Chapter 6 The fire

　　The noise above was louder now and there was a shout of \'Fire！\'outside． The old stableman came in quietly and quickly and got one horse out，then another． By now the flames were coming down through the roof and the noise was terrible．

　　Then I heard James\'s voice， quiet and friendly as it always was．\'Come on，Beauty，\'he said，\'we\'ll soon get you out of this smoke．\'He took off his scarf and tied it over my eyes，then led me out， patting me all the time．He took the scarf off，then shouted，\'Take this horse， somebody， while I go back for the other！\'

　　Windows in the hotel were open and people were shouting．I watched the stable door，where the smoke came out thicker than ever．Then I heard one voice above all the others，and recognized it as my master\'s．

　　\'James Howard！James Howard！ Are you there？\'

　　There was no answer，only the crash of something falling in the stables—but the next moment I saw James coming through the smoke，leading Ginger with him．

　　\'My brave boy！\'said the master．\'Are you hurt？\'

　　James shook his head，unable to speak because of the smoke．

　　Suddenly，I heard the sound of wheels and galloping horses．\'It\'s the fire－engine！\'shouted someone．

　　Two horses ran past me，pulling the heavy fire－engine．The firemen jumped out，and we went quickly into the wide，quiet Market Place，out of their way．

　　The master led us to a large hotel on the other side where a stableman came to take us in；then the master hurried off to find his wife．

　　The next morning，he came to see how we were and to speak to James．I did not hear much，but James looked very happy and the master looked proud of him．

　　How did the fire start？Someone said they saw Dick Towler go into the stable smoking a pipe，but that when Dick came out he didn\'t have it．The young stableman said that he asked Dick to go up the ladder to put down some hay，but also told him to put down his pipe first．Dick said that he did this，but nobody believed him．

　　James said the roof and floor had all fallen in and only the black walls were standing；the two poor horses who could not get out were buried under the fallen roof．

　

6 大火

　

　　第一天我们赶了大约五十公里的路，詹姆斯小心翼翼地赶车，一直注意着让我和金儿走在道路较平坦的那一边。晚上我们到了一个饭店，准备在这里过夜。这是在马克特·普雷斯，两个马夫迎了出来。

　　马夫长是个令人愉快的老人，他把我牵进了一个有六到八栏的长厩，里面有两三匹马。年轻马夫牵进了金儿。当给我们刷洗时，詹姆斯在一旁看着。

　　“我以为我手快，”詹姆斯对老马夫说，“可是你比谁都快。”