“What a narrow escape!” said she, trembling, and covering her face with her hands; “it makes me shudder to think of it.”

“We owe our lives to you, my brave girl,” said Mr. Walters; “your presence of mind has quite put us all to the blush.”

“Oh! move the powder some distance off, or the same thing may happen again.  Please do move it, Mr. Walters; I shall have no peace whilst it is there.”

Whilst they were thus engaged, a loud commotion was heard below stairs, and with one accord all started in the direction from whence the noise proceeded.

“Bring a light! bring a light!” cried Mrs. Ellis; “something dreadful has happened.”  A light was soon procured, and the cause of this second alarm fully ascertained.

Master Kinch, in his anxiety to give himself as warlike an appearance as possible, had added to his accoutrements an old sword that he had discovered in an out-of-the-way corner of the garret.  Not being accustomed to weapons of this nature, he had been constantly getting it between his legs, and had already been precipitated by it down a flight of steps, to the imminent risk of his neck.  Undaunted, however, by this mishap, he had clung to it with wonderful tenacity, until it had again caused a disaster the noise of which had brought all parties into the room where it had occurred.

The light being brought, Master Kinch crawled out from under a table with his head and back covered with batter, a pan of which had been overturned upon him, in consequence of his having been tripped up by his sword and falling violently against the table on which it stood.

“I said you had better take that skewer off,” exclaimed Caddy:  “It’s a wonder it hasn’t broke your neck before now; but you are such a goose you would wear it,” said she, surveying her aide-de-camp with derision, as he vainly endeavoured to scrape the batter from his face.

“Please give me some water,” cried Kinch, looking from one to the other of the laughing group:  “help a feller to get it off, can’t you—­it’s all in my eyes, and the yeast is blinding me.”

The only answer to this appeal was an additional shout of laughter, without the slightest effort for his relief.  At last Caddy, taking compassion upon his forlorn condition, procured a basin of water, and assisted him to wash from his woolly pate what had been intended for the next day’s meal.  “This is the farce after what was almost a tragedy,” said Mr. Walters, as they ascended the stairs again; “I wonder what we shall have next!”

They all returned to their chairs by the drawing-room fire after this occurrence, and remained in comparative silence for some time, until loud cries of “Fire! fire!” startled them from their seats.

“The whole of the lower part of the city appears to be in a blaze,” exclaimed one of the party who had hastened to the window; “look at the flames—­they are ascending from several places.  They are at their work; we may expect them here soon.”