Mr．Brown was busy writing letters in his room when his servant，a very stupid boy， rushed hastily into his master's room and shouted loudly in an excited voice，“Fire，Fire！The kitchen is on fire！” Mr．Brown got up quickly， and he and the boy ran as fastas they could to the kitchen． “Look there，” shouted the boy， pointing to the leaping flames． He had carelessly left some dry wood near the fire and this was alight and blazing hard． Mr．Brown saw a big pot of boiling water on the top of the stove．“You silly fellow，”he said．“Why didn't you throw that on the burning wood？That would have put it out quickly．” “Oh， no，” said the boy slowly，“That water would beuseless；it's hot water．”