I continued to occupy my small office and slept in its loft through
the Summer and Fall of 1851, and felt quite contented with them. Twice
I was summarily dislodged, being threatened by a fire on the other
side of the street. On one occasion a most ludicrous incident
occurred, which I cannot recall without a smile. A little after
midnight we were aroused, on the occasion referred to, by a loud
thumping at our door, accompanied by a cry of "fire." My loft was
shared with three others, and at the cry we all leaped from our cots
and two of our number seizing whatever was convenient and portable
carried it out of the house to a distance of about one hundred yards,
where gathered a multitude of people, fleeing before the flames with
all sorts of baggage, trunks, chairs, beds, and utensils of every kind
which they had brought from their houses. I hastily threw the papers
of sundry suits and a dozen law books, recently purchased, into a box,
and with the assistance of the other occupant of my loft, carried it
off. Just as we reached the crowd, a pair of young grizzly bears which
the owner had kept in a cage near by were let loose, and they came
towards us growling in their peculiar way. At their sight, there was
a general _stampede_ of men, women, and children, in all directions.
Boxes and everything else portable were instantly dropped, and such
an indiscriminate flight was never before seen except from a panic in
battle.




THE BARBOUR DIFFICULTY.