ance and companionship even in his worst moments, when he was scarcely less than a madman.
Readers of "Jane Eyre" will remember the incident of Rochester's insane wife setting his bed on fire, and of his rescue by Jane. It has been considered extravagant, but Charlotte found the suggestion for it in her own home. One night, when the three sisters were passing along the upper entry to their rooms, they noticed a bright light coming from Branwell's chamber. Immediately Emily, after warning the others with a finger on her lip not to wake Mr. Brontë, who was singularly afraid of fire, darted down the stairs and soon reappeared with a pail of water in each hand. She entered the burning room; the bright flare subsided, and presently her terrified sisters saw her come out, pale, panting, and scorched, half-dragging, half-carrying in her arms her helpless brother, who was stupefied with drink.
Their great venture of the school having failed, Charlotte's thoughts once more turned to literature. She found one day some poems of Emily's which seemed to her meritorious; Anne, finding Emily's verses approved, produced some of hers; Charlotte added her own, and the three sisters formed the bold resolution to have the little collection printed, published, and if possible sold. It was a long and difficult task to find a publisher; but at last they succeeded, and in 1846 the slender little volume was issued under the title of "Poems, by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell;" Currer Bell being Charlotte; Ellis, Emily; and Acton, Anne. The volume attracted little attention, but the few reviewers who noticed it awarded higher rank to the work of Ellis Bell than to that of her brothers, as the discerning critics called them. The book was, however, an evident failure; it brought the sisters little reputation and less money.
But they were used to disappointments, and they met
