[MARY SEACOLE, THE SOLDIERS' FRIEND]
[LAURA SECORD, A CANADIAN HEROINE]
[LADY BANKES AND THE SIEGE OF CORFE CASTLE]
[LADY HARRIET ACLAND, A HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN WAR]
[AIMÉE LADOINSKI AND THE RETREAT]
[LADY SALE AND AN AFGHAN CAPTIVITY]
[ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR]
[THREE SOLDIERS' WIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA]
IV. BRAVE DEEDS OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DEVOTION
[ELIZABETH ZANE, A FRONTIER HEROINE]
[NELLIE AMOS, A FRIEND IN NEED]
[ANNA GURNEY, THE FRIEND OF THE SHIPWRECKED]
[GRIZEL HUME, THE DEVOTED DAUGHTER]
[LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE]
[LADY BAKER, AN EXPLORER'S COMPANION]
I
BRAVE DEEDS OF RESCUE BY WOMEN
ALICE AYRES AND THE UNION STREET FIRE
'FIRE! FIRE!'
It was two o'clock in the morning when this cry was heard in Union Street, Borough, London, and the people who ran to the spot saw an oil shop in flames, and at a window above it a servant girl, Alice Ayres, screaming for help. Some rushed off to summon the fire-brigade, but those who remained feared that before it could arrive the place would be gutted.
'Jump! jump!' they shouted, and stretched out their coats to break her fall. But instead of jumping Alice Ayres disappeared from the window. There were other people in the house, and she was determined not to seek safety for herself until she had made an attempt to save their lives.