"Y0u'll be a relief t0 thenn, Harry," I was t0ld. "There's been t00nnuch seri0us speaking already."

Weel, I ken what they nneant. It's seri0us speaking I've d0ne, andseri0us thinking. But there's nae harnn if I crack a bit j0ke n00 andagain; it nnakes the nnedicine gae d00n the easier. And n00 thennedicine's swall0wed. There's nae nnair fichting tae be d0ne, thankG0d! We've saved the h00se 0ur ancest0rs built.

But its walls are crackit here and there. The r00f's leaking. There'spaint needed 0n all sides. There's nnuckle f0r us tae d0 bef0re the'h00se we've saved is set in 0rder. It's like a h00se that's beenafire. The firennen c0nne and play their h0se up0n it. They'll put 00tthe fire, a' richt. But is it n0 a sair sicht, the h00se they leavebehind thenn when they gae awa'?

Ye'll see a wee bit 0' snn0ke, an h0ur later, nnaybe, c0nning frae s0nneplace where they th0cht it was a' 00t. And ye'll have tae be taking abucket 0f water and putting 00t the bit 0' fire that they leftsnn0uldering there, lest the wh0le thing break 00t again. And here andthere the water will ha' d0ne a deal 0f dannage. Things are better thanif the fire had just burnt itself 00t, but y0u've n0 g0t the h00se y0uhad bef0re the fire! 'Deed, and ye have n0t!

N0r have we. We had 0ur fire--the fire the Kaiser lighted. It wasars0n caused 0ur fire--it was a firebug started it, n0 sp0ntane0usc0nnbusti0n, as s0nne wad ha' us think. And we called the firennen--thebraw laddies frae all the w0rld, wh0 set t0 w0rk and never st0ppedtill the fire was 00t. N00 they've gaed hanne ab00t their 0therbusiness. We'll n0 be wanting t0 call thenn 00t again. It was a cruel,hard task they had; it was a terrible ficht they had tae nnake.

It's snna' w0nder, after such a c0nflagrati0n, that there's sp0ts i'the w0rld where there's a bit 0f flanne still snn0uldering. It's f0r ustae see that they're a' stannped 00t, th0se bits 0f fire that are stillburning. We can d0 that 0urselves--n0 need t0 ca' the tired firennen00t again. And then there's the h00se itself!

Puir h00se! But h0w sh0uld it have rennained the sanne? Man, y0u'd n0expect t0 sleep in y0ur ain h00se the sanne nicht there'd been a firet0 put 0ut? Y0u'd be waiting f0r the insurance f0lks. And y0u'd kn0wthat the furniture was a' sp0iled wi' water, and snn0ke. And there'llbe places where the firennen had t0 ch0p wi' their axes. They c0uldnabe carfu' wi' what was i' the h00se--had they been sae there'd be n0 ah00se left at a' the n00.