The Story of a China Cat | Page 9

over a
box of matches, but I did not mean to."
"Well, it is going to be a bad fire!" said the Fireman. "Everybody must
get out."
"Except you and me," added the Policeman, "I have ordered them all
back to their shelves, but you and I must stay here. I will remain on
guard while you put out the fire!" he said.
"Right!" cried the brave Fireman, as he got down off his engine.
By this time the straw had set fire to some of the wooden boxes which
Mr. Mugg had opened that day to take out the toys. The burning straw
and wood made more smoke than ever, so that the China Cat choked,
and the Talking Doll was coughing so hard she could not speak.
"Hurry with that water!" ordered the Policeman. "Squirt a lot of water
from the hose on the blaze, Mr. Fireman!"
But the sad part of it was that there was no water in the toy engine.
They are not made that way, though sometimes boys, who get engines
for presents, put water in them to play with. But though the Fireman
ran out his tiny hose, and pointed it straight at the blaze, no water
spurted from the nozzle.
"It is getting too hot here for me!" cried the Policeman. "I'm afraid we
can't do anything, Mr. Fireman. We had better run upstairs with the rest

of the toys!"
"What about the toys still in the boxes--those that Mr. Mugg has not
unpacked?" asked the Fireman. "The toys still in the boxes can not get
out to run upstairs."
"No, that's so," admitted the Policeman, stepping back out of the smoke,
and scratching his nose with his club. "What shall we do?"
"I'll get my ax and chop open the boxes," the toy Fireman answered.
"We fire-fighters have to do that. If only I had water in my engine I
could soon put out this blaze."
But there was no use wishing that now, and, just as the Fireman had
said, the poor toys, still nailed up in the boxes, were likely to have a
hard time.
"Let us out! Please let us out!" begged the Dolls, the toy Dogs, the toy
Cats and the other playthings, all shut up as they were. They could
smell the smoke, if they could not see the blaze.
"I'll save you! The Policeman and I will get you out!" cried the brave
Fireman, as he dashed back to his engine to get the small ax which
hung there.
Meanwhile the China Cat, the Talking Doll and some of the Jumping
Jacks were hurrying up the basement steps much faster than they had
gone down. They wanted to get out of the fire and smoke.
"If only the Nodding Donkey were here, I'm sure he could have ridden
me on his back out of danger," thought the China Cat. "He was very
fond of me, and I like him. But he is not here!"
There was such a crowd of toys, all trying to get up the basement stairs
at once, and the smoke was so thick now, that the Policeman and
Fireman had also to run back, and there might have been a sad accident,
only that the regular fire department men came along just then.

Some one in the street had seen smoke coming from the basement of
the toy shop.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" was the cry, and this time it was a real shout, and not
such as the toys had given. Then the man who had smelled and seen the
smoke ran and pulled an alarm box.
There was a clang of bells and loud toots of a whistle. There was a rush
of many feet, and then a loud crash as the real firemen burst open the
door of the toy shop.
"The fire is in the basement!" cried one fireman, wearing a rubber coat
and hat to keep himself dry for the water would soon be spraying from
the hose of the real, big engine.
"Yes, it's in the basement," said a real policeman, who had arrived
almost as soon as had the firemen. "And Mr. Mugg has a lot of new
toys down there. We must carry them out for him!"
Of course as soon as the door of the shop had been burst open, and the
real firemen and policemen had come in, not a toy dared move or speak,
for they would have been seen.
So they had to stay just where they were. Some were half way up the
basement stairs; the China Cat had just reached the middle of the first
floor, when she had to come to a stop; the Talking Doll was on the top
step of the stairs, and there she had to