On Sunday, 26th February, 1893, Johnnie was at home minding the baby.  During his temporary absence from the room the baby set itself on fire.  When he came back and saw the flames, instead of wasting time calling for help, he rolled the baby on the floor, and succeeded in putting the flames out.  The curtain nearest the cot had also taken fire.  Johnnie then, though badly burnt, pulled the curtains, valance, and all down on to the floor, and beat out the flames with his hands and feet.  The brave little fellow seriously hurt himself, but saved the baby’s life, and prevented the buildings catching fire, crowded as they are with other families.

The family then moved to Walworth, 51 Brandon Street, and the boy attended the schools of St. John’s, Walworth (Mr. Ward, headmaster).  On the 18th July, 1894, he came home from school, had his tea, and about 5:30 p.m. went out with a companion, Campbell Mortimer, to the foreshore near London Bridge.  Here the two boys took off their shoes and stockings, and commenced paddling in the stream.  Little Mortimer, unfortunately, got out of his depth, and the tide running strongly he disappeared in the muddy water.  Directly the boy came to the surface, John Clinton sprang at him, seized him, and, though Mortimer was the heavier lad of the two, succeeded in landing him safely.  In pushing the boy on shore, John Clinton slipped back, and, being exhausted with his exertions, the tide caught him and he disappeared beneath the surface, and was carried down stream a few yards under the pier.  The river police dragged for him, and the lightermen did all they could for some considerable time, but without success.  After fifteen minutes’ fruitless search, a lighterman suggested that the boy must be under the pier.  He rowed his boat to the other end of the stage, and there saw the boy’s hand upright in the water.  He soon got the body out, but life was extinct, and the doctor could only pronounce him to be dead.  Thus died John Clinton, a boy of whom London ought to be proud, giving his life for his friend.  He was buried in a common grave, at Manor Park Cemetery, after a funeral service in St. John’s Church, Walworth.

[For the above account I am indebted to the Rev. Arthur W. Jephson, M.A., Vicar of St. John’s, Walworth.]

POSTSCRIPT.

For those who desire to learn more of the characters mentioned in this work let me mention a few volumes.  In Heroes of Every-day Life Miss Laura Lane has told briefly the story of Alice Ayres and other humble heroes and heroines whose deeds should not be forgotten.  Further particulars of the careers of Sir Colin Campbell, John Cassell, General Gordon, Sir Henry Havelock, Joseph Livesey, David Livingstone, Robert Moffat, George Moore, Florence Nightingale, Lord Shaftesbury, Agnes Weston, and other men and women whose example has benefited the country, will be found in an attractive series of books issued under