It must have been after two o’clock in the morning when the last guests (26) their leave, and although we had enjoyed their (27) , my wife and I were quite thankful to shut the door (28) them. We left all the dirty dishes and glasses (29) , and after opening a few windows to let some fresh air in and the smell of (30) out, we climbed into bed and fell asleep. I (31) asleep for more than half an hour when I awoke with a strong smell of smoke in my nostrils (鼻孔). (32) half asleep, I (33) into the sitting room, and there, through (34) clouds of smoke, I saw that one of the curtains was (35) fire. I should have closed the windows then without delay, but (36) I tried to beat out the flames with a folded newspaper. (37) this failed I hastened into the kitchen to snatch a bucket (木桶) and (38) it with water. At the same time I shouted to Barbara, who (39) dialed 999 to call the brigade (40) coming to my aid. We had to work at top speed carrying buckets of water from the kitchen to prevent the flames, (41) by the breeze from the windows, from spreading. We (42) to extinguish the fire but we managed to keep it (43) in check until the arrival of the firemen. Fortunately, they promptly came and they had little difficulty (44) out the flames. For most of the (45) of the day we worked hard.