Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/101

 The reason of the unexpeectedunexpected [sic] warmth was made apparent early the next morning, when H. H., whose room adjoined the sitting-room, awoke to find himself half-choked with smoke. The sitting-room, which had been smouldering the whole day before, had now burst into flames. He tried to rush into the room to secure his papers, but was held back by the firemen who had arrived on the scene.

H. H. offered a sovereign to anyone who would rescue his boxes, and one of the firemen dived into the smoke and reappeared with the precious dispatch cases and tin box unharmed. Family tradition says that H. H. drew a deep breath of relief and then suddenly exclaimed, "Good heavens! Where are my children?"

But as everybody knows family traditions are well, family traditions.