The wonder is that horses or men ever get safely
to their destination; the wonder is still greater that no one is
ridden over in their furious drive.
Arrived at the place of action, the hunter's spirit which animates the
fireman and makes him attack an element as determinedly as he would a
wild beast, becomes evident to the spectator. The scene which a
London fire presents can never be forgotten: the shouts of the crowd
as it opens to let the engines dart through it, the foaming head of
water springing out of the ground, and spreading over the road until
it becomes a broad mirror reflecting the glowing blaze--the black,
snake-like coils of the leather hose rising and falling like things of
life, whilst a hundred arms work at the pump, their central heart--the
applause that rings out clear above the roaring flame as the
adventurous band throw the first hissing jet--cheer following cheer,
as stream after stream shoots against the burning mass, now flying
into the socket-holes of fire set in the black face of the
house-front, now dashing with a loud shir-r against the window-frame
and wall, and falling off in broken showers.
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