand house nigh to St. Paul's. Dr. Hooker fetched themthither this morning. They will be well paid for their work, hesays. The lady has sickened of a fever, and some of her householdtook fright lest it should be the plague, albeit the symptoms arequite different. So he must needs take both Dinah and Janet withhim, that she might be rightly served and tended. Tomorrow Josephshall go and ask news of her, and get speech with Janet if he can,and learn how it fares with her. I confess I am glad, when she goesto fine houses, that Dinah should be there also. Janet is a prettycreature, and those young gallants think of nothing but to amusethemselves by turning girls' heads, be they ever so humble.

  "Ah me! ah me! there is a vast deal of wickedness in the world! Icannot wonder that men foretell some fresh calamity upon this city.I am sure some of the things we hear and see--well, well, well, wemust not judge others. It is enough that judgment and vengeance arethe Lord's."

 
Rachel stopped short because she saw the look of pain which alwayscame into the Master Builder's face when he thought of hisprofligate young son, cut off in the prime of his youthful manhood,and that without any assurance on the part of those about him thathe had repented of the error of his ways. The carelessness andwickedness of the young men of the city were always a sore subject,and he still winced when the pranks of the Scourers were commentedupon by his neighbours.

  "It is my Lady Desborough who has fallen ill," concluded Rachel,anxious to turn the subject. "Methinks you had some dealings withher lord not such very long time since. The name fell familiarlyupon my ears."

  "Yes, truly, I did much to garnish their house, and I built out aprivate parlour for my lady, all of looking glass and gilding. Notlong since I purified the house for them with the costliest ofspices. Lord Desborough thinks all the world of his beauteous lady.They are devoted to each other, which is a goodly thing to see inthese days. He will be greatly alarmed if she be seriouslyindisposed. He is a right worthy gentleman; and with thy permissionI will accompany Joseph to St. Paul's tomorrow and learn the latesttidings of her."

  "With all my heart," answered the mother; and soon after that theMaster Builder took his departure, and both houses settled to restfor the night.

  It might have been two or three o'clock in the morning, none couldsay exactly how time went on that memorable day, when the MasterBuilder was awakened by sounds in the adjoining chamber, whereReuben and his wife slept; and before he was fully awake, he heardGertrude's voice at his door crying out:

  "O father, father! there is such a dreadful fire! Reuben is goingout to see where it is. Methinks it must be very nigh at hand.Prithee go with him, and see that he comes to no hurt!"

  The Master Builder was awake in an instant, and although it was anhour at which the room should be dark, he found it quitesufficiently light to dress without trouble, owing to the red glareof fire somewhere in the neighbourhood.

  "Pray Heaven it be not very near us!" was the cry of his heart ashe hurried into his clothes, remembering his own auguries of ashort time back respecting the spread of fire, if once it got ahold upon a street or building.

  He was dressed in a moment, and had joined Reuben as the latter wasfeeling his way to the fastenings of the door. Two of the shopmen,who slept below, were already aroused and wishful to join them; andas they emerged into the street, which was quite light with thepalpitating glow of fire, the door of the Harmers' house opened toadmit the exit of the master of the house and his son Joseph.

  "Thou hast seen it also! I fear me it is very nigh at hand. I had agood look from my topmost window, and methought it must surely bein Long Lane or in Pudding Lane; certainly it is in one of thenarrow thoroughfares turning off northward from Thames Street. Itmust have been burning for some while. It seems to have taken firmhold. Belike the poor creatures there are all too terrified to doaught to check the spread of the flames. We must see what can bedone. It will not do to let the flames get a hold. This strong drywind will spread them west and north with terrible speed, ifsomething be not done to check them!"

  James Harmer spoke with the air of a man who is used to offices ofauthority. He had exercised one so long during the crisis of theplague, that the habit of thinking for his fellow citizens stillclung to him. It appeared to him to be his bounden duty to do whathe could to save life and property; and all the time he spoke hewas hastening along the bridge in the direction of the smoke cloudsand flames.

  The Master Builder hurried along at his side, and before they hadreached the end of the bridge there were quite a dozen of thehouseholders or their servants joining the procession to the sceneof the conflagration. Until they reached the corner of ThamesStreet they saw nothing beyond the red column of flame and theshowers of sparks mingling with clouds of smoke; but when once theyreached the corner, a terrible sight was revealed to them, for thewhole block of buildings between Pudding Lane and New Fish Streetwas a mass of flames, and the fire seemed to be like a livingthing, driven onwards before some mighty compelling power.

  "God preserve us all! it will be upon us in an hour if nothing bedone to check it," cried Harmer in sudden dismay.

  "What is being done? What are the people doing?" cried a score ofvoices.

  But what indeed could the terrified people do, wakened out of theirsleep in the dead of night to find their houses burning about theirears? They were running helter skelter this way and that, notknowing which way to turn, like so many frightened sheep. Not thatthey thought as yet that this fire was going to be so verydifferent from other bad fires which some of them had seen; fortheir wooden and plaster houses burned down too readily at alltimes, and were built up easily enough afterwards. A little fartheroff the people were trying to get their goods out of the houses,that they might not lose all if the fire came their way. But thoseactually burned out seemed to do nothing but stand helplessly bylooking on; and perhaps it was only the Master Builder himself whoat this moment realized that there was a very serious perilthreatening the whole quarter of the city where the fire had brokenout, and had already taken such hold.

  The wind being slightly north as well as east in its direction, itseemed reasonable to hope that the conflagration would not crossThames Street in a southerly direction, in which case the bridgewould be safe; and, indeed, as New Fish Street was a fairly widethoroughfare, it was rather confidently hoped that this might provea check to the fire. The Master Builder ran up the street cryingout to the terrified inhabitants to get all the water they couldand fling it upon the roofs and walls of their dwellings, to striveto keep the flames at bay; but there was scarcely one to listen ortry to obey. The people were all hurrying out of their houses,bringing their families and their goods and chattels with them. Thestreet was so blocked by hand carts and jostling crowds, that itwas hopeless to attempt any plan of organization here.

  Then all too soon a cry went up that the fire had leaped the streetand had ignited a house on the west side. A groan and a scream ofterror went up as it was seen that this was all too true, andalready great waves of flame seemed to be rushing onwards as ifdriven from the mouth of some vast blasting furnace; and the MasterBuilder returned to his friends with a very grave face.

  "Heaven send the whole city be not destroyed!" he exclaimed; "neverhave I seen fire like unto this fire!

  "Reuben, lad, make thy way with all speed to the Lord Mayor, andtell him of the peril in which we stand. He is the man to findmeans to check this fearful conflagration. Would to Heaven it weregood Sir John Lawrence who were Mayor, as he was in the days of theplague! He was a man of spirit, and courage, and resource. But Imuch fear me that poor Bludworth has little of any of thesequalities. Nevertheless go to him, Reuben. Tell him what thou hastseen, and tell him that if he wishes not to see London burned abouthis ears it behoves him to do something!"

  Reuben dashed off along Thames Street westward to do his errand,and then the Master Builder turned gravely to his friend and said:

  "Harmer, I like not the aspect of things. I fear me that even weare likely to stand in dire peril ere long. Yet we shall have timeto take steps for our salvation, seeing the wind is our friend sofar, though Heaven alone knows when that may change, and drive theflames straight down upon us. Yet, methinks, we shall have time forwhat must be done. Wilt thou work hand in hand with me for thesalvation of our goods and houses, even though it may mean presentloss?"

  "I will do whatever is right and prudent," answered Harmer,hurrying hack towards the bridge with his friend and with those whohad followed them, and in a short while they were surrounded by anumber of frightened neighbours, all asking what awful thing washappening, and what could be done to save themselves.

  The Master Builder was naturally the man looked to, and he gaveanswer quietly and firmly. If the fire once leaped Thames Street,and attacked the south side, nothing short of a miracle could savethe bridge houses, unless some drastic step were taken; and theonly method which he could devise in the emergency, was that someof the houses at
the northern end should be demolished by means ofgunpowder, and the ruins soaked in water, so that the passage ofthe flames might be stayed there.

  But at this suggestion the faces of those who lived in these samehouses grew long and grave, as indeed the speaker had anticipated.The owners were not prepared for so great a sacrifice. They arguedthat with the wind where it was, the fire might in all probabilitynot extend southward at all, in which case their loss would heuseless. They talked and argued the matter out for about twentyanxious minutes, and in fine flatly refused to have their housestouched, preferring to take their chance of escaping the fire tothis wholesale demolition.

  This was no more than the Master Builder had foreseen, and withoutattempting further argument he turned to his neighbour and said:

  "Then it must be your workshops and storerooms that must go. Youcan better spare them than the house itself; and on the oppositeside there is the empty house where poor David Norris lived anddied. There is none living there now to hinder us. We must take thelaw into our own hands and make the gap there. If the fire comesnot this way, I will bear the blame with the Mayor, if we be calledto account; but methinks a little promptitude now may save half thebridge, and perchance all the southern part of London likewise!"

  "Do as you will, good friend, your knowledge is greater than mine,"answered James Harmer with cheerful alacrity; "Heaven forbid that Ishould value my goods beyond the life and property and salvation ofthe many in this time of threatened peril."

  "We shall save the goods first. It is only the sheds and workshopsthat must go," answered the Master Builder cheerily, and forthwithhe and his men, who had come hurrying up, together with all the menand boys in the double Harmer household, commenced carrying withinshop and houses all the valuables stored in the smaller buildingshard by. It was a work quickly accomplished, and whilst it wasbeing carried out, the Master Builder himself was carefully makingpreparations for the demolition of the empty house opposite, whichindeed was already in some danger of falling into decay, and wasempty and desolate.

  It had been the abode of the unfortunate man who brought his familyback too soon to the city, and lost them all of the plague within ashort time. He himself had lingered on for some months, and hadthen died of a broken heart. But nobody had cared to live in thehouse since. It was averred that it was haunted by the restlessspirit of the poor man, and strange noises were said to issue fromit at night. Others declared that the ghost of the wife was seenflitting past the windows, and that she always carried a sickmoaning child in her arms. So ill a name had the house got byreason of these many stories that none would take it, and there wastherefore none to interfere when, with a loud report and showers ofdust and sparks, the whole place and the workshop at the side wereblown up at the command of the Master Builder, and reduced to apile of ruins.

  In spite of all the excitement and fear caused by the spreadingfire, the neighbours looked upon the Master Builder as anenthusiast and a madman, and upon James Harmer as a poor dupe, toallow such destruction of property. No sooner were both sets ofbuildings destroyed than men were set to work with buckets andchains to drench the dusty heaps of the ruins with water, nor wouldthe Master Builder permit the workers to slacken their effortsuntil the whole mass of demolished ruin was reduced to thecondition of a soppy pulp.

  By this time the day had broken; but the sun was partially obscuredby the thick pall of smoke which hung in the air, whilst theceaseless roar of the flames was becoming terrible in its monotony.Backwards and forwards ran excited men and boys, always bringingfresh reports as to the alarming spread of the fire. Even upon thebridge the heat could plainly be felt. The workers who were calledwithin doors to be refreshed by food and drink were almost tooanxious to eat. Never had such a fire been seen before.

  Whilst the Master Builder and his friend were snatching a hastymeal, Reuben came hurrying back with a smoke-blackened face. He tooshowed signs of grave anxiety.

  "Well, lad, hast thou seen the Lord Mayor?" was the eager question.

  "Ay, verily, I have seen him," answered Reuben, with a bent brow,and a look of severity on his young face, "but I might as well havespoken to Fido there for all the good I did."

  "Why, how so?" asked his father quickly and sternly; "is the manlost to all sense of his duties? Where was he? what said he? Comesit thee down, lad, and eat thy fill, and tell us all the tale."

  Reuben was hungry enough, and his wife hung over him supplying hisneeds; but he was thinking more of the perils of his fellowcitizens, and of the supine conduct of the Mayor, than of anythingelse.

  "I found the worshipful fellow in bed," he answered. "Othermessengers had arrived with the news, but his servant had notventured to disturb him. I, however, would not be denied. I went upto him in his bed chamber, and I told him what I had seen, andwarned him that there was need for prompt action. But he onlyanswered with an oath and a ribald jest, which I will not repeat inthe hearing of my wife or mother; and he would have turned again tohis slumbers, had I not well nigh forced him to get up, and had notsome of the aldermen arrived at that minute to speak of the matter,and inquire into its magnitude. They be all of them disposed to saythat it will burn itself out fast enough like other fires; but Itrow some amongst them are aroused to a fear that it may spread farin this dry wind, and with the houses so parched and cracked withheat. Then I came away, having done mine errand, and went back tothe fire. It had spread all too fast even in that short time, andthe worst thing is that no means seem to be taken to stop it. Thepeople run about like those distraught, crying that a secondjudgment has come, that it is God's doing, and that man cannotfight against it. They are all seeking to convey away their goodsto some safe place; but the fire travels quicker than they, andthey are forced to leave their chattels and flee for their lives. Itrow such a sight has never been seen before."

  "It must be like the burning of Rome in the days of the wickedemperor Nero," said Gertrude in a low, awed voice. "Pray Heaventhey extinguish the flames soon! It would be fearful indeed werethey to last till nightfall."

  At this moment Rachel Harmer came hurrying into the room with apale scared face.

  "The child Dorcas!" she cried. "Why have we not thought of her? Isshe safe? Where has the fire reached to? God forgive me! I mustsurely be off my head! Husband, go for the child; she must bescared to death, even if naught worse has befallen her!"

  "I had not forgot the maid," answered the father; "but it is wellshe should be looked to now. The fire has not crossed ThamesStreet. Lady Scrope's house is safe yet a while; but unless thingsquickly improve, both she and the child should come hither.

  "Make ready the best guest chamber in thy house, Gertrude, and thyhusband and I will go and bring her hither.

  "Come, lad, as thy mother saith, the child may be scared at theheat and the flames. And my lady has many valuables to be rescued,too. It would be shame that they should perish in the flames ifthese leap the street. We will take the boat and moor it at ColdHarbour, and slip up by the side street out of the way of the smokeand the heat. We can thus bring her and her goods with most safetyhere. Marry that is well bethought! We will lose not an hour. Onecannot tell at what moment the fire may change its direction."

  Reuben rose at once, and accompanied by two of the steadiest of theshopmen, they prepared to carry out their plan of seeking to rescueLady Scrope and her valuables.