I gazed upon them and upon it by turns, and then looked round me for my two little ones; but they were not to be seen.

O misery! 'Where,' cried I, 'where are my little ones ?'--'They are burnt to death in the flames,' says my wife calmly, 'and I will die with them.'-- That moment I heard the cry of the babes within, who were just awaked by the fire, and nothing could have stopped me.

'Where, where, are my children ?' cried I, rushing through the flames, and bursting the door of the chamber in which they were confined, 'Where are my little ones ?'--'Here, dear papa, here we are,' cried they together, while the flames were just catching the bed where they lay.

I caught them both in my arms, and snatched them through the fire as fast as possible, while just as I was got out, the roof sunk in.

'Now,' cried I, holding up my children, 'now let the flames burn on, and all my possessions perish.